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THE FEAST OF THE A S S U M P T I O N OF THE V I R G I N Matins Felix rapina. The flap and whistle of the angel's wings, the public birth, the chastened motherhood. When they led her from her son's cruel scaffolding, she wanted no more miracles. Now this. Plucked up to heaven, a pressed flower—her body is used for a million statuary. Nones The church sweats in its dark stone. The triptych, a pamphlet of roses, flanks the altar. In one stained panel of window, Joseph provides detail. The Madonna mourns from a nearby table; one hand is raised as if reaching for fruit. Among the murmuring candles, a solicitor spews his secret into her ear. 45 Cowplme Mary, Holy Vessel, Queen of the Martyrs: in the mountains of Zakopane the rutted street swells with women, bringing youflowers. See how they cradle the passionate blossoms. Precious Mother, the village is blooming. Here, in a row by the plain wood houses, here, by the roadside, the young girls are gathered. Each wears white lace, hand-made for marriage; each is chosen, blessed by the father; and when the bells release a shower of pollen, each mouth opens to rapture like a wound. 46 ...

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