In honor of the day

I received my copy of the current issue of Inside the Vatican and found Saint Anslem of Canterbury's Prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene. Given his feast day today, I thought it would be appropriate to post it:

But You, most holy Lord,
why do You ask her why she weeps?
Surely You can see;her heart, the dear life of her soul, is cruelly slain.
O love to be wondered at;
O evil to be shuddered at;
You hung on the wood, pierced by iron nails,
stretched out like a thief for the mockery of wicked men;
and yet, "Woman," You say, "why are you weeping?"
She had not been able to prevent them from kiling You,
but at least she longed to keep Your body for a while
with ointments lest it decay.
No longer able to speak with You living,
at least she could mourn for You dead.
So, near to death and hating her own life,
she prepeats in broken tones the words of life
which she had heard from the living.
And now, besides all this,
even the body which she was glad, in a way, to have kept,
she believes to have gone.
And can You ask her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
Had she not reason to weep?
For she had seen with her own eyes
if she could be to look
what cruel men cruelly did to You;
and now all that was left of You from their hands
she thinks she has lost.
All hope of You has fled,
for now she has not even Your lifeless body
to remind her of You.
And someone asks,
"Whom are you looking for? Why are you weeping?"
You, her sole joy,
should be the last thus to increase her sorrow.
But You know it all well, and thus You wish it to be,
for only in such broken words and sighs
can she convey a cause of grief as great as hers.
The love You have inspired You do not ignore,
And indeed You know her well,
the gardener, who planted her soul in his garden.
What You plant, I think You also water.
Do You water, I wonder, or do You test her?
In fact, You are both watering and putting to the test.