top of page

Visitation Rites

Writer's picture: Editorial StaffEditorial Staff

By Brian Phipps

For Emily

1. Nativity

On the Feast of the Birth of the Theotokos

And didn’t her arrival change

all things? So long they had been

standing at the threshold, hopes

in hand, and she redeemed them.

From their oneness, they formed

a door, a portal through which

the world poured forth into light.

2. Entrance

On the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple

And did they then regret their bargain

with the Lord? The visitation of his favor

proved so brief, and in this rite

of passage they relinquished everything,

except the right to visit her. But where

she ventured now they could not

follow—only watch her departure

through the gate, her veiled flight

into otherness, the holiest of holies,

their one flesh being made two.

3. Annunciation

On the Feast of Gabriel’s Announcement to the Theotokos

And wouldn’t they have

sought a different path?

It wasn’t what they’d hoped

for her—scandal and all its

barren interrogations—though

they discovered disappointment

could not dry up their love

for her: they’d embraced their own

annunciation years ago.

4. Dormition

On the Feast of the Falling Asleep

of the Theotokos

And could they have approved

her any more? They fell asleep

before the story’s end, before

the promised fruit fulfilled

his promise, long before her falling

asleep. But she had been a dream

for them, a visitant cherished

on their migration, the gate which

they, passing away, passed through.

Brian Phipps is the author of Before the Burning Bush (Univ. of St. Katherine Press, 2018), a collection of poems. He has published poetry in several literary journals, including St. Katherine Review, Rock and Sling, Relief, The Other Journal, and Anglican Theological Review. Brian serves as a chanter in his Greek Orthodox parish, and works as an editor for a book publishing company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he lives with his wife and kids.

1 view0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
Hunger

Hunger

Clouds

Clouds

Comments


bottom of page