New clooties!

I spent half an hour in a stinging rain affixing clooties to the clootie tree and praying for each of the people they represent. Eight priests and bishops, plus an artist. So far the clooties on this tree have been nontraditional; today's are the real deal, strips of cloth from an old sheet. By the time I had hung the last one I was almost late for mass and only had time for a single photo, which I have cleverly turned into four. 

Clockwise from lower right:
• The photo from which the others were extracted.
• A medal clootie on purple yarn which I had hung previously. This one is the Sacred Heart of the Child Jesus. The others were St. Joan of Arc, St. Raphael the Archangel (patron saint of vision), St. Michael the Archangel (defense against evil), SS. Peter and Paul (the first pope and the first missionary), and one more. (Senior moment.)
• A sign I made instructing the passerby how to add a clootie to the tree, asking for prayer for the ones already present. I made the sign to be impervious to rain. Allons voir!
• A cloth clootie. You can see that although it's bright, it blends in fairly well. I wanted them to attract, not shout. 

After mass I was chatting with the Monsignor about the weekend schedule. (On Saturday he has to do two masses and a funeral, for which he needs to write three different homilies!) He asked me if there were any new clooties. "Oh, yes," I said. 

"I don't have time right now, but I'm going to have a look. I might add one myself," said the Monsignor.

A VISION

My vision for the clootie tree
is making praying plain to see.
I hope the tree fills up with prayer
in any form one wants to share.
Cathedral members will draw near
to add their clooties with good cheer.
Our neighbors passing on the street
will find the energy upbeat.
For who can possibly resist
when thus invited to be blessed?
A special something in the air
will signal that it's full of prayer.
Why, even those who don't believe
will feel those blessings and receive.
The reason's obvious, you see,
for God has made this clootie tree.

(And there might even be a holy well nearby.)