 | Sequences, Hymns, and Other Ecclesiastical Verses |  |
123
The Good News from Servia.
“Peace I leave you: My peace give I to you:
Not as this world giveth give I peace:
For the Paraclete, That shall renew you,
He shall make all brethren's quarrels cease.”
Not as this world giveth give I peace:
For the Paraclete, That shall renew you,
He shall make all brethren's quarrels cease.”
O, sweet Rainbow, yearn'd for long and dearly,
That some day One Onely Church shall span,
Dim and broken, and incipient merely,
Yet not less God's covenant with man:
That some day One Onely Church shall span,
Dim and broken, and incipient merely,
Yet not less God's covenant with man:
What are we, that we should see thee faintly
Gleaming on our dark tempestuous sky?
Thee, whom Seers, Confessors, Doctors Saintly,
Did so long for, would have dared to die?
Gleaming on our dark tempestuous sky?
Thee, whom Seers, Confessors, Doctors Saintly,
Did so long for, would have dared to die?
124
We shall never see thy perfect beauty;
We shall never trace thy sevenfold form:
Others' be the triumph,—ours the duty,—
Others' be the sunshine,— ours the storm.
We shall never trace thy sevenfold form:
Others' be the triumph,—ours the duty,—
Others' be the sunshine,— ours the storm.
None the less we do, we do behold thee,—
Thee, our wishes' full and perfect sum:
None the less our loving hopes enfold thee;
We can suffer so thou wilt but come.
Thee, our wishes' full and perfect sum:
None the less our loving hopes enfold thee;
We can suffer so thou wilt but come.
Shew us, Lord, Thy work; our sons Thy glory:
Yet of us, though that be all we ask,
May be said, perchance, in future story,
“These were men that then did Union's task:
Yet of us, though that be all we ask,
May be said, perchance, in future story,
“These were men that then did Union's task:
“Men, whom satire could not move, and ban not;
Men, who would work on, and would not cease;
These were men who never said—‘I cannot:’
These were men who prayed the Church to peace.”
Men, who would work on, and would not cease;
These were men who never said—‘I cannot:’
These were men who prayed the Church to peace.”
125
Yes! we fl ung the dastard question from us—
“How,—speak Common Sense!—can this be done?”
For we knew the everlasting promise,
Father, My will is they shall be one!
“How,—speak Common Sense!—can this be done?”
For we knew the everlasting promise,
Father, My will is they shall be one!
So once more we hail thee, glorious vision!
Though as yet saluting thee from far:
God, He grant us all thy full fruition
On the other side the golden bar!
Though as yet saluting thee from far:
God, He grant us all thy full fruition
On the other side the golden bar!
And, perchance, as years their course shall speed on,
With those names whose memory cannot fade,
Ephesus, Nicæa and Chalcedon,
Holy Church may some day set Belgrade!
With those names whose memory cannot fade,
Ephesus, Nicæa and Chalcedon,
Holy Church may some day set Belgrade!
| Sequences, Hymns, and Other Ecclesiastical Verses | |