The Holy Grail and Divine Mercy
Divine Mercy, 1934 by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski
Today for Roman Catholics is Divine Mercy Sunday. This devotion and liturgical celebration came from the visions of St. Faustina Kowalska. In her visions, Christ came to her asking for a painting of the blood and water (representing the Divine Mercy) flowing from his heart to us. As I reflect on this celebration, I think about Sergei Bulgakov and his essay “The Holy Grail.” In that essay, Bulgakov argues that the world itself is the Holy Grail, the chalice which received the blood and water from the side of Christ. In light of that, I want to share these three poems which I wrote for my book, The Green Man. None of them is explicitly about Divine Mercy Sunday. But they all reflect on some aspect of the blood and water which poured from Christ’s side when he was on the cross. So, I share them now with you.
“The Light of Christ”*
His precious blood poured down with water and light.
The Light of all the world for us was snuffed out.
Just as a candle standing in the night
Is finally hushed, leaving darkness and doubt,
So he too was hushed, uttering his final
Cry. But Death’s domain could not contain
Him. He swallowed death which tried to swallow
Him. To give us life is why he came.
And now this light shines through the wine and bread,
And we’re consumed by that we’re meant to eat.
For he consumes all things, from life to death,
And brings us through and to our final feast.
For now he feeds us with his bread and wine,
But on that day, it’s Light on which we’ll dine.
“Christ the King”
We crowned you first as king with bloody holly.
The droplets of your blood, they stained the berries.
Next we drove you on bearing our folly,
And jeered not knowing it was our sin you carried.
We nailed your hands to the beam, your arms outstretched,
And nailed your feet to form the Grecian tau.
We raised you up as one unloved and wretched,
And yet you seek to forgive us anyhow.
Then we pierced your side to make you bleed,
And holy blood and water came raining down,
But with this blood and flesh you wish to feed
Us. You made the Holy Grail out of the ground.
By your five wounds we are washed and clean,
To be more human than we’ve ever been.
“The Holy Grail”
Who held the holy Chalice that caught his blood
Blended with the shimmering Water of Life,
Catching it, this strange admixture rife
With all the active potency of the Good?
And who was washed in this outpouring flood,
Made into the Bridegroom’s new found wife,
Washed away from pain, from death, from strife
And into the paradisal garden wood?
It was the Earth who received the Blood and Water,
And the Green Man carried it through the flowers,
The trees, through all living things without fail.
He bore the Chalice, he became the Altar;
Christ spreading through everything by his greening power,
And so the Earth became the Holy Grail.
*“The Light of Christ” first appeared at Integrated Catholic Life.
