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Poem written by Helena Callanan to
commemorate
A SOLEMN TRIDUUM,
Commenced in Holy Trinity Church, Cork,
on May 5, in Honour of
Blessed Mary Magdalene de Martinengo,
CAPUCHIN NUN,
Beatified by His Holiness, Pepe Leo XIII.,
1900.
CORCORAN, PRINTER, CORK.
I.
SAINT of Assisi, of whom legends say
The birds and flowers did thy behest obey,
Loved of all lands, glad theme of many a pen,
The deepest and noblest, richest thoughts of men,
Poet and painter wreathe around thy name
The crown of sanctity's enduring fame—
When shall the glory of thy days be past ?
Not till the world's great heart hath throbbed its last,
When cloistered monk doth his last vigil keep,
And contrite penitents their last tears weep,
When martyrs' palm is won by blood no more,
And earth's long battle-strife with heaven is o'er,
When time with its malignant power to blight
Shall cease ; then, Francis, in the radiant light
Of perfect knowledge, at the King's high throne,
Winner of souls, shall thy great worth be known.
II.
ROME hath decreed another virgin gem
Should shed new lustre on thy diadem ;
Meagre and poor the gift of praise I bring,
Of Mont-de-Negro's virgin flower to sing ;
Only the blessed whose feet hath trod
The via dolorosa's path to God,
Can understand the soul, thus close allied
In mystic union with the Crucified.
In this ease-loving, sordid, selfish age,
The revelation that illumes each page
That tells of thee and of thy wondrous deeds,
Fill man with awe and reverence while he reads,
Of sinless childhood, and as pure a youth,
Each act reflecting the white light of truth,
Daily persecutions, yet desiring still
To live as though she knew no human will.
III.
FAIR Star of Bressy ! gentle, fragile maid,
Whose every step of life trod in the shade
Of dark Golgotha's steep and thorny way.
With sacrifice, and hymn of praise, to-day
We shrine thy name, within the Church's bosom,
To bloom a fragrant, grace diffusing blossom :
Ignored, despised, assigned the lowest place,
For this perfection in the life of grace
This priceless privilege, she prayed and sighed
Till self and every earth-born feeling died.
O, Blessed Sister, by the pains and tears,
And Crucifixions, of thy many years,
The burning zeal and sacramental fire,
That woke in thee the flame of love's desire.
May our petitions reach thy heart of gold,
As Church doth now thy peals of grace unfold.
IV.
N prayerful vigil, in her holy cell,
The Saint was kneeling, so the Annals tell,
Terese of Carmen and the Virgin Clare,
Arrayed in glory, broke upon her prayer.
They o'er the kneeling figure bent and smiled,
Each holy foundress claimed her for her child.
But, Clare, her long bright shining mantle threw
Round Blessed Margaret, thus the maiden knew
Her years were compassed by Saint Francis' rule.
In paths of poverty and suffering's school.
Shrined on our Altars, named in hymn and prayer
To-day we place our wants beneath thy care.
Entreat new bleesings for this land of ours,
To God and Francis true in darkest hours—
Purity, Patience and increase of Faith,
Temperance, love of the Cross, and truth till death.
HELENA CALANAN.