To a Priest
by VP
Posted on Monday July 30, 2018 at 10:08AM in Poetry
To a Priest
How blest the hour, when on thy sacring day,
’Mid prayer and holy rite,
The fragrant unction dew’d thy hands for aye
With priestly might!
Then power to thee, O favored one! was given
Daily to climb the Rood
And pluck therefrom the Body, for us riven,
As daily food;
To give their God to men, making them strong
’Gainst ever-biding stress;
To lift Him high above the adoring throng,
His own to bless;
To whiten as the snow the erring soul
In scarlet hue bedyed;
For, at thy word, life-giving waters roll
In cleansing tide!
For such dread gifts, O Priest! from day to day
Pour forth thanksgiving meet;
Waiting the call their golden fruits to lay
At Jesus’ feet!
By Dom Michael Barrett, O.S.B.
Source: The Ave Maria, July 25, 1908 p. 97.
Special thanks to Robert Olson
