On His Most Arduous Cross-Bearing

He who carries all the heavens without pain,
who beckons to the stars and they obey,
is burdened with the heavy yoke of servitude.
God lays the unbearable on him to bear;
he takes the whole world's guilt upon his shoulders.
Ah, now Divinity's high power is revealed
as life-blood that in human weakness
flows when human skill and efforts fail.

Ah, he has taken my cross also with his own.
God's body consecrates all that it touches:
how can so sweet a burden be despised?
Whatever flows from blessing's well must flourish.
He bears not just his own cross, but also me with mine.
The tree of knowledge radiates a love divine.

Click here to read this sonnet in the original German.

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