Little
did we know
the
celebrity status
of
our Holy Week
Infant
daughter.
Barely
upon the
refastening
of the
doctor’s
surgical trousers,
Sr.
Leo cries in the
triumphant
roar
of
her namesake,
“we
have a baby
for
Easter Vigil!”
Long
had the
Liturgy
Committee
been
on the hunt
for
the unbaptized,
and
now, issued
from
your womb,
the
elusive child
was
found, an
unknowing
lamb
of
the Paschal Lamb.
From
lofty heights
of
the choir, we
watch
the ancient
fertility
rites of
Mother
Church.
Holy
Erotica, dressed
up
in liturgical symbol
the
conjugal joining
of
Christ to Mother Church.
Three
times
the
Paschal Candle
thrusts
into
the
womb of
Mother
Church.
Three
times
the
Paschal Seed
fertilizes
the warm
waters
of the font,
in
hopes that from
this
impregnated womb
new
life will issue forth.
The
long descent
from
the loft begins,
and
equally long
we
process the
main
aisle to
the
font. My
parents
holding
our
lamb, smile,
as
you receive
our
five day old
infant
into your
arms, the ancient
Christian
Bris begins.
Three
times we
give
our assent,
three
times the
impregnated
waters
are
poured over
her
head, the
scent
of Sacred Chrism
fills
the air,
the
sheen of
oil
from her
dampened
hair.
The
Christian Mohel
exclaims
the ancient
Christian,
“Mazel Tov!”
and,
all respond in kind.
We
leave
our
once born,
now
twice born
daughter
in the
arms
of my parents,
and
once more
process
to the
back
of the church,
and
climb steps
to
the loft.
As
the ritual
continues,
I pause,
and
wonder,
from
whose womb
will
she find greater
comfort,
yours
or
the Church?
Or,
is it a
redundant
question?
For
the Divine
Life
of God
flows
in equal
measure
from
your
womb
and hers.
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