You opened up the hand of Your love
The baptismal font in Abbeyside,
A tiny gush of Your Holy waters
Poured gently out onto my infant head.
On those foundations I began to build
First the houses of my imagination
Colourful blocks of quirky designs
I was lost inside their timeless walls.
And then there came the time of cottages
Perched on cliffs overlooking bays.
In that moment, I rather fancied
The life of my imagination
Staring out at sea alone
And painting my inspiration.
None of that!
You crossed out my aloneness
With a swift swipe of Your Holy eraser
And placed in front of me my husband
And we built upon the foundations
Of Your shared baptismal love.
And bound together in Holy Matrimony
With the golden rings and coins of Your alliance
In the church You built for us
And we, little by little, learn
To become one united flesh.
A tiny mews we bought in Dublin
Cradled the beginning of our union
It held firmly our youthful desires
For a perfect love and a perfect house
And the perfect arrival of our perfect children.
The walls of the mews in Dublin
Became too small to house
An ambition or desire to find
Something else we were looking for.
We came to Spain and cooped ourselves up
Into the confining space of apartment living
Shared walls, shared community
We exhalted and we had another baby.
Dark rooms, no air conditioning,
Sick babies and no time for anything
But work and lots of work
And the children´s laughter made it all worthwhile.
And then I got sick.
The surprising result of life, genetics
Or perhaps Your “cruel to be kind” hand
At work to cure and mend
The hidden scars of my ever-hardening, heart.
Oh yes, we learn little by little,
To become one flesh,
To uphold the promise we made that day
The twentieth of August, two thousand and five
To be true to each other in good times and bad,
In sickness and health, to love and honour
All the days of our lives.
We live inside the walls of the mansion
You have prepared, Lord, for us
In Holy Matrimony.
And hand in hand together with You
We learn to decorate the interior
With the design of Your love.
Prayer: 29 June 2026