Philomena Kampe: “Rosa Sanguinis” (poem

Rosa Sanguinis Philomena Kampe

I composed this poem during the end of my senior year of high school as a meditation and devotion to the Christ Child and His Most Precious Blood. The piece portrays the soul and its relationship to the Incarnate Son of God in a combination of the traditions of various saints: St. Therese, Sts. Dominic Savio and John Bosco, and St. Philip Neri. This poem was written in honor of the Holy Innocents and in memory of my infant sister Angela.

O Rosa delicata! Per annum multum Scio eam in animam crescere. Est similis lacrimosae Imo sanguinis stillae. Autem magis est Multae stillae, piscina. Nam rosa est rubra In spinae peccatae effusa E corde Pueri Qui est admirabilis. Et lacrimae Suae defluxit Cum effusus est rosam. In coronam Suam Gemma sane floruit.

April 15, 2020

A delicate rose For many a year In my garden grows. It is like a small tear Or a drop of blood. ’Twould be better said Many drops, a flood. For the rose is red On the thorns of sin spilt From the heart of a child Untainted with guilt. His tears fell as rain As the rose was bled. A jewel of blood bloomed On the crown of His head