[In 1990, Latinitas, the official Vatican magazine of Latin culture and literature, reviewed Francisco Cabrera's poem Laus Guadalupensis (Praise of the Dark Virgin).  The bulk of the review, written in Latin by Horacio Bologna, is translated here by William Cooper.] 

     This age, in which the Latin language seems to have been almost completely obliterated from the heritage of certain . . . people, can welcome into the number of illustrious poets Francisco J. Cabrera.  For among illustrious poets, who use the Latin language as a means of expressing and singing the movings of the soul, one seems worthy of great praise, because he wields heroic verse with a certain ease and skill and the same lightness as Virgil and Ovid.

     Although a learned and cultured practitioner of poetry, well read in the ancient Roman poets, he has achieved such skill in weaving together his lines that by right and merit he has become a disciple and equal of the ancient bards . . .

     The poem is worth remembering and praising for many reasons.  Little less than a book of the Aeneid in length, it is divided into two parts.  In both parts Sr. Cabrera praises and celebrates the Virgin Mary and the Redeemer of mankind.

     In Mexico stands an excellent and most ornate cathedral, in which the miraculous appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated.  Pope John Paul II came to honor this miracle of the Virgin in 1990, and the author composed the poem in celebration of the Pope's visit to Mexico.

     Sr. Cabrera, however, while he sings the praises of the Virgin Mother, is not able to refrain from commemorating the deeds of the Spanish leaders.  For, led by the divine will, Columbus left Spain and steered his ships to those far-off lands.  The Spanish leaders having seized power from the Mexicans, the priests and friars taught the Christian religion to the natives.  In a very few years, in a spot not far from the Mexican capital, a most ornate temple of the Virgin of Guadalupe was built.  For a certain Indian named Juan Diego saw the Virgin several times and persuaded the bishop of Mexico to acknowledge Her with suitable honors.  The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Latin America.  

     The poetic force of the work and its author overwhelm the mind, capture the spirit and move the imagination with the flow of verses and elegance of words: for not only in marvelous fashion does it retell the deeds of the Spanish leaders, but also renders a portrait of the Virgin in such sweet verses that you can hardly tear eyes and mind away from the page . . . [Read this portrait on Select Passages page.] 

     . . . I urge all lovers of the Latin language to read this poem and, enjoying Cabrera's sweet fidelity to the Muses, to learn that the ancient Roman language can stilll be well and fitly adapted to the expression of the poet's spirit.  I also ask and beseech him to collect his other poems in a book so that they may serve to enrich the spirit and illuminate the home.