New Bells of San Blas

(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