On this feast of the Assumption of Mary, from John Donne's "A Litanie:"

For that faire blessed Mother-maid,Whose flesh redeem'd us; that she-CherubinWhich unlocked Paradise, and madeOne claime for innocence, and disseiz'd sinne,Whose wombe was a strange heav'n, for thereGod cloath'd himselfe, and grew,Our zealous thankes wee poure. As her deeds wereOur helpes, so are her prayers; nor can she sueIn vaine, who hath such titles unto You.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

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