We were enclosed (from Prayer 20)
by Catherine of SienaEnglish version by Suzanne Noffke, O.P.
We were enclosed,
O eternal Father,
within the garden of your breast.
You drew us out of your holy mind
like a flower
petaled with our soul's three powers,
and into each power
you put the whole plant,
so that they might bear fruit in your garden,
might come back to you
with the fruit you gave them.
And you would come back to the soul,
to fill her with your blessedness.
There the soul dwells --
like the fish in the sea
and the sea in the fish.
 | -- from Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield |
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We were enclosed,
O eternal Father,
within the garden of your breast.
The metaphor of a garden to represent one's spiritual awareness is an ancient one.
Think about a garden for a moment. What is it? First, it is a place where things grow, a place of life. It is the opposite of death, which is the state of nonspirituality.
The plants of the garden are rooted in the soil, yet they reach upward toward the light of the sun. What grows in the garden becomes the living bridge between earth and heaven.
On another level, a garden is a place of nourishment and of beauty. What grows in our spiritual gardens feeds us -- and the world -- through its fruitfulness. The garden brings beauty, the awareness of harmony to our consciousness. The flowers of the garden represent the spiritual qualities that have opened within us, which in turn cause us to open to the Divine. The flowers are within us, and we are the flowers.
The garden is a place of contemplation and rest. It is a place where we give ourselves permission to simply be, to settle into the present moment. The garden represents the soul at rest in the living presence of the Divine.
Also, a garden is the traditional place where lovers meet in secret. It is where we go to spend time in the embrace of the Beloved. It is the place of communion.
It is worth remembering that the word "paradise" means... garden.
And isn't that a great phrase...
You drew us out of your holy mind
like a flower
But my favorite --
There the soul dwells --
like the fish in the sea
and the sea in the fish.
...The soul not separate from God, not even merely touching God. The soul is within God, and God within the soul. The Eternal fills us and surrounds us and is our entire medium of existence.
Have a beautiful day!
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