Ode 19, an early Syriac Christian Poem

Ode 19

1. A cup of milk was offered to me And I drank it with the sweetness of the Lord's kindness.
2. The Son is the cup,
    And He who was milked is the Father;
    And She who milked Him is the Holy Spirit;
3. Because His breasts were full,
    And it was undesirable that His milk should be spilt without purpose
4. The Holy Spirit opened Her womb
    And mixed the milk of the two breasts of the Father
5. And gave the mixture to the world without their knowing.

    And those who take (it) are in the perfection of the right hand.

6. The womb of the Virgin caught (it)
    And she received conception and gave birth.
7. And the Virgin became a mother through great mercy
8. And she labored and bore a Son without suffering
    Because it did not happen without purpose.
9. And she did not require a midwife

    Because He delivered Her.
10. As a man she bore by will,
      And she bore with display,
      And acquired (her Son) with great power.
11. And she loved (Him) with redemption, And guarded (Him) with kindness,
      And showed (Him) with greatness.

Hallelujah

A colleague of mine shared this poem on a social media post recently, and I loved it. I love the Trinitarian imagery. I love the feminine imagery. I love that the Holy Spirit is referred to as "she." (Not loving the squeamishness around pain, but ah well, you can't win them all.) I love getting to encounter Christian art I'm unfamiliar with. So I'm keeping it here so I can revisit it. May it be nourishment to your faith as well.

If you would like to read more about the Odes as I did, here is a link to the Wikipedia article.