(For the soul of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
If these bells could tell a tale
They’d ring for vessels set to sail
To the sandy shores of California
With stalwart crews of mission men
Led at the helm once again
By the Franciscan, Saint Serra.
A formed conscience must admit
The verity found in the statistic
Revealing to it. Revel!
These bells would tell a tale of brave,
Spanish friars kind to save
Friends; souls sought by the devil.
Truth and Light the elixir
But bitter bells for him or her
To see or hear or find
In modern times: so lost in sin;
Found wanting from within;
Too proud to be of One mind
Much like past times, long gone.
But bigots begone, a new dawn
Begun by priest and lay alike:
Nuns and monks broadcasting far
And wide now heard from afar,
Christ proclaimed in the mic!
While buildings still fall and close
Our Mother, sweet as a rose,
Rises above the din and dust
And builds upon the backs of saints;
With the blood of martyrs she paints
New bells that never rust.
“Her Son is the same today
As when Christ began the Way”
They say, “Kept by the Spirit
And preserved in the Scriptures,
Taught to children with pictures,
And Tradition learned with merit!
“Our voices now amplified,
We ring strong and dignified
And recorded for the airwaves
We sound on multi-media,
Waking souls from acedia,
Freeing sinners and slaves.
“Because of Mother Angelica
Our rings are heard in Africa,
Fewer churches are fighting us,
Many now are joining;
Baptism through anointing,
The Sacraments are a plus!
“Yet Christ still longs for souls
And prayers like smoke from incense bowls;
We’ll toll and tang to attract
And appeal to the appeal to love;
One symbol, the Holy Dove:
Father and Son, bound and wrapt!
“Through the power of transmission
We’ve been given a new mission;
Ringing in new languages,
Reaching ears for the first time;
To their delight, the sublime:
God’s true Church never languishes!”
Enlightenment was just a guise,
It was “Daybreak” in disguise;
That wise men brought a present
(“The Bells of San Blas” but a blur):
Gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh:
Thank Christ, risen and present!
Gary Edward Geraci