40 Crosses for 40 Days: 19th Cross - The Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire Cross

The cross for today, the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire cross, was another gift given to me by a child. He couldn't really tell me why he painted it the way he did. He just said he thought those particular colors looked nice. (He was only 6, so I didn't ask him for too much info.) But I thanked him and accepted his little gift and hung it up on my big wall of crosses and crucifixes, where he could see it. Over the years, I've looked at it occasionally and pondered it. It vaguely reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite figure out what.

Today, listening to the first Mass reading where Moses is speaking to the Israelites, it suddenly struck me. My young friend had painted a compilation of the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire that had led the Israelites through the desert. Exodus 13:21-22 says that, as the people set out into the wilderness, "The Lord preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light. Thus, they could travel both day and night. Neither the column of cloud by day nor the column of fire by night ever left its place in front of the people." The Lord was always with them, guarding them, protecting them, guiding them.

Looking at the cross, we can see the pillar of cloud in the blue paint. There are even four swirls showing the movement of the wind. The pillar of fire is represented by the six red stripes. (They were created using red glitter paint, so these red stripes shine and sparkle in the light, just like fire.) I'm not sure if the boy who painted this had just been listening to the story of Moses in the desert, and that had sparked his imagination or if his inspiration came from something else. But I do know that this Lent, many of us feel in great need of a "column of cloud to show [us] the way" in the day, and at night "a column of fire to give [us] light." This has been a hard Lent. We could use some guidance and protection.

The prayer that we offer in the Mass Entrance Antiphon today reflects this need:
To You I call, for You will surely heed me, O God.
Turn Your ear to me, hear my words.
Guard me as the apple of Your eye,
in the shadow of Your wings protect me." (Ps. 17 (16):6,8)

Almost two hundred years ago, another voice lifted up this same supplication. The voice came from St. John Henry Neuman, and his prayer took the form of a poem called "The Pillar of the Cloud."

The Pillar of the Cloud

by St. John Henry Neuman (1833)

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home-
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see
The distant scene, - one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path, but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will, remember not past years.

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

Let us pray with all the saints, especially St. John Henry Neuman, to be guided during the day by the Kindly Light, the Pillar of Cloud, and to be protected at night by the Pillar of Fire, during our Lent journey and every day, so that we, too, may glimpse those "angel faces," smiling, on Easter morn.

Let us pray: Holy Trinity, come to our aid during these 40 days. Guide our steps and our thoughts during the day, and comfort and protect us during the night. Help us remember that we are far from home, and that our Lenten journey is to end at the house of Our Father, through dying and rising with the Son. And in all things, let us praise you. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

The Strawberry Vine - Cultivating a Catholic Imagination