O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy catholic Church teaches, because in revealing them you can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Prayer to restore the locust/wasted years, Contemplative prayers from St Teresa of Avila, Joel 2:25
From:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYpsKNzKZpnXdnQ0IQd8Ufw
Carrying a regret for those lost / wasted years from the past..? The Lord can restore those locust years in an instant. Believe!! Pray along and meditate on the words of St Teresa of Avila.. Keep this prayer running and let His praise fill your habitat.
"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm ......" Joel 2:25
==============================================
O my God! Source of all mercy!
I acknowledge Your sovereign power.
While recalling the wasted years that are past,
I believe that You, Lord,
can in an instant turn this loss to gain.
Miserable as I am,
yet I firmly believe that You can do all things.
Please restore to me the time lost,
giving me Your grace,
both now and in the future,
that I may appear before You in "wedding garments."
Amen
Let Nothing Trouble You
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.
Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world.Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.
You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.
Dear St Teresa of Avila draw my soul close to my beloved God.. Fill me with divine inspirations, inspire in me heavenly wisdom and divine intellect so as to be in constant companionship with my Lord. Bless my memory, erase hurts and revive in my thoughts the mighty blessings of God from the past.
O my Beloved, you are so good! May you be blessed forever. May all things praise you, my God. You have loved us so much that we are able to speak of communion between you and our souls here in our exile. This proves your boundless generosity and magnanimity, even in the case of souls who are already good. This abundance is who you are, my Lord; you give according to your nature. O Infinite Bounty, your works are magnificent!
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Rosary Miracle - Safe in the Midst of Hiroshima Nuclear Blast !!
Original Source: http://www.holysouls.com/sar/rosarymiracle.htm
****************************************************
Rosary Miracle at Hiroshima - August 6th, 1945
There was a home eight blocks (about 1 kilometer) from where the A-Bomb went off in Hiroshima Japan. This home had a church attached to it which was completely destroyed, but the home survived, and so did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who prayed the rosary in that house faithfully every day. These men were missionaries to the Japanese people, they were non-military, but because Germany and Japan were allies during WWII they were permitted to live and minister within Japan during the war. Not only did they all survive with (at most) relatively minor injuries, but they all lived well past that awful day with no radiation sickness, no loss of hearing, or any other visible long term defects or maladies. Naturally, they were interviewed numerous times (Fr. Schiffer, a survivor, said over 200 times) by scientists and health care people about their remarkable experience and they say "we believe that we survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home." Of course the secular scientists are speechless and incredulous at this explanation - and they are sure there is some "real" explanation - but at the same time over 55 years later the scientists are still absolutely bamboozled when it comes to finding a plausible scenario to explain the missionary's unique escape from the hellish power of that bomb.
****************************************************
FR. SCHIFFER OF HIROSHIMA
by Fr. Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.
At 2:45 a.m. on August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber took off from the island of Tinian to drop the first atomic bomb on Japan. At 8:15 a.m. the bomb exploded eight city blocks from the Jesuit Church of Our Lady's Assumption in Hiroshima. Half a million people were annihilated. However, the church and four Jesuit fathers stationed there survived: Fathers Hugo Lassalle, Kleinsorge, Cieslik and Schiffer. (RH note - all other accounts state clearly that there were eight Jesuits stationed in this home not four - and it is well known that all eight survived - the author of this present article apparently only had the names of four of them, for instance Fr. Arrupe is left out of the list - and at this writing, I have not been able to find the names of the other three Jesuits. end of note.) According to the experts they "ought to be dead," being within a one-mile radius of the explosion. Nine days later on August 15, Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, U.S. forces were ordered to cease fire.
This is the incredible story of the late Fr. Hubert Schiffer, as retold by Fr. Paul Ruge. [1] I met Fr. Schiffer in the late 70s at the Tri-City Airport in Saginaw, Michigan, as he was going to give a talk for the Blue Army Novena/Triduum. As I chauffeured him around he told me stories of his life, especially of the atomic explosion at Hiroshima. On the morning of August 6, 1945, he had just finished Mass, went into the rectory and sat down at the breakfast table, and had just sliced a grapefruit, and had just put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor (this was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.)
Then, in the words of Fr. Schiffer: "Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me 'round and 'round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind."[2] The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. He looked around and there was NOTHING in any direction: the railroad station and buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.
The only physical harm to himself was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with himself. Many thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion. After the conquest of the Americans, their army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. To the doctors amazement, Fr. Schiffer's body contained no radiation or ill-effects from the bomb. Fr. Schiffer attributes this to devotion to the Blessed Mother, and his daily Fatima Rosary. He feels that he received a protective shield from the Blessed Mother which protected him from all radiation and ill-effects. (This coincides with the bombing of Nagasaki where St. Maximilian Kolbe had established a Franciscan Friary which was also unharmed because of special protection from the Blessed Mother, as the Brothers too prayed the daily Rosary and also had no effects from the bomb.)
Rosary Miracle - Safe in the Midst of Hiroshima Nuclear Blast
Feb 2000
Dr. Stephen A. Rinehart &
Dr. Stephen A. Rinehart &
Dr. Richard F. Hubbell
Please distribute freely - but only in its entirety only - Thanks!!
God can and does miraculously protect those consecrated to Him - especially through the Rosary - even in the midst of a powerful nuclear detonation. Every effort at meticulous and verifiable accuracy - with as many direct sources as possible being quoted and URL's being provided - in the preparation of this article - which originally came about as a series of emails between the two authors.****************************************************
Rosary Miracle at Hiroshima - August 6th, 1945
There was a home eight blocks (about 1 kilometer) from where the A-Bomb went off in Hiroshima Japan. This home had a church attached to it which was completely destroyed, but the home survived, and so did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who prayed the rosary in that house faithfully every day. These men were missionaries to the Japanese people, they were non-military, but because Germany and Japan were allies during WWII they were permitted to live and minister within Japan during the war. Not only did they all survive with (at most) relatively minor injuries, but they all lived well past that awful day with no radiation sickness, no loss of hearing, or any other visible long term defects or maladies. Naturally, they were interviewed numerous times (Fr. Schiffer, a survivor, said over 200 times) by scientists and health care people about their remarkable experience and they say "we believe that we survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home." Of course the secular scientists are speechless and incredulous at this explanation - and they are sure there is some "real" explanation - but at the same time over 55 years later the scientists are still absolutely bamboozled when it comes to finding a plausible scenario to explain the missionary's unique escape from the hellish power of that bomb.
****************************************************
FR. SCHIFFER OF HIROSHIMA
by Fr. Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.
At 2:45 a.m. on August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber took off from the island of Tinian to drop the first atomic bomb on Japan. At 8:15 a.m. the bomb exploded eight city blocks from the Jesuit Church of Our Lady's Assumption in Hiroshima. Half a million people were annihilated. However, the church and four Jesuit fathers stationed there survived: Fathers Hugo Lassalle, Kleinsorge, Cieslik and Schiffer. (RH note - all other accounts state clearly that there were eight Jesuits stationed in this home not four - and it is well known that all eight survived - the author of this present article apparently only had the names of four of them, for instance Fr. Arrupe is left out of the list - and at this writing, I have not been able to find the names of the other three Jesuits. end of note.) According to the experts they "ought to be dead," being within a one-mile radius of the explosion. Nine days later on August 15, Feast of Our Lady's Assumption, U.S. forces were ordered to cease fire.
This is the incredible story of the late Fr. Hubert Schiffer, as retold by Fr. Paul Ruge. [1] I met Fr. Schiffer in the late 70s at the Tri-City Airport in Saginaw, Michigan, as he was going to give a talk for the Blue Army Novena/Triduum. As I chauffeured him around he told me stories of his life, especially of the atomic explosion at Hiroshima. On the morning of August 6, 1945, he had just finished Mass, went into the rectory and sat down at the breakfast table, and had just sliced a grapefruit, and had just put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor (this was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.)
Then, in the words of Fr. Schiffer: "Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me 'round and 'round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind."[2] The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. He looked around and there was NOTHING in any direction: the railroad station and buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.
The only physical harm to himself was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with himself. Many thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion. After the conquest of the Americans, their army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. To the doctors amazement, Fr. Schiffer's body contained no radiation or ill-effects from the bomb. Fr. Schiffer attributes this to devotion to the Blessed Mother, and his daily Fatima Rosary. He feels that he received a protective shield from the Blessed Mother which protected him from all radiation and ill-effects. (This coincides with the bombing of Nagasaki where St. Maximilian Kolbe had established a Franciscan Friary which was also unharmed because of special protection from the Blessed Mother, as the Brothers too prayed the daily Rosary and also had no effects from the bomb.)
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Fire or Fire . . .
The dove descending breaks the air
With flame on incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre -
to be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.
- T.S. Eliot, Four Quarterts: "Little Gidding"
With flame on incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre -
to be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.
- T.S. Eliot, Four Quarterts: "Little Gidding"
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Art Reflects God
Thou hast arranged all things by number, measure & weight." - Wisdom 11:20
For from the greatness & beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception from their Creator. - Wisdom 13:6
For from the greatness & beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception from their Creator. - Wisdom 13:6
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Ave Maria Stella - Hail, Star of the Sea
Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.
Hail, star of the sea,
Nurturing Mother of God,
And ever Virgin
Happy gate of Heaven.
Sumens illud «Ave»
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Evæ nomen.
Receiving that "Ave" (hail)
From the mouth of Gabriel,
Establish us in peace,
Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen cæcis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.
Loosen the chains of the guilty,
Send forth light to the blind,
Our evil do thou dispel,
Entreat (for us) all good things.
Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te precem
qui pro nobis natus
tulit esse tuus.
Show thyself to be a Mother:
Through thee may he receive prayer
Who, being born for us,
Undertook to be thine own.
Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.
O unique Virgin,
Meek above all others,
Make us, set free from (our) sins,
Meek and chaste.
Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.
Bestow a pure life,
Prepare a safe way:
That seeing Jesus,
We may ever rejoice.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus. Amen.
Praise be to God the Father,
To the Most High Christ (be) glory,
To the Holy Spirit
(Be) honour, to the Three equally. Amen.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Saturday, May 16, 2015
To be a hero, or not to be a hero. . . depends on how you suffer!
I thought that this was an interesting post on the purpose of suffering, and how it is not meaningless.
Suffering-and-sacrifice-the-necessary-ingredients-of-heroism
Suffering-and-sacrifice-the-necessary-ingredients-of-heroism
He and I - a conversation between Jesus & Gabrielle Bossis
Jesus speaking to Gabrielle Bossis:
"Yes, I am Truth. Sin is falsehood, error, darkness. Every form of goodness is truth: the desire for good, work for justice. . ." (January 13, 1944)
"If you knew what the love of God is, it would be impossible for you not to abandon everything to Him and let yourself be lost to Him." (June 22, 1944)
"If you suffer, I am there to suffer with you. And this is my cross again-- this suffering in your suffering. Share it with Me, for everything depends on oneness. And if you believe in My love, suffering will be sweet to you." (June 28, 1944)
"I need each one of you as though you were the only person in the world, as though the cosmos had been created for you alone, and My love is greater than the cosmos. So let this thought be a strength to you and your smiling calm." (March 6, 1947)
Gabrielle: "Lord, I rack my brains to find ways of loving You and I don't succeed."
Jesus: "I am all simplicity. Love Me simply. When you think about Me, feeling sorry at not being able to do better, you love Me. When you act rather from duty than inclination, you love Me. When you belittle yourself in our own eyes and before others, you love Me. When you want to pray and you deplore the distracts that make your thoughts wander, you love Me. When you hunt for words without being able to express your desires, you love Me. When you forgive a wounding remark; when you give pleasure for the sake of giving Me pleasure; when you cease to think of yourself in order to reach Me; when you attempt to leave everything as though it were the day of your death; when in your thought you join the angels and saints, like one who arrives ahead of time; and when , in the evening you welcome your tomorrow morning that will unite us, you love Me. It's all different from what you thought you ought to do in order to love Me. Oh, My little girl, simplify yourself sweetly in My Presence, your wide-awake. You know very well that I Am always there." (September 9, 1948)
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Mary's Promise to Pregnant Women
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| St Bridget |
5. EVE OF MARY'S BIRTH
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| Mary & Jesus |
I saw the Blessed Virgin on the eve of her nativity. She said to me: "Whoever says this evening" (Sept. 7th) "nine times the Hail Mary lovingly and devoutly to honor the nine months spent in my mother's womb as also my birth, and continues the same devotion for nine consecutive days, daily gives to the angels nine flowers for a bouquet. This bouquet they bear to heaven and offer to the Most Holy Trinity to obtain some favor for the one that prays."
Thursday, January 1, 2015
New Year Resolution 2015: Speak Life to . . . Yourself
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8
Most people for the New Year make "health" related resolutions. This is good because to be healthy is to be whole, or "holy".
Health: the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor: before 1000; Middle English helthe, Old English hǣlth. See hale1, whole, -th1
Holy: devout, godly or virtuous: before 900; Middle English holi, Old English hālig, variant of hāl e.g. equivalent to hāl whole + -eg -y1; cognate with Dutch, German heilig, OldNorse heilagr
One way to gauge our mental, emotional and spiritual health is to look at the quality of conversations in our relationships. How much positive and how much negative do we deliberately speak to another?
The way we relate to others goes back to a further more causal internal motion: the dialogue we have with ourselves.
Are we kind to ourselves or do we beat ourselves up?
Do we love ourself in our most secret rawness?
Do we consider our own soul to be beautiful?
Do we distract ourselves by our external accomplishments?
Do we call ourselves names?
Do we encourage ourselves?
Are we even mindful of what is in our vocabulary?
Are we even mindful of what is in our vocabulary?
Our thoughts are heard by God. Are we praising or damning His creation by patterns of words that go around and around?
Can we change our thoughts?
Saturday, December 20, 2014
A Reflection On Loneliness by Mother Dolores Hart
If the price of loving Him is the pain of having to look for Him, then the price of not finding Him is the pain of having to share His loneliness in the Garden of Gethsemane. Loneliness is the worst suffering, and if we can endure this in faith, we have as won our way to Him.
-- Mother Dolores Hart, The Ear of the Heart.
-- Mother Dolores Hart, The Ear of the Heart.
St. Augustine on "How to Live Well"
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| The earliest known portrait of Saint Augustine in a 6th-century fresco, Lateran, Rome. |
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The Nut Brown Maid -- British Ballad: a story of woman's unconditional love: "If I have here been partner with you of joy and bliss, I must also part of your woe."
Man: Be it right or wrong, these men among
On women do complain;
Affirming this, how that it is
A labour spent in vain
To love them well; for never a dele
They love a man again:
For let a man do what he can
Their favour to attain,
Yet if a new to them pursue,
Their first true lover than
Labors for naught; for from her thought
He is a banished man.
Woman: I say not nay, but that all day
It is both written and said
That woman's faith is, as who said,
All utterly decayed:
But nevertheless, right good witness
In this case might be laid
That they love true and continue:
Record the Nut-brown Maid,
Which, when her love came her to prove,
To her to make his moan,
Would not depart; for in her heart
She loved but him alone.
Man: Then between us let us discuss
What was all the manner
Between them two: we will also
Tell all the pain and fear
That she was in. Now I begin,
So that ye me answer:
Wherefore all you that present be,
I pray you, give an ear.
I am the Knight. I come by night,
As secret as I can,
Saying, Alas! thus stands the case,
I am a banished man.
Woman: And I your will for to fulfill
In this will not refuse;
Trusting to show, in words few,
That men have an ill use—
To their own shame—women to blame,
And causeless them accuse.
Therefore to you I answer now,
All women to excuse—
Mine own heart dear, with you what cheer?
I pray you, tell anyone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: It stands so: a deed is do
Whereof great harm shall grow:
My destiny is for to die
A shameful death, I trow;
Or else to flee. The one must be.
None other way I know
But to withdraw as an outlaw,
And take me to my bow.
Wherefore adieu, mine own heart true!
None other rede I can:
For I must to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: O Lord, what is this world is bliss,
That changes as the moon!
My summer's day in lusty May
Is darkened before the noon.
I hear you say, farewell: Nay, nay,
We depart not so soon.
Why say you so? Where will you go?
Alas! what have you done?
All my welfare to sorrow and care
Should change, if you were gone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: I can believe it shall you grieve,
And somewhat you distrain;
But afterward, your pain's hard
Within a day or two
Shall soon aslake; and you shall take
Comfort to you again.
Why should ye ought? for, to make thought,
Your labour were in vain.
And thus I do; and pray you to,
As heartily as I can:
For I must to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Now, if that you have showed to me
The secret of your mind, I shall be plain to you again,
Like as you shall me find.
If it is so that you will go,
I will not live behind.
Shall never be said the Nut-brown Maid
Was to her love unkind.
Make you ready, for so am I,
Although it were anyone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Yet I you ready to take good heed
What men will think and say:
Of young, of old, it shall be told
That you be gone away
Your wanton will for to fulfill,
In green-wood you to play;
And that ye might for your delight
No longer make delay
Rather than ye should thus for me
Be called an ill woman
Yet would I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Though it be sung of old and young
That I should be to blame,
Theirs be the charge that speak so large
In hurting of my name:
For I will prove that faithful love
It is devoid of shame;
In your distress and heaviness
To part with you the same:
And sure all tho that do not so
True lovers are they none:
For in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: I counsel you,
Remember how
It is no maiden's law
Nothing to doubt, but to run out
To wood with an outlaw.
For you must there in your hand bear
A bow ready to draw;
And as a thief thus must you live
Ever in dread and awe;
Whereby to you great harm might grow:
Yet had I liever than
That I had to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: I think it is not but as you say;
It is no maiden's lore;
But love may make me for your sake,
As I have said before,
To come on foot, to hunt and shoot,
To get us meat and store;
For so that I your company
May have, I ask no more.
From which to part it makes my heart
As cold as any stone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Woman: For an outlaw this is the law,
That men him take and bind:
Without pity, hanged to be,
And waver with the wind.
If I had need (as God forbade!)
What socours could you find?
Forsooth I trow, you and your bow
For fear would draw behind.
And no mervail; for little avail
Were in your counsel than:
Wherefore I'll to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Right well know you that women be
But feeble for to fight;
No woman had it is, indeed,
To be bold as a knight:
Yet in such fear if that you were
With enemies day and night,
I would withstand, with bow in hand,
To grieve them as I might,
And you to save; as women have
From death men many one:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Yet take good heed; for ever I dread
That ye could not sustain
The thorny ways, the deep valleys,
The snow, the frost, the rain,
The cold, the heat; for dry or wet,
We must lodge on the plain;
And, us above, no other roof
But a brake bush or two:
Which soon should grieve you, I believe;
And you would gladly than
That I had to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: If I have here been partner
With you of joy and bliss, I must also part of your woe
Endure, as reason is:
Yet I am sure of one pleasure,
And shortly it is this—
That where you be, me seem, pardon,
I could not fare amiss.
Without more speech I you beseech
That we were shortly gone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: If you go thither, you must consider,
When ye have lust to dine,
There shall no meat be for to get,
Neither beer, ale, no wine,
No sheets clean, to lie between,
Made of thread and twine;
None other house, but leaves and boughs,
To cover your head and mine.
Lo, mine heart sweet, this ill diet
Should make you pale and wan:
Wherefore I'll to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Among the wild deer such an archer,
As men say that you be,
No may not fail of good vitals
Where is so great plenty:
And water clear of the river
Shall be full sweet to me;
With which in hele I shall right wele
Endure, as you shall see;
And, or we go, a bed or two
I can provide anyone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Lo yet, before, you must do more,
If you will go with me: As, cut your hair up by your ear,
Your kirtle by the knee;
With bow in hand for to withstand
Your enemies, if need be:
And this same night, before daylight,
To woodward will I flee.
If that you will all this fulfill,
Do it shortly as you can:
Else will I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: I shall as now do more for you
Than 'longeth to womanhood
To short my hair, a bow to bear,
To shoot in time of need.
O my sweet mother! before all other
For you I have most dread!
But now, adieu! I must ensue
Where fortune does me lead.
All this make you: Now let us flee;
The day cometh fast upon:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Nay, nay, not so; you shall not go,
And I shall tell you why—
Your appetite is to be light
Of love, I well espy:
For, right as you have said to me,
In likewise hardily
You would answer whosoever it were,
In way of company: It is said of old,
Soon hot, soon cold;
And so is a woman:
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: If you take heed, it is no need
Such words to say to me;
For often you prayed, and long assayed,
Or I loved you, pardè:
And though that I of ancestry
A baron's daughter be,
Yet have you proved how I you loved,
A squire of low degree;
And ever shall, whatso befall
To die therefore anon;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
love but you alone.
Man: A baron's child to be beguiled,
It were a cursed deed! To be fellow with an outlaw—
Almighty God forbade!
Yet better were the poor squire
Alone to forest yede
Than you shall say another day
That by my cursed ready
You were betrayed.
Wherefore, good maid,
The best ready that I can,
Is, that I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Whatever befall, I never shall
Of this thing be upbraid:
But if you go, and leave me so,
Then have you me betrayed.
Remember you well, how that you dele;
For if you, as you said,
Be so unkind to leave behind
Your love, the Nut-brown Maid,
Trust me truly that I shall die
Soon after you be gone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: If that you went, you should repent;
For in the forest now
I have purveyed me of a maid
Whom I love more than you:
Another more fair than ever you were
I dare it well avow;
And of you both each should be wroth
With other, as I trow: It were mine ease to live in peace;
So will I, if I can:
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Though in the wood I understood
You had a paramour,
All this may naught remove my thought,
But that I will be yours:
And she shall find me soft and kind
And courtesy every hour;
Glad to fulfill all that she will
Command me, to my power:
For had you, lo, one hundred more,
Yet would I be that one:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Mine own dear love, I see the prove
That you be kind and true;
Of maid, of wife, in all my life,
The best that ever I knew.
Be merry and glad; be no more sad;
The case is changed now;
For it were ruth that for your truth
You should have cause to rue.
Be not dismayed, whatsoever I said
To you when I began:
I will not to the green-wood go;
I am no banished man.
Woman: These tidings be more glad to me
Than to be made a queen,
If I were sure they should endure;
But it is often seen
When men will break promise they speak
The word is on the spleen.
You shape some wile me to beguile,
And steal from me, I ween:
Then were the case worse than it was,
And I more wo-begone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: You shall not need further to dread:
I will not disparage You (God defend), if you descend
Of so great a lineage.
Now understand: to Westmoreland,
Which is my heritage, I will you bring; and with a ring,
By way of marriage I will you take, and lady make,
As shortly as I can:
Thus have you won an Earl's son,
And not a banished man.
Here may you see that women be
In love meek, kind, and stable;
Let never man reprove them than,
Or call them variable;
But rather pray God that we may
To them be comfortable;
Which sometime proves such as He loves,
If they be charitable.
For if men would that women should
Be meek to them each one;
Much more ought they to God obey,
And serve but Him alone.
On women do complain;
A labour spent in vain
To love them well; for never a dele
They love a man again:
For let a man do what he can
Their favour to attain,
Yet if a new to them pursue,
Their first true lover than
Labors for naught; for from her thought
He is a banished man.
Woman: I say not nay, but that all day
It is both written and said
That woman's faith is, as who said,
All utterly decayed:
But nevertheless, right good witness
In this case might be laid
That they love true and continue:
Record the Nut-brown Maid,
Which, when her love came her to prove,
To her to make his moan,
Would not depart; for in her heart
She loved but him alone.
Man: Then between us let us discuss
What was all the manner
Between them two: we will also
Tell all the pain and fear
That she was in. Now I begin,
So that ye me answer:
Wherefore all you that present be,
I pray you, give an ear.
I am the Knight. I come by night,
As secret as I can,
Saying, Alas! thus stands the case,
I am a banished man.
Woman: And I your will for to fulfill
In this will not refuse;
Trusting to show, in words few,
That men have an ill use—
To their own shame—women to blame,
And causeless them accuse.
Therefore to you I answer now,
All women to excuse—
Mine own heart dear, with you what cheer?
I pray you, tell anyone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: It stands so: a deed is do
Whereof great harm shall grow:
My destiny is for to die
A shameful death, I trow;
Or else to flee. The one must be.
None other way I know
But to withdraw as an outlaw,
And take me to my bow.
Wherefore adieu, mine own heart true!
None other rede I can:
For I must to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: O Lord, what is this world is bliss,
That changes as the moon!
My summer's day in lusty May
Is darkened before the noon.
I hear you say, farewell: Nay, nay,
We depart not so soon.
Why say you so? Where will you go?
Alas! what have you done?
All my welfare to sorrow and care
Should change, if you were gone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: I can believe it shall you grieve,
And somewhat you distrain;
But afterward, your pain's hard
Within a day or two
Shall soon aslake; and you shall take
Comfort to you again.
Why should ye ought? for, to make thought,
Your labour were in vain.
And thus I do; and pray you to,
As heartily as I can:
For I must to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Now, if that you have showed to me
The secret of your mind, I shall be plain to you again,
Like as you shall me find.
If it is so that you will go,
I will not live behind.
Shall never be said the Nut-brown Maid
Was to her love unkind.
Make you ready, for so am I,
Although it were anyone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Yet I you ready to take good heed
What men will think and say:
Of young, of old, it shall be told
That you be gone away
Your wanton will for to fulfill,
In green-wood you to play;
And that ye might for your delight
No longer make delay
Rather than ye should thus for me
Be called an ill woman
Yet would I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Though it be sung of old and young
That I should be to blame,
Theirs be the charge that speak so large
In hurting of my name:
For I will prove that faithful love
It is devoid of shame;
In your distress and heaviness
To part with you the same:
And sure all tho that do not so
True lovers are they none:
For in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: I counsel you,
Remember how
It is no maiden's law
Nothing to doubt, but to run out
To wood with an outlaw.
For you must there in your hand bear
A bow ready to draw;
And as a thief thus must you live
Ever in dread and awe;
Whereby to you great harm might grow:
Yet had I liever than
That I had to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: I think it is not but as you say;
It is no maiden's lore;
But love may make me for your sake,
As I have said before,
To come on foot, to hunt and shoot,
To get us meat and store;
For so that I your company
May have, I ask no more.
From which to part it makes my heart
As cold as any stone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Woman: For an outlaw this is the law,
That men him take and bind:
Without pity, hanged to be,
And waver with the wind.
If I had need (as God forbade!)
What socours could you find?
Forsooth I trow, you and your bow
For fear would draw behind.
And no mervail; for little avail
Were in your counsel than:
Wherefore I'll to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Right well know you that women be
But feeble for to fight;
No woman had it is, indeed,
To be bold as a knight:
Yet in such fear if that you were
With enemies day and night,
I would withstand, with bow in hand,
To grieve them as I might,
And you to save; as women have
From death men many one:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Yet take good heed; for ever I dread
That ye could not sustain
The thorny ways, the deep valleys,
The snow, the frost, the rain,
The cold, the heat; for dry or wet,
We must lodge on the plain;
And, us above, no other roof
But a brake bush or two:
Which soon should grieve you, I believe;
And you would gladly than
That I had to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: If I have here been partner
With you of joy and bliss, I must also part of your woe
Endure, as reason is:
Yet I am sure of one pleasure,
And shortly it is this—
That where you be, me seem, pardon,
I could not fare amiss.
Without more speech I you beseech
That we were shortly gone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: If you go thither, you must consider,
When ye have lust to dine,
There shall no meat be for to get,
Neither beer, ale, no wine,
No sheets clean, to lie between,
Made of thread and twine;
None other house, but leaves and boughs,
To cover your head and mine.
Lo, mine heart sweet, this ill diet
Should make you pale and wan:
Wherefore I'll to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Among the wild deer such an archer,
As men say that you be,
No may not fail of good vitals
Where is so great plenty:
And water clear of the river
Shall be full sweet to me;
With which in hele I shall right wele
Endure, as you shall see;
And, or we go, a bed or two
I can provide anyone;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Lo yet, before, you must do more,
If you will go with me: As, cut your hair up by your ear,
Your kirtle by the knee;
With bow in hand for to withstand
Your enemies, if need be:
And this same night, before daylight,
To woodward will I flee.
If that you will all this fulfill,
Do it shortly as you can:
Else will I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: I shall as now do more for you
Than 'longeth to womanhood
To short my hair, a bow to bear,
To shoot in time of need.
O my sweet mother! before all other
For you I have most dread!
But now, adieu! I must ensue
Where fortune does me lead.
All this make you: Now let us flee;
The day cometh fast upon:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Nay, nay, not so; you shall not go,
And I shall tell you why—
Your appetite is to be light
Of love, I well espy:
For, right as you have said to me,
In likewise hardily
You would answer whosoever it were,
In way of company: It is said of old,
Soon hot, soon cold;
And so is a woman:
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: If you take heed, it is no need
Such words to say to me;
For often you prayed, and long assayed,
Or I loved you, pardè:
And though that I of ancestry
A baron's daughter be,
Yet have you proved how I you loved,
A squire of low degree;
And ever shall, whatso befall
To die therefore anon;
For, in my mind, of all mankind
love but you alone.
Man: A baron's child to be beguiled,
It were a cursed deed! To be fellow with an outlaw—
Almighty God forbade!
Yet better were the poor squire
Alone to forest yede
Than you shall say another day
That by my cursed ready
You were betrayed.
Wherefore, good maid,
The best ready that I can,
Is, that I to the green-wood go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Whatever befall, I never shall
Of this thing be upbraid:
But if you go, and leave me so,
Then have you me betrayed.
Remember you well, how that you dele;
For if you, as you said,
Be so unkind to leave behind
Your love, the Nut-brown Maid,
Trust me truly that I shall die
Soon after you be gone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: If that you went, you should repent;
For in the forest now
I have purveyed me of a maid
Whom I love more than you:
Another more fair than ever you were
I dare it well avow;
And of you both each should be wroth
With other, as I trow: It were mine ease to live in peace;
So will I, if I can:
Wherefore I to the wood will go,
Alone, a banished man.
Woman: Though in the wood I understood
You had a paramour,
All this may naught remove my thought,
But that I will be yours:
And she shall find me soft and kind
And courtesy every hour;
Glad to fulfill all that she will
Command me, to my power:
For had you, lo, one hundred more,
Yet would I be that one:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: Mine own dear love, I see the prove
That you be kind and true;
Of maid, of wife, in all my life,
The best that ever I knew.
Be merry and glad; be no more sad;
The case is changed now;
For it were ruth that for your truth
You should have cause to rue.
Be not dismayed, whatsoever I said
To you when I began:
I will not to the green-wood go;
I am no banished man.
Woman: These tidings be more glad to me
Than to be made a queen,
If I were sure they should endure;
But it is often seen
When men will break promise they speak
The word is on the spleen.
You shape some wile me to beguile,
And steal from me, I ween:
Then were the case worse than it was,
And I more wo-begone:
For, in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
Man: You shall not need further to dread:
I will not disparage You (God defend), if you descend
Of so great a lineage.
Now understand: to Westmoreland,
Which is my heritage, I will you bring; and with a ring,
By way of marriage I will you take, and lady make,
As shortly as I can:
Thus have you won an Earl's son,
And not a banished man.
Here may you see that women be
In love meek, kind, and stable;
Let never man reprove them than,
Or call them variable;
But rather pray God that we may
To them be comfortable;
Which sometime proves such as He loves,
If they be charitable.
For if men would that women should
Be meek to them each one;
Much more ought they to God obey,
And serve but Him alone.
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