cating
Thy lofty Realms.

They are gathered here to commemorate Thy bright and holy handmaid, a leaf
of Thy green Tree of Heaven, a luminous reality, a spiritual essence, who
ever implores Thy tender compassion. She was born into the arms of Divine
wisdom, and she suckled at the breast of certitude; she flourished in the
cradle of faith and rejoiced in the bosom of Thy love, O merciful, O
compassionate Lord! And she grew to womanhood in a house from which the
sweet savors of oneness were spread abroad. But while she was yet a girl,
distress came upon her in Thy path, and misfortune assailed her, O Thou
the Bestower, and in her defenseless youth she drank from the cups of
sorrow and pain, out of love for Thy beauty, O Thou the Forgiver!

Thou knowest, O my God, the calamities she joyfully bore in Thy pathway,
the trials she confronted in Thy love, with a face that radiated delight.
How many a night, as others lay on their beds in soft repose, was she
wakeful, humbly entreating Thy heavenly Realm. How many a day did Thy
people spend, safe in the citadel of Thy sheltering care, while her heart
was harried from what had come upon Thy holy ones.

O my Lord, her days and her years passed by, and whenever she saw the
morning light she wept over the sorrows of Thy servants, and when the
evening shadows fell she cried and called out and burned in a fiery
anguish for what had befallen Thy bondsmen. And she arose with all her
strength to serve Thee, to beseech the Heaven of Thy mercy, and in
lowliness to entreat Thee and to rest her heart upon Thee. And she came
forth veiled in holiness, her garments unspotted by the nature of Thy
people, and she entered into wedlock with Thy servant on whom Thou didst
confer Thy richest gifts, and in whom Thou didst reveal the ensigns of
Thine endless mercy, and whose face, in Thine all-glorious Realm, Thou
didst make to shine with everlasting light. She married him whom Thou
didst lodge in the assemblage of reunion, one with the Company on high;
him whom Thou didst cause to eat of all heavenly foods, him on whom Thou
didst shower Thy blessings, on whom Thou didst bestow the title: Martyrs'
King.

And she dwelt for some years under the protection of that manifest Light;
and with all her soul she served at Thy Threshold, holy and luminous;
preparing foods and a place of rest and couches for all Thy loved ones
that came, and she had no other joy but this. Lowly and humble she was
before each of