This ineffable moment
Mary Austin
How long this ineffable moment lasted I never knew. It broke like a bubble at the sudden singing of a bird, and the wind blew and the world was the same as ever – only never quite the same.
Mary Austin
If you’ve had such an experience (‘a moment in time and yet out of it’) have you shared it with anyone?
Did you want to prolong the experience, but found you couldn’t?
Could you describe the ‘glory’?
Was it freeing, expansive, full of promise?
Have you made any connections with worship or prayer?
Perhaps you could read again about the disciples on the road to Emmaus encountering the risen Jesus, and hear them say, after that quite dis-orienting encounter:
‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ (Luke 24: 13-35)
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
iacentem in praesepio!
O beata virgo, cuius viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Iesum Christum.
Alleluia!
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord,
lying in a manger!
O blessed virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
