Page 9: Duc in Altum, continued

Duc in Altum, continued

The convert-monk-poet, Thomas Merton penned a lovely and moving poem for the feast in 1943; it is called “The Candlemas Procession,” and I would like to share it with you:

Lumen ad revelationem gentium.

Look kindly, Jesus, where we come, New Simeons, to kindle,

Each at Your infant sacrifice his own life’s candle.

And when Your flame turns into many tongues,

See how the One is multiplied, among us, hundreds!

And goes among the humble, and consoles our sinful

kindred.

It is for this we come,

And, kneeling, each receive one flame:

Ad revelationem gentium.

Our lives, like candles, spell this simple symbol:

Weep like our bodily life, sweet work of bees,

Sweeten the world, with your slow sacrifice.

And this shall be our praise:

That by our glad expense, our Father’s will

Burned and consumed us for a parable.

Nor burn we now with brown and smoky flames, but bright

Until our sacrifice is done,

(By which not we, but You are known)

And then, returning to our Father, one by one,

Give back our lives like wise and waxen lights.

Let us make the thriving of Catholic schools our goal in 2008, each in our own unique life situation. And then we shall truly duc in altum.

Father Peter Stravinskas is a priest of the Society of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. He is the editor-in-chief of Newman House Press and of Catholic Response, a magazine imbued with a joyful and dynamic orthodoxy and written according to high-quality journalistic standards. He is also the author of several books, many of which are available on-line through the Society's website at http://jhcnewman.org.