Dante's Prayer

That love whose warmth allowed this flower to bloom

within the everlasting peace – was love

rekindled in your womb; for us above,

you are the noonday torch of charity,

and there below, on earth, among the mortals,

you are a living spring of hope. Lady,

you are so high, you can so intercede,

that he who would have grace but does not seek

your aid, may long to fly but has no wings.

Your loving-kindness does not only answer

the one who asks, but it is often ready

to answer freely long before the asking.

In you compassion is, in you is pity,

in you is generosity, in you

is every goodness found in any creature.

Dante's Divine Comedy, 
Inferno - Par. XXXIII, 7-21

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This eloquent prayer to Mary recalls the very beginning of Inferno: in canto II, we learn that Virgil's appearance to Dante was ultimately made possible by the Virgin Mary. As the "noonday torch of charity," it was Mary's compassion that allowed her to notice Dante in his darkest days and initiate the journey that brought him to Heaven, that allowed him to "fly with no wings" to her feet. It should also be noted that Mary is one of the few positive female figures to appear in the Divine Comedy. So the fact that Dante prays to Mary at the end of his journey, when she originally prayed for him in Inferno, represents his coming full circle.

The Queen of Heaven, praying for Dante, by Gustave Doré

The Memory Stone

The Bird whispered to the Stone

The Stone whispered to the Earth

The Earth whispered to my Heart

My Heart sang out to the Universe

The Universe kissed the Stars

The Stars weaved a spell around the Moon

The Moon took a poem into the Sun

The Sun sparked the sky.... and they both bloomed

The Sky flew down to the Trees

The Tree whispered to the branch

The branch let go of the Leaves

The Leaves all fell into my Hands..

I shall never be alone again

The Spark of Earth is the dust and sand

Swirling up into the Winds

Bringing me back Home Again...

Nature is a Prayer of Peace

My tears have gone

My Soul released

I am like the bird flying so high

Carrying a Stone in the After-life

When I am ready the stone will Fall

Back into the Forest's Arms

A Bird will find the Breath of my Poem

waiting inside............. like flesh and bones

A Mist will rise up from the Stone

Whispering the Memory of my Prose....

Blackbirds will cry and sing my Song

Like the Earth ..life will carry on

Seeds will grow... and bloom and bend

The Trees will rise without End

Whenever you find a Memory Stone

laying in the Forest ...........all alone

Hold it to your heart........... and Listen close

You will hear the sound ........of my Soul

Know it is me Flying Home.

Know it is me Flying Home

Know it is me Flying Home..

I am Home.

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Poem

The Memory Stone 

and Image 

by 

Victoria Pettella