I know a girl that cuts herself.
In silence and when she is most alone,
Calmly and exactly with sharpened blade,
She opens her veins: lets the scarlet blood
Flow before her admiring eyes. For one ecstatic
Moment, she forgets the self that she hates:
Seeing her blood and guilt being poured out.
. . .
Tell me,
Are you the priestess of the religion of your self?
Are you the sacrifice upon the altar of your skin?
Do you offer your blood in atonement to your self?
Well, this is a very modern cult!
But what does modernity know of religion?
Open the book and you will see:
“Without the shedding of blood,
There is no forgiveness of sins.”
So you are right, my dear, to desire the shedding of blood,
But – stupid woman! – you should know your blood is worthless!
How can your blood, stained with guilt, purify your conscience?
Come,
I will take you to a more ancient temple;
I will teach you the ways of our ancestors;
I will reveal to you a more holy rite and a more precious blood.
First, know this: that since the beginning of the world,
When man first sinned, there has always been the bloody sacrifice:
Upon altars made of stone, guiltless animals were tightly bound,
And with the sacred words said, and the sacred gestures made,
Taking the consecrated knife, the priest slaughtered the victim.
For the wage of sin is death, and even to this day:
The sins of men are crying to heaven for vengeance.
Now enter this temple, and see above this altar:
The body of the living God sacrificed upon the cross!
Look at him, look at him who bled for you!
See his gentle arms spread out,
His innocent hands pierced with nails,
See his feet, his head crowned with thorns,
See the Heart of the God of Love bleeding thick and red.
“Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away
The sin of the world.” Behold the true purification,
Behold the real purgation of your soul.
Behold this woman, Magdalene, a woman more filthy than you,
Behold how she repays his blood with the water of her tears!
Keep your sorry blood to yourself, and imitate this holy lady:
Pour out the perfume of your love upon his sacred body.
I want you to see yourself through his eyes.
I want to see you holy and pure like the angels.
Take this chalice of the blood of your redemption:
Drink it ’til you are drunk,
And let me never see you sober again.
