O Magnum Mysterium

O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum

As I gaze unto heaven before dawn, my heart is filled with awe. I have entered another world. The crisp autumn air warms my soul, gripping me with awareness of my every motion. As tears well up in my eyes, I am reduced to nothing by the magnitude of all that surrounds me. I sing silently, as loud as I can, hoping to match the meek and yet so grand melody of the crickets.

Ut animalia viderent Dominum natum jacentem in praesepio

Their melody fills the night sky, during the precious few minutes when the world has not awakened and heaven can still be seen. Nothing else competes with their song, as they sing in every language to the One who created them. The grass dances in time with the wind, joining in praise. The clouds have long since cleared away, and I am left with the canvas of the Master painter, dotted with His first brushstrokes, still glimmering. All I can add is my breath, with no other way to accompany such glorious song.

O beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Jesum Chirstum

I ask only one thing as I approach the gateway between heaven and earth. Who am I to have been allowed to witness the presence of heaven on earth? Tears once again overtake me, and I leave in the same way I entered. But as the door closes behind me, I can still hear the echoes of the crickets hear on earth, and am reminded that I have not truly left.

Alleluia!