Breath of the Magdalene


Though God is formless, yet
we may gaze into the face of the Beloved,
the Lord of Astonishment,

where we have nothing to remember

because there is no past, and nothing to fear

because there is no future,

only a tender yet overwhelming light 

born from the womb of darkness,

the silence of Our Lady's grace.

What Mystery transpires

in the breast of the Eternal,

deep inside this human body?

A seed is planted at the marriage
of Christ and Sophia, Word and Wisdom.
This is the wedding of I and Am

in the secret sacrament

of the Bridal Chamber,

just beneath our sternum. and just above

the rise and fall of our belly,

in the fructifying hollow 

where this breath comes home.

So it is we pray at Mattins and Vespers

because our flesh is a thirsty furrow
and a temple for the wine of love.

‘O Magdalene, you take the very form
of this inhalation, veiled in silence.
Descend through the soft ancient portal

in my crown, and pour the Milking Way,

the nectar of the Moon down my spine,

filling the empty chalice of my heart.

For You are the threefold Goddess,

the Prophetess, Mother, and Paramour.

You engender Christ in me,

You give birth to Christ in me,

You gaze into the face of Christ in me, y

our Beloved, the Lord of Astonishment.'



Image: Mary Magdalene, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

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