Category Archives: prayer

Mercy

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

Learn what this means, he says: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. But mercy, pitiless in its command, requires the sacrifice of satisfaction, Schadenfreude, vengeance. Righteous indignation; the bitter little consolations that coddle a sore, soured, soul. It makes one wonder, honestly, if he truly, truly understands the meaning of either Word. … Continue reading →

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The Visitation

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

I love that, for a moment, you embraced, neither wondering how the other came to be in her loosened state, knowing next to nothing of the contractions to come, spasms of envy slaughtering the innocents and the barely belated, cruel blows which would fell them both, … Continue reading →

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Ascension (2023)

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

With skin like an apple streaked with red, weathered toward ripeness, her hair a wood-stained frame for the pearl earring, moon to her sun, the woman in the seat in front never turned her face to me but from the … Continue reading →

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One or the other

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

One says, Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb; another, Thou shalt not covet the livestock. One says, Give as good as you get; another, Do not repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good. … Continue reading →

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Many dwelling places

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

There was a hill covered in cloud that resisted the imprecations of the wind that tossed the crows about and hurried us to shelter beneath a bare crag, eroded by the dwelling of the centuries, bodies it had harbored, of … Continue reading →

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Unhinged

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

I am a gate, I swing this way and that, inviting you to step into my dance, leading with the song you have heard before: creak and sigh of hungry humanity herded like sheep by fear and faith by turns. … Continue reading →

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Prayer in the aftermath

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

Offered in case it is helpful in your context in this week or another. Feel free to adapt as needed. Gracious God, king of peace, who brought again from the dead our Saviour Jesus Christ after we had crucified him … Continue reading →

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For all the alleluias

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

For all the alleluias that fall into the empty grave before the earth is cast down; alleluias that burst like a disappointed balloon upon the tongue; alleluias that took a wrong turn and never came home; for all of the alleluias that become ululations for the still dead and dying; alleluias gasping; … Continue reading →

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Blessed

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

He breathed on them the scent of grave-clothes, myrrh, and aloes, the stench of forgiveness; I imagine that smells of olive oil pressed from the groves in the Garden of Gethsemane, drowning out with unction the fetor of betrayal and blood.  All day long they shed … Continue reading →

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A special place

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Rosalind C Hughes

To celebrate the day of its harrowing, and because the phrase came up again just the other day … Continue reading →

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