MATER POPULI FIDELIS: - AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS WE REMAIN

 

At the foot of the Cross we remain

In quiet pews where candles softly burn,
The faithful read, hearts within them turn;
A title loved, once spoken without blame,
Now questioned with a sense of shame.

“O Mother dear,” their whispered prayers rise,
“Have we then loved thee wrongly in God's Eyes?”
Yet still they see thee standing, steadfast, near,
Beneath the cross, where redemption conquered fear.

There with Jesus Christ in agony and grace,
Saint John beside thee in that hallowed place,
Thou wast given as Mother, tender, true -
“Behold thy son” - and we were given too.

Through centuries thy children learned thy name,
In love, not pride, in reverence, not shame;
Not equal thou, but closest to His side,
A Mother’s heart where sacrifice abide.

Those who toil where burning sun beats down,
Who bear the Cross in field, in street, in town,
Still pray with thee, their patroness and guide,
At Calvary’s foot; where redemption doth abide.

O can they now from such devotion part,
When it has shaped the rhythm of the heart?
When popes and prayers and ages long have sown
This filial love the faithful call their own?

Though language trembles, shifts, or bends,
Deeper truth no passing voice suspends:
That thou, O Mother, in thy hidden way,
Dost lead thy children still, from day to day.

For where else shall thy weary children go,
Who learned thy love through centuries of woe?
The cross remains, its shadow ever wide -
Thou art there, still standing at His side.

Image courtesy of Chatgpt with CN Whittle "At the foot of the Cross"