At last I’m free to visit Church today;
What State dare silence this ecstatic hymn?
Hallelujah, O Lord, how oft we pray
to be free—and now we’re free! Yet we brim
with need for more. I hear the choir sing
of love and salvation. Pray, are we saved?
I trust in Thee; Thou art my mask. I cling
to hope: it is not my time. A nurse waved
at me, fatigued. Has she not seen Thy Light?
What can I do but keep her in my prayers?
Ah, now I’ve taken ill. Why didst Thou smite
me with the Plague? O, bring her up the stairs
to Heaven; we’ll bask in newfound freedom.
In death, dear nurse, I sing you this Te Deum.

for the brave nurses battling the pandemic

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On November 26, the Supreme Court ruled that New York’s limits on attendance at houses of worship in areas hit hard by Covid-19 violated the First Amendment.