Sonnets of Worship During COVID-19: a Corona

These Sonnets were written by Bethany Besteman, a member of Silver Springs Christian Reformed Church and a PhD candidate in English Literature at the Catholic University of America with a focus on the English Renaissance and the intersections of politics, theology, and theater. The Sonnets are written to follow the order of worship and can be used by individuals for personal reflection, or in worship with households, small groups, or full congregations interspersed throughout worship or as a poetic offering. 

While these days we readily associate the word "Corona" with the COVID-19 virus in English literature it has another meaning entirely. Bethany explains:

"A Sonnet Corona or a Crown of Sonnets is a linked sonnet sequence in which the last line of each sonnet is the first line of the next. The final line of the final sonnet is the same as the first line of the first sonnet. Thus, the sequence forms a crown as it circles back to the beginning. Another devotional example of this is by John Donne. It seemed appropriate to reclaim the word "corona" and use it to glorify God, the King of Kings, who remains crowned and sovereign despite the coronavirus."