The Book of the Holy Graal By Arthur Edward Waite |
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| II. |
| III. |
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| VII. |
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| X. |
| XI. |
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| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVII. |
 | The Book of the Holy Graal |  |
So fell the Master's teaching once again
To silence, and his hearers' hearts were fill'd
With that high worship which election brings.
But evermore they wonder'd—each with each,
Or inwardly, in humbleness of heart—
What power and mercy should have singled such
As they, two children of obscurity,
For so high ends. Now in the outward ways
Full often meeting—since the walls of things
Dissolved about them upon every side
And brought the pair together day by day—
They heard the Holy Masses of the Church,
And peace was with them. Many graces stood
Around them, enter'd through their open doors
And vivified. Yet of the secret things
Behind the Eucharist—the while endured
This further space of interlude between
The teaching of the Blessed Master's mouth
And that of vision—no great message came,
Fair intimations to the mind at work
Or held in stillness.
To silence, and his hearers' hearts were fill'd
With that high worship which election brings.
But evermore they wonder'd—each with each,
Or inwardly, in humbleness of heart—
What power and mercy should have singled such
As they, two children of obscurity,
For so high ends. Now in the outward ways
Full often meeting—since the walls of things
Dissolved about them upon every side
And brought the pair together day by day—
They heard the Holy Masses of the Church,
And peace was with them. Many graces stood
Around them, enter'd through their open doors
And vivified. Yet of the secret things
Behind the Eucharist—the while endured
This further space of interlude between
The teaching of the Blessed Master's mouth
And that of vision—no great message came,
Fair intimations to the mind at work
Or held in stillness.
Knowing as they did
That in their other, hidden side of life
They served an Altar, like the priest on earth,
But out of earthly things to those of soul
Raised up, and were enring'd on every side
With witness of the Presence; knowing too
How in the spiritual House they bare
The self-same elements of Bread and Wine;
What hidden bond subsisted at the root
Between the sacred work imposed on them
And that of ministers in outward ways
Ordain'd? No ordination save of work
Imposed by service had the active life
Of their strange sleep set as a seal on them.
No consecration had their lips or hands
Perform'd, though since the Many-Mansion'd House
Roll'd back its portals and receiv'd them in,
They knew what sacro-saintly life abode
Within the Bread and Wine they bare and gave
To crowds of worshippers who knelt without
And some who follow'd on the quest within.
That in their other, hidden side of life
They served an Altar, like the priest on earth,
154
Raised up, and were enring'd on every side
With witness of the Presence; knowing too
How in the spiritual House they bare
The self-same elements of Bread and Wine;
What hidden bond subsisted at the root
Between the sacred work imposed on them
And that of ministers in outward ways
Ordain'd? No ordination save of work
Imposed by service had the active life
Of their strange sleep set as a seal on them.
No consecration had their lips or hands
Perform'd, though since the Many-Mansion'd House
Roll'd back its portals and receiv'd them in,
They knew what sacro-saintly life abode
Within the Bread and Wine they bare and gave
To crowds of worshippers who knelt without
And some who follow'd on the quest within.
| The Book of the Holy Graal | |