By Cameron Bellm
Spirit & Verse is a monthly column of original poem-prayers composed by Cameron Bellm, a Seattle-based writer and mother of two whose “Prayer for a Pandemic” went viral, bringing solace and comfort to many struggling during COVID-19.
Mary of Many Names and One Love
Maybe Mary comes to you most readily
As Our Lady of Guadalupe, bringing blooms in December,
Assuring you that she is your Mother.
Maybe she appears to you each day
As Queen of the Rosary, guiding your heart to peace
As your fingers move from bead to bead, prayer to prayer.
Maybe you know Mary most personally
As the Mystical Rose, petals slowly unfolding,
Leading you ever deeper into contemplation.
Maybe Mary speaks to you most clearly
In the fierce and tender words of the Magnificat,
Rejoicing in the love that lifts up the lowly.
Maybe Mary is your Star of the Sea,
Your Lady of the Way, your compass
As you make the journey of your life.
Maybe you seek comfort in the embrace
Of Our Lady of Sorrows, who sees
And makes room for all your tears, all your losses.
However you know her, be assured,
She knows you, sees you, welcomes you—
The arms that held Jesus, longing to hold you.
Amen.
Previous Spirit & Verse poem-prayers:
From the Garden to the Tomb: A Holy Week Triptych
Prayer for the Bleak Midwinter
Every Family Is a Holy Family
A Prayer for the Feast of Christ the King
A Prayer for the Season of Creation
A Prayer for the Feast of St. Alberto Hurtado
Ignatius and the Stars: A Prayer for the Close of the Ignatian Year
A Prayer for Gun Reform
A Prayer for the Visitation
A Prayer for Holding and Being Held by the Earth
A Prayer for Liminal Spaces
Answer the Knock: An Advent Prayer
Mary, Mother of Us All
A Prayer for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
A Prayer for Peace When the World is on Fire
A Prayer for the Ignatian Year
A Prayer for the Month of the Sacred Heart
A Prayer for Mary’s Month During a Pandemic
St. Joseph Prayer
A Prayer for Ash Wednesday
A Prayer for the Feast of the Epiphany
A Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
A Prayer for the Month of the Holy Souls
A Prayer for Living “Fratelli Tutti”
Our Lady of Sorrows
A Prayer for the Beginning of the School Year
A Prayer for the Feast of St. Ignatius
Cameron Bellm is a Seattle-based writer of prayers, poems, and devotionals. After completing her Ph.D. in Russian literature at the University of California, Berkeley, she traded the academic life for the contemplative life, informed by Ignatian spirituality and Catholic social teaching. She is the author of “A Consoling Embrace: Prayers for a Time of Pandemic” (23rd Publications, 2020). Cameron and her husband have two young sons, and, blessedly, playing with Legos often nurtures her spiritual life as much as reading the lectionary. You can find her at cameronbellm.com and on Instagram, @cameronbellm.