Ten o’clock most Thursday mornings
I join my mother
And a few others
In the small chapel
Of Our Lady of Peace Retirement Center
Where Mom lives now
In 2024
Making her 100th journey around the sun
Worshiping still, as she has always
The Son of Man
Jesus the Christ
The Anointed
The Messiah
With a special devotion to his mother
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Or, as I often say 
But never in Mom’s hearing
The BVM
As if she were a particularly fine
Make of car

My mother’s faith is no longer my own
But I join her and others
Most every Thursday
To say the rosary
That five decade prayer to the BVM
Interspersed with the Our Father and 
Glory be to God prayers

Throughout my grade school years
Attending St. Leo the Great Catholic School
In the overwhelmingly Catholic city
Of New Orleans
We said the rosary after lunch
Every day, Monday to Friday
Together as a class
With the sole objective of speed
HailMaryFullOfGraceTheLordIsWithTheeBlessedArtThouAmongWomen…

Now, sitting with a small group of the residents
Of Our Lady of Peace Retirement Center
I say the rosary slowly with them
Savoring not the words but the rhythm
Not the meaning but the community
Not with my head but with my heart