Deo Gratias

Thank you, Oh Lord
For having brought me to life as a woman
My body gives ultimate tribute to your glory
I am pleased with its curves
Remembering all the beauty of the world
I love its sacred cycles
That come and go like the waves of the sea

Thank you, Oh Lord
For the destiny You have bequeathed me
For the educating mission You entrusted to me
For my feminine intuition
For my natural spontaneity
For my passion
For my capacity to master and transform sorrow into joy
For my labor that births dignity, love and hope

Today, conscious of all the assets of my gifted body
In the name of each and every woman of the world
From Eve to Mary, Mother of Christ,
From Joan of Arc to Mother Teresa
I want to glorify You
With my womb
That gives life
With my breasts
That nourish life
With my arms
That comfort life
With my skin
Darkened by millennia of the sun,
That is the source of all life

Thank you, Oh my Lord
For having created me a woman
A black woman
And beautifully so ...

Amen

Poem Copyright © 2002 by Marie-Carmel Bordes