Prayer

Remains there a saint, man or woman, sublime
Enthroned in high glory in the kingdom divine
Whom I have neglected when kneeling I may
Call upon heaven and fervently pray.
I call upon Magdalene, called woman of sin,
To share of her promise and grace from her win.
I beseech Aqualina and join in her pain
Suffered when young from hands without shame.
Also Rebecca who faced a sad fate
And Thérèse of Lisieux whose life was an ode
Of love for her Savior in musical mode.
I beseech Mother Mary, our Queen up above,
Haloed in light and pouring out love.
Isabella, Theresa, Our Lady’s mother Anne,
Marina, Bernadette, embellish the heavenly span;
Once flowers on earth now in heaven abounding,
Canonized or blessed, my pleas to them sounding;
To all and each one my prayers I address
For all holy patrons to know our distress.
Little time remains to let my brethren know
What those of this country suffer below.
Of our history I write and fill up every page,
Heaven is our right, our suffering our gauge.
In this Lebanon we love, Christ made water wine,
Land of God Almighty, witness to His power divine.
Among all nations honored, first at Cana in the hills
Then in Sidon city where he cured people’s ills.
In those days called Phoenicia, land of prophecy,
Land of miracles, that Our Lord once did see.
At Sarafand Elijah made oil to last long
When a poor widow took him in her home,
And picked up her child and gave back his breath
As Christ once recalled to the folk of Nazareth.
The Song of Songs gives Lebanon renown
Proclaiming its mountains and its cedar’s high crown.
The canticles and psalms of its fruit sing the praise
And hail the tall mountains where wild goats graze.
Moses near death on Nebo did stand,
Saying, “Let me see closer that beautiful land!”

Joseph Matar
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Translated from French: K. J. Mortimer