XVI
LAMB

White lamb of the Lord, you take away
the sins of the world and you staunch
the blood of Cain which flows from           Genesis 4:15.
your pierced side; the divine whiteness
of your body is gentleness, the light
from the beacon of your faithful heart
burns with acceptance: you are the lamp
which illuminates the City of God.           Revelation 21:23.
The tears of your mother flowed over
your cold body and frosted the earth;
like the dew that covers the white fleece
of the lamb with frost on a cold night,
like the dew on the fleece which Gideon           Judges 6:17-38.
laid on the threshing floor after
he asked for a sign from God.

The fleece, like that which the Argonauts
were seeking in the most remote and
distant seas, is given to us by your hands
soaked in the blood of your veins;
and it is the true golden fleece
that never fades and which no robber
can ever steal; the pure gold of your blood
without flaw which, with the fire
of love, became the light of the Sun!