Saturday, April 8, 2023

Holy Saturday And The Harrowing of Hell

 



Today Christ lays in the tomb and harrows Hell. A Scottish poet, George Mackay Brown, speaks:


He went down the first step.
His lantern shone like the morning star.
Down and round he went
Clothed in his five wounds.

Solomon whose coat was like daffodils
Came out of the shadows.

He kissed Wisdom there, on the second step.
The boy whose mouth had been filled with harp-songs,
The shepherd king
Gave, on the third step, his purest cry.

At the root of the Tree of Man, an urn
With dust of apple-blossom.
Joseph, harvest-dreamer, counsellor of pharaohs
Stood on the fourth step.

He blessed the lingering Bread of Life.
He who had wrestled with an angel,
The third of the chosen,
Hailed the King of Angels on the fifth step.

Abel with his flutes and fleeces
Who bore the first wound
Came to the sixth step with his pastorals.

On the seventh step down
The tall primal dust
Turned with a cry from digging and delving.
Tomorrow the Son of Man will walk in a garden.


On the seventh step down the tall primal dust turned with a cry from digging and delving. Tomorrow the Son of Man will walk in a garden. Yes indeed.

God bless,

LSP

4 comments:

  1. Yes he did, and when he walked in the garden on that glorious day he had the keys of hell and death in his pocket, that the door to eternal life would be locked no more to those who believe in him. Thanks Parson, hope you and all of yours have a blessed day!

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  2. Hi Parson.....,
    Thankyou.....,
    We all have our "Easter Rememberances"
    Things that happened.. and on....
    during this time...
    and we in spite of it all,
    Carry on.......
    Thankyou again......

    Peace Happens,
    Where ever you can find it,
    skybill

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  3. "Clothed in his five wounds". When I suffer, I suppose to be wearing His clothes; temporarily.
    Most ikons I've seen of this event show Adam and Eve at the front of the crowd.
    Thanks LSP; all very enriching, and the first I've seen of this poem.

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