Novena for Raphael Louigene, the Fifth of Nine Nights
/Magnificat in Creole (click below)
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A reflection from Kahlil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.And he said:You would know the secret of death.But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor.Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. +++++++++++
A reading from Corinthians
1 Corinthians 2: 9-13
9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the the human heart, the things which God has prepared for those that love him.
10 But God hath revealed these things to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what can we know except the things of our own heart, the human spirit which is in us? even so the things of God are known to no one, but the Spirit of God.
12 Yet now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 And so we speak not in the words which human wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
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A Poem
Come with me
God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be
So He put His arms around you
And whispered ‘Come with Me.’
With tearful eyes
We watched you suffer
And saw you fade away,
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove
He only takes the best.
It’s lonesome here without you,
We miss you more each day,
Life doesn’t seem the same
Since you’ve gone away.
When days are sad and lonely
And everything goes wrong,
We seem to hear you whisper
‘Cheer up and carry on.’
Each time we see your picture,
You seem to smile and say
‘Don’t cry, I’m in God’s keeping
We’ll meet again someday.’
A million times we needed you,
A million times we cried,
If love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we love you still ,
In our hearts you hold a place,
That no one could ever fill.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you,
The day God took you home.
Rhonda Braswell
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As is done traditionally, a bitter cup of coffee with Raphael’s mom, Fifi
