One misty November Sunday, we were astonished to see a pair of vandals in our cloister courtyard. Armed with a pack of Crayola chalk, aprons, and jackets, they braved the bitter chill and waning light just to leave their mark on our patio concrete. Perhaps such hooligans are commonplace on busy New York City streets, but in the Western Kentucky wilderness, it was a shock. So, we did the only sensible thing possible: we grabbed the camera!

Our budding “street artists”, Sr. Cecilia Maria and Sr. Frances Marie, were inspired by a poem featured in Vol. IV of the Breviary, a beautiful piece that speaks of the Passion of Jesus and His overwhelming love for us. It seemed especially appropriate as we enter these darker months and approach the season of Advent, a time of eager anticipation of the coming of Christ, our Light. Here’s the whole poem:

I Saw the Sun at Midnight, Rising Red

By Joseph Mary Plunkett

I saw the Sun at midnight, rising red,
Deep-hued yet glowing, heavy with the stain
Of blood-compassion, and I saw It gain
Swiftly in size and growing till It spread
Over the stars; the heavens bowed their head
As from Its heart slow dripped a crimson rain,
Then a great tremor shook It, as of pain—
The night fell, moaning, as It hung there dead.

O Sun, O Christ, O bleeding Heart of flame!
Thou giv’st Thine agony as our life’s worth,
And mak’st it infinite, lest we have dearth
Of nights wherewith to call upon thy Name;
Thou pawnest Heaven as a pledge for Earth,
And for our glory sufferest all shame.