Day of Spite and Petty Malice

Day of Spite and Petty Malice - a contemporary take on the Dies Irae

With credit to:

Day of spite and petty malice!

When a document most callous

Came forth from the papal palace.

Oh, what nuisance it inventeth,

And what rancor it fermenteth,

As the faithful it tormenteth.

Loud complaints will be resounding

Every chancery surrounding

Bishops with a headache pounding.

To what end this persecution?

Whom enriched by diminution?

For what is this the solution?

See, the faithful are divided

By the place where they resided

Some shepherds took, while some provided.

Lo, the ones whose loss is graver

Traded for a tyrant’s favour

May God send them leaders braver!

When the figures are recorded

They will tell a tale most sordid

Enemies of faith rewarded.

Those with modern ways complying

Parishes once vibrant, dying

Gone, the sound of babies crying.

Long neglected, yet deep-rooted

Ancient vineyard richly fruited

Might for envy be uprooted.

Prayers that pestilence averted

Rites that continents converted

Shall such treasures be subverted?

May we never take for granted

Beauty sculpted, written, chanted

Save, O Lord, what Thou hast planted!

See, the sacred incense rising

Michael’s sword the foe surprising

Smoke of Satan exorcising.

Those with rigor still sustaining

And the older fasts maintaining

Will stand firm, their strength not waning.

Those the narrow way pursuing

Those to purity yet hewing

Will not here find their undoing.

Though it may not soon get better

With each poison papal letter

May God yet His Mass unfetter.

Like the Church of old, forbidden

Underground, in places hidden

Spreading though with troubles ridden

Spiteful day, of harvest rotten

Better to be soon forgotten

For this purge, O Lord, prepare us

(Though we’d rather You would spare us!)

Lord, we ask on this dark day

Make this nuisance go away

Amen