Backward Mutters

  • O Radix

    O Radix

    December 19 is the date in which the Great O Antiphons, O Radix is sung on either side of the Magnificat. This is a repost of a previous meditation on O Radix. “O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths,…

  • O Wisdom II

    O Wisdom II

    I am reposting this because today, December 17, is Sapientia. This is a sonnet based upon the Great O Antiphon, O Sapientia which is sung on December 17. The antiphon reads, “O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other mightily,…

  • Unshod, Thy Feet

    Unshod, Thy Feet

    This sonnet follows from this year’s Advent series, Where Are You? It is based on Exodus 3 where Moses comes to Mt Horeb and finds the Lord (or is found by the Lord). I have always been curious about what it is about shoelessness in the presence of holiness. As…

  • St. Lucy’s Day

    St. Lucy’s Day

    December 13 is St Lucy’s Day. This sonnet (which is a revised version) reflects on the last week of the darkest days of the year when those days are shortest and the sun is furthest from its place in high summer. The feast of St. Lucy is marked by many…

  • Only Son

    Only Son

    Continuing in a series entitled, Where Are You?, another poem from Genesis 22 has come together. Genesis 22:2 reads, “He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the…