Spotless

And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
—Luke 2:16-21

And did they stain your spotless heart,
the many things you kept
to ponder in yourself apart
whenever Jesus slept?

Did any ever cast a shade
beside the light of grace,
or stir a darkness not to fade
when you looked on his face?

O mother’s heart immaculate,
how could you hold these fears
and not find that the stains had set,
though you washed them with tears?

They must have left their mark on you—
these sorrows hit so hard—
and when the sword had pierced you through
it had to leave you scarred.

And yet it was this very thing
that kept you free from sin,
the murder of your son and king
that washed us all within.

Oh, can these fragments of the night
by him be made to gleam?
If he fills shadows with his light,
can he these scars redeem?