FW % m I Class _ ■■ S /£££. Book_ '-2£Q» GopsTi^ht N° COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. i Jwfe^*^ J? ^'■3 mRl m. ns 1% «pfe < ^ n^m 'piutim mm* . (^> rf^.':J2 ^^^ ^ife ^'^« ^-*^?; The Building* of a Church BY JOHN X. DURWARD RURAL DEAN BARABOO, WIS., J902 ^■f Iht LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Two Copies Received JAN 3 1903 n Copyright Entry /J/CLASS (X XXc. No ^79(0 COPY B. Copyright 1902. All rights reserved. 2>eDication. To the Priests of America The Church Builders of our time This volume is dedicated. PREFACE. It is not so much as a poem that this little book is written as the expression of the joy of a workman in his work, of those "vital feeling's of delight" which should animate a man at his labor. It is, further, the embodiment of principles of ar- chitectural art, which, had they been observed, would have prevented much of the ugliness that disfigures our land in the way of church buildings. If the Devil were an architect I would think that many clergymen had employed him to draw their plans. It is in the hope that as our country progresses in ev- ery thing else good, it may also grow in genuine feel- ing for an architecture that is fit to be offered to God, that I present this small contribution as a lesson and an inspiration; and if as the pious Herbert says: "A verse may find him whom a sermon misses," it may even do missionary work in fields where other apostles would be debarred. Some one says that for worship we should go, "Not to the domes where crumbling arch and column Attest the feebleness of mortal hand, But to that fane most Catholic and solemn Which God has planned, — To that cathedral boundless as our wonder, Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply, Its choir the wind and waves, its organ thunder, Its dome, the sky." iv PREFACE But I venture the guess that the poet who penned these beautiful lines, drew the initial inspiration (perhaps forgotten) with his knees on the pavement of a Chris- tian Temple. Ordinary minds never rise to a right conception of God's work except by first contemplating man's. Then their thoughts expand to the realization of the beauty and sublimity of nature which before was something so unmeasured that they did not feel its immensity. The architecture of the Christian church is the art unitive of all other arts. Building, Sculpture, Painting, even Music and Oratory must be consulted, if, from the nature of the case, not all are employed in the structure. But Architecture has this advantage over the other plastic arts: Painting and Sculpture are seen against a background of man's making — the dull wall of the studio or the gilded panel of the gal- lery — but Architecture has for relief the transfiguring air shot through by sunlight, the companionship of the mountain, the repose of the Campagna, or the change- ful hue of the sea. Surely if anything of man's is to be picturesque it should be his building — for he builds where it is seen of God, and placed by the side of His Art. As the House should express the home life so the church building must represent the Faith. The pagan temple was a dwelling simply for the god, small size only was required; very little light, very little adorn- ment;— the erods were born of Nox, and in darkness PREFACE v was their abode. He only who dwells in light inacces- sible could bring - architecture to that beauty which the Christian heart desires. On the other hand the Prot- estant church — the Protestant for whom God came in- deed but went away again — is at best merely a meeting house for the people in which to worship their absent Deity; for their puritanism will not, or would not till lately, allow it to be made an art g-allery, nor their re- maining reverence permit it to be a club-room. But the Catholic architect has to combine these two: the dwell- ing place of the present God, and the auditorium for the worshippers; and his task is to harmonize light, air and acoustics with adoration. Although I maintain that Gothic is by excellence the Christian style, yet I would not wish to be under- stood as reprobating the judicious use of other styles, if only they be preserved in their purity. The world would indeed be poorer without the variety. Nor will I say that though Christianity created the Gothic and did not originate the others, that it is unable to appro- priate those other forms; yea, and consecrate them, as the church did many pagan customs. Wherever a rite is agreeable to human nature and not dangerous to faith or morality the missionary does not abrogate it but transfers it. Even when dangerous at one time, it may be innocent at another; the statues of the false god would have been destroyed by Peter, but are cher- ished by Leo. So a form of architecture may have been the expression of a pagan faith, but in so far as it corresponds with the laws of beauty and of adora- vi PREFACE tion, may be the ground work of the Christian church, because veneration is the basis of religion in pagan and Christian alike; the direction of the worship alone needing- to be changed. The whole question then hinges on whether an extraneous architecture can or can not be adapted to Christian ideals of God and man's relation to Him without becoming- mongrel. But whatever we may say of the right to adapt an earlier architecture there is no excuse for adopting- the modern degenerations from Catholic art. This degen- eracy is marked in the architecture of Protestanism. We see its earth-seeking- in the Renaissance that return to Paganism, its disobedience in the Tudor, its vanity in the Flamboyant. Yes! we must admit we find its inception when architecture fell from its highest estate in the worldliness of Catholic Popes. Gothic architecture is the counterpart of Catholic doctrine: in both there is the most perfect acquiescence in law joined to the very highest liberty. Take an ex- ample: One feature of Gothic is the pointed arch. But what an endless variety in that form! The Roman arch is one; no deviation possible from that half-circle. hi Gothic again we find the counterpart of Catholic mo- rality— the union of science and of art, of principle with sentiment. The modern R. R. station and the sky scraper have used science but without the beauty; the little cot on the mountain side has the beauty but no hint of engineering skill; while the Gothic Cathedral is the triumph of technical principle and a climax of ar- chitectural beauty and life. PREFACE vii In regard to the hotly contested question of the ad- missibility of Iron as a building- material, so savagely excommunicated by John Ruskin and so warmly cham- pioned by Henry Van Brunt (Vide Crayon, Vol. VI, p. 15) perhaps the old axiom may be of service: qui bene distinguit, bene docet. We must admit as a general proposition that iron can never supersede stone as the best material for walls and the most beautiful medium for ornament. But as buildings are for utility as well as beauty and there is a limit to one's purse, it becomes simply a question of how much of the one we will sac- rifice for the other. No one will say that a cast iron pillar is as beautiful as one cut from marble, but he must ask himself if he have room for the larger stone or must be content with the smaller iron. Let us keep in mind that he knows he sacrifices beauty (and this should be self-confessed) but so does he who only places a plaster cast of Psyche in his study who cannot afford the marble. Now, while this sacrifice may properly be made where utility is the object of our building, it is out of place where ornament is the end aimed at. Another general law: As ornament is not essential, if we have it at all we should have it excellent; economy (always within just bounds) lessening the quantity rather than the quality. And again another — Where beauty is ex- pressed by majestic lines especially far distant, as the roof span, I see no objection to the use of iron; indeed it will facilitate what could not be accomplished with- out its aid. The same may be said where the orna- vin PREFACE mentation is not to be viewed in its detail, but in its entirety fo.r sake of the whole effect— like a wall paper for the atmosphere of richness but which should not tempt one to look at it as at a picture. With these suggestions I commit this poem to the reader. It is confessedly an Olla podrida; but Sanchez finds many a bonm bouche in that national dish; (prosit «»men!) it is sadly disjointed— but so is a priest's leisure. The Deanery, Baraboo, Wis., 1902. INVOCATION. O Thou! the Spirit Architect supreme! Than depth profounder and than height more high; Who laid foundations for man's earth abode, Poising- the water, 'stablishing the sky, With certain law and meter compassing, That nothing pass its bounds; by thy joy v when Playing at all times, playing in the world, Thou hadst delight to be with sons of men; Be with me man daring to build for God, Daring where wisest one of old exclaimed: "Thou whom the heaven of heavens cannot hold How canst Thou dwell in house by my hand framed?" Yet did he build. Saying in confidence: "Let hither come the nations all. Behold! Jehovah here invoked as in high heaven; Whatever they shall ask for shall be given; Shechinah of the mercies manifold." SCOPE. No common task is ours. The xArchitect Of Christian fane must in one house unite All that for worship has been raised before. THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Temple he builds— the shrine of Deity: Basilica— the dwelling- of the King-: EJcclesia — the fold for chosen ones: Church, too— the Lord's, for Lord's day sacrifice. URGENCY. In creating God rejoices: We too yearn to bear a part; Motherhood is woman's portion,— Man must turn to art, And in statue, book or picture Leave behind him prog-eny After his own heart. DIFFIDENCE. In spirit first I build. Like David old Planning God's dwelling while he watched his sheep, Raising in thought to melody of his harp That temple not for him. Keep, O God! keep Thy Spirit ever near to mine, to bless: Lest sin in me prevent the work sublime, Support me that Imay to worthiness Upbuild my soul while I upbuild my rhyme. CONFIDENCE. Swell, swell my voice with more than Orphean power; Sing out inv muse in sweeter tones than Pan's; LikeFlorence'pride our Church must grow-a flower, It shall be music's offspring more than man's. That music that the morning- stars essayed, INTRODUCTORY 2 That music to which all creations move, That music that in Heaven itself is made Because that music still is Love. INTRODUCTORY. What is a church? On Canaan's upland wold Jacob set up a single stone, unhewn, Pouring- the consecrating oil, and lo! "This is the 'House of God' this is Beth-El." So through the ages gleams the vast Maenhir: (Like giant left alone on battle field;) The single stone symboling God's unity. Such sees the traveller with wondering eyes Where Carnac dreams among her thousand stones In sea-washed Morbihan. Or Orkney Isles Hold up aloft the Monolith of Stennis, To Odin sacred, or if curious creeps Through stone at Maderty. Or reverent stands By Tanist Stane, or kingly Lia-Fail. All altars these; and altar makes the church. Next view, remembered of God's Trinity, The Dolmen, Table Stone or Trilithon, "Kit Coity's House" at Maidstone an example; Or where Loire glides by Saumur, or in far India's land, or east of Jordan's flood. We call these Druid stones; but time has hid The sacrificing priest, and we know not Whether to Odin, or to Mars, or to 4 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The sun god, or Jehovah of the Jews These altars rose; or if acceptable Victim were here, or human holocaust. But altar surely tokens sacrifice, And sacrifice's precinct is a church. Then see the Maenhir and the Dolmen gather — Like village children in a rural dance — Into the Cromlech or stone circle vast. Our churches walls are forming! Go see Stonehenge on plain of Salisbury Those ''hanging stones" once in concentric rings- Alas! that spoiler's hand has so destroyed These finest monuments of Britain's Eld. There yet live those who saw their perfectness; But few remain today. O tempora! Others are found at Avesbury in Wiltshire At Stanton Drew, at Callernish and Orkney; Yes! and in far Peru beneath the Line And where Mount Sinai heard the primal law. Next pass to space inclosed by wall and roof; The temple proper. First the rock cut caves, Dagobas, relic shrines of farthest Ind. At Baugb on the Nerbudda or at Karli, Rivaling in shape Christian Basilica; Chaitvas dedicate to Brahm or Buddh Or more pretentious Kylas at Ellora Where rock is cut to temple outwardly. MAENHIR— DOLMEN— CROMLECH. INTRODUCTORY Where "China's sorrow" with his muddy waves, The Hoang--Ho, runs furious to the sea, Or where by all beloved the Yang--tse-kiang- The "Son that spreads" loses himself in Deltas, The Buddish temple rises on our view Fantastic pag-od of fantastic creed, With turned up cornice like John's almond eyes, Where imag-ed Buddh preaches to imag-ed Gods, Or Bouzes burn g-ilt paper at their shrine Ting added to Ting for idol and for priest; Confucius honored with funereal fane Or Yin and Yang- father and mother of all. At Birs Nimroud see ruins eloquent Of old Assyria and of Babylon; The temple of the seven spheres that tells Of Nebuchodonosor and his reig-n, Its columns borne on backs of giant bulls Wing-ed and potent like the voice of g-ods. Or see the cactus land of Yucatan Kabah, Ake and Chicuenitza show Monastic life among- the Maya tribe Where Teocallis of Palenque, Uxmal, Record religion of the Toltec mild Succeeded by the cruel Aztec race Their altars drenched in human sacrifice. Taotl, ruler of the Universe forg-ot In worship of their bloody Mars. We tread where Karnac's temples strew the sand 6 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH With giant blocks of granite; sphinxes vast, Ram-headed, five times five score guard the way 'Tween this and Luxor, where the cataracts Of Nile are rivalled by tumultuous heaps, Pillar and propylon and cornice stone, Collossi vast and obelisk engraved, And Capitals where quite one hundred men Might stand secure. These admiration claim, But not our imitation or our love. No! nor thy matchless pyramid, O Cheops! Or sphinx gazing throug-h sixty centuries. From prehistoric ruins we withdraw, To gaze on architectures that have left The impress of their thought upon the world, — Egypt and Greece and Rome and Normandy. Our copy book the world. Set to the task. Since time, when driven from the g-arden brig-ht Our proto-parent felt the press of life, That weight that downward drag's, man's effort ever To evade the load, or, if the g-ods forbid, To find philosophy to bear it up. This the world dream of Buddha; he who found, Or thougiu he found, escape in dim Nirvana. 'Twas but a dream. With daylight comes realitv. View we the problem solved as best they could By (littering- peoples in their differing- ways; Reading their architecture as our g-uide; For here a cognate question is presented: EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE u How shall we bear the weight of masonry?" And wonderfully does the style of art In every age and clime express the faith, More or less perfect in proportion ever As it approaches to the highest truth. It is not only that the spirit's flight Keeps equal pace with the material life, And architecture blooms as progress spreads; But since Religion— bond 'twixt God and man- Is found sole refuge from mortality, So our conception of the Deity Will mould the altar builded unto Him. Thus, unsurprised we see that He alone Is Alpha and Omega of this art. For architecture is not building- mere, The dwelling came— perhaps— before the Church But noble building; Master work the word; (Not having anything to do with arch. ) This first attempted, for the Deity, Its highest service ever given to Him. To Him the Hindu fane by Gungas' wave To Him the Angel's Dome by Tiber's side To Him thy pallid crown— Acropolis! To Him the "Marble prayer" of Eombardy. Ever to Him the fairest, costliest, best. EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. Weight, weight, weight, weight, a crushing weight;- This the refrain of Egypt's thought and work. 8 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Not weig-ht upborne with gladdened strength to bear But suffering- under load insufferable. Not Ossa piled on Pelion and Olympus Could crush with such o'erwhelming- mastery The earth and soul, as does her Pyramid. Why throw not off the load? Her Faith prevents. What has been must be. Fate is chiefest god. Look at her temple — Pyramid remultiplied! Her obelisks, those "Fingers of the Sun," Never for her pointing to hig-her thing-s. See yonder Fellah with his wicker pail Watering- that sand insatiable, or yon With Buffle team plowing- the slime for Durra. Stag-nant forever as the yellow pool! For Kismet still keeps Egypt's people low. GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. Not thus. the Grecian building- bears its load — The load disguised not — but a load upheld With joying power. Those Doric columns there — See how the fluted shaft thins toward the top; Throwing- away, just where it meets the load, Strength it thus shows held in redundancy; Like Morphy or like Pilsbury at chess Giving- the odds — and winning-. And yet it rises not above the load: Content with earth and physical perfection It is of earth, and earthy; but of earth A^m^^_ ! w?^ftrr mm 'pi *'I m\ k.ttj f 1 n II a 5BJ|l^^ fi if 4 11 1 "U'i I 'i 1 IJi ' 'ml "•^^^y ■ THE CLASSICAL GRECIAN— SO FAIR. GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE 9 The perfectest that earth has ever seen Fairest that earth can see that will not gaze on Heaven. How well it fits to their relig-ious thought! The Plastic worship of Dame Nature's power: The deifying- of the beautiful and strong: Religion without shadow — like their skies Men of the golden age — Earth's infancy — Children not knowing life's realities — Haply forgetful of Death's mysteries — Too fair a dream to last. The Panathenic glory that streamed through The Temples of Acropolis, when games Kept all men young, making for very joy All life a playhouse, fitly represent That cult of joyous Pan, But "Pan is dead." And so we pass Contemplating, but not with tearless eye, The solitary shaft at Ephesus Where silent stork stands on one bloody leg, Or where the Parthenon in that repose That 'marks the manners of the great' uprears Its giant form against the violet sky, Suffering but deathless like Prometheus. 10 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. Greek Temple is a hero standing- lone: Limbs strong- if slig-ht, but shoulders broad like Jove's; Requiring- g-iant blocks of stone to build; Not many such in this deg-enerate time. The Roman takes the vulg-ar multitude, The uncounted fractions of the brick-yard clay And builds them to an arch — and spans the world! That arch more lasting- than the Roman's rule And spanning- more momentous gulfs by far Than his dominion of a thousand years; That arch triumphal, with processions greater Than Titus or Vespasian saw;— with song- Lacking- that diapason of bruised nations But resonant with pean. By Tiber blond See where the man of four souls* raised in air The Pantheon. Or first, where wave on wave Arno proceeds with pace of royalty, See Bruneleschi's dome rivalling- the Tuscan sky: The Ang-el to his rival by the Arno Giving the praise: "Poorer than that I will not Greater than that I cannot." This is the arch full-blossomed into Dome. kk The round arch nevermore can conquered be." Rome boasts, as of herself. Yet Rome has fallen. Still, mark that noble form till now unmatched, Her vanity condoning-, hear her sing-. 'Michael Angelo. THE ARCH OF THREE DIMENSIONS. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE n Song of the Roman Arch. "It comes with the arc of the blue day's light It comes with the spring- of the rainbow bright And with wedding- ring-'s circle of power. And it bridg-es the streams and it strides o'er the plain; In its arm is the river it sets down ag-ain For the fevered metropolis' dower: And it builds the Basilic, the circus encloses With tier above tier, where a nation reposes For gladiatorial show; And it swells to an arch of dimensions three— The Dome — that master work, deep as a sea With a heaven's light aglow. And solid its roads and triumphal its arches, It annihilates chasms, where the universe marches As it bows to our conquering rod; And'it stands in its might like a mountain rock"— But the saxifrage splits up the dolomite block, So upward, leaf-like, springs the Gothic of God. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. "Not to destroy, but to fulfill"— yea verily There is the mission of evolving forms. This the prerogative of Gothic art; Retaining Nature; superadding grace: Keeping the body with its strength, in time; 12 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Adding- the soul and beauty and eternity: Keeping- the eloquence and joy of Greece; Keeping the stability of Rome; but adding- The upward streaming- force of Gothic prayer. Of prayer so Catholic that all voices blend; And Normandy Cologne and Spain Within this architecture find a place, Grotesqueness of the Italian school Tempered by England's grace. Man feels in his soul a religious gloom: — A mystery of life, not a funeral pall — Speaking louder of Heaven than itspeaksof the tomb; He finds it expressed in yon forest of larch; And he builds its dimness to temple wall; And he finds the form of his doorway tall Where elm-tree aisle suggests the gothic arch. And his need of petition makes the arches there Clasp overhead like fingers in prayer; While aspiration springs higher and higher, Advancing on crockets, like wavelets of fire, To that arrowy flight of finial and spire. The ecstasy over, returning- to earth He toils on in patient content, Seeing Nature so lavish of beautiful forms, And covers his structure with ornament. The later styles need not delay our work. O Renaissance! The birth anew. Of what? Of the old Adam? We must build on Christ. TUDOR ARCHITECTURE 13 See that elaborate Tudor ceiling! Florid blossoming! — Ornament run wild: — Richness overpiled— Faith controlled by feeling: Rich in decoration; Fine aspiring- spring-; But anon toward earth returning-. For the wonted flesh-pots yearning; Like discouraged little soul Seeking human consolation, Missing highest goal. How shall we choose out of all these designs that proffer their service? Who shall decide whether lily or rose or harebell be fairest? Whether the elm or the oak or the chestnut be grandest of outline? Whether our Milton or Dante or Virgil be sweetest in singing? 'Tis not alone what is fairest we seek but that which is fittest. Fitter the bluebell to swing o'er the lichen-clad rock in the Highlands Fitter the rose for the bridal, the lily for bier of the virgin. Fit only for Christian church architecture express- ing the Christian. 14 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Back to the thralldom of Egypt — its palpable dark- ness we turn not: Glad to escape from the ponderous crush of its pyr- amid coffin; Even the classical Grecian — so fair — we relinquish — but sighing: Sigh that the chaste is not fruitful. Except where the shadowing Dove Quickens to mystery highest. "Concepit de Spiritu Sancto." The Renaiscence Mongrel, well meaning, has proved an abortion: Moorish a fairy tale, beautiful still, but ignoring man's burden: Rome and Byzantium have conquered by force; but the Christian ideal — Divinity raising man's life above mere mortal estate, Free will and grace, aspiration and love, are found in the Gothic. PARADOX. Can heat come any whence but from the South? Can any good from Nazareth be seen? Gothic! Term of reproach in classic mouth Comes to build temple for the Nazarene. SPIRIT OF TRUTH 15 Four Genii with their lamps ablaze Four Spirits raying- light forever Illume the earth and guide aright Each work of high endeavor: Will-o'-the-wisp all other lig-ht. Poorer than best we may not raise- Then call we down these ministrants And learn their ways. Truth of the single eye and valiant tong-ue, And Beauty of the winning- smile That keeps the worlds forever young-, Then Sacrifice of quick and g-enerous hand,— Eager with all to share — And Worship of the earth-bowed head But of the heavenward prayer. SPIRIT OF TRUTH. Urim and Thummim is mine: Truth am I called by men; Make thy work worthy to shine On the breast-plate of earth ag-ain. Banished thence by the hand of sham In other words untruth, (to God least like, That God whose thrilling- "I am who am" Tells of the endless and all seeing-) The would-be saint with phylacteries broad Forevermore lacking- the prime g-ood of being-, Install her not here with her stolen gaud 16 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH In a house for the Deitj framed: But Truth in her humbler dress, Even me in mj scantiness Naked but unashamed. Let deceptions and cheats give place: Be these to those temples confined Where is worshipped the father of lies; Here every line and color and space Must come freighted with Truth to the eyes And the mind of him who has mind. Wood not ashamed to be wood, Brick not ashamed to be clay, Stone not denying its weight, Slate not blushing from grey. No matter if rough — but build we so strong That the rock pre-adamite, simple and rude May remember the mountain from which it was hewed. How hard to keep the perfect truth! How easy verity to dim! It ofttimes seems in very sooth But cruelty or bigot whim. Well-meaning zeal misrepresents And coward caution fears: While pity hides it with her veil Love blinds it with her tears. But be thou strong: Fear doing more than seeming wrong And wait the verdict of the years. WHERE ELM TREE AISLE SUGGESTS THE GOTHIG ARCH. SPIRIT OF BEAUTY 17 SPIRIT OF BEAUTY. "And man lives not by body's food alone." "Had I two loaves," the great Mohammed said, "I would sell one and buy me hyacinths: Beauty to me more needful than the bread." Spirit Beauty! thou dost woo me I consent to be thy bride, Gushing-s of thy spirit through me Flow more swift than Severn's tide Thine will I be, none's beside; * Strongly, sweetly, draw me to thee That I there abide. Throug-h God's world the Spirit Beauty Makes a wonderous sound Dropping- from cerulian heaven Springing- from the marshy ground. Some to ail-where, all to no-where, Ever on her mission bent; With divine impartialness Giving- g-ifts most different. Sibyl leaves around me strown Are this Spirit Beauty's lines, . Hers to scatter: mine to weave To a whole whose mystery twines Meaning-s wonderful To her votaries shown. *With acknowledgments to the unknown, who recited these lines over 60 years ago. As they, I think, have never been in print, I thought well to rescue them from oblivion. 18 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The Mind Church. Colored like a morning-, and chiselled like a shell; Perfect as a saint, jet with a siren's spell; Radiant as a planet and as a ruby brig-ht; Soothing as a g-loaming-, sacred as a nig-ht; Soft as cypress hush upon the church-yard air; Holy as a presence, aspiring- as a prayer; Fairy as a frost-work and as a dream ideal, But deathless as a soul and as a substance real; Polished as a travelled pebble, yet fretted like a fern; Subtile as a perfume when orient spices burn; Living as an elm-tree, expanding- as a flower In variety eternal, only Heaven's dower — This the vision that from starry reg-ions beckons unto me That I fain would make to ling-er for all eyes to see. SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE. Spirit! who taug-htest Psalmist king- of old To slake Adullam's dust With water dang-er-broug-ht from Bethlehem's wall, Give us the soul robust No sacrifices can»appal, That in this church not stones and pelf We build alone, but that we build ourself. "I will not offer to the Lord my God That' which has cost menaug-ht." O worthy King-! SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE 19 Thou piercest to the very marrow of a gift, Which is the giving-. First of flocks and fields Jehovah asked, but only to enlarge To god-like greatness heart of him who gave. Compare that other tone of Prophet's voice: "And some he used for timber, some for fire And with the residue he made a god." Is it the refuse we would bring to Him? Gold==or Copper==or Life. To Sinai's foot with gold they came To make the calf of Israel's shame. To-day the world as then still brings Its preciousest to earthly things. The gold of wealth, the gold of thought With these life's vanities are bought; No thought of right proportion given The copper coin alone for Heaven. Go! stand by Karnak's sculptured halls: Count o'er in those Cyclopean walls The record of her sacrifice; One life for every stone! And see how dwarfed our pigmy hand Beside her temple doors that rise A hundred feet above Nile's strand In silent majesty alone! What word will our contempt express? The very negroes shame our niggardness. Or view the giant block in Baalbec's sand, 20 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Unused since men grew puny. Then atone: Rise from the littleness that round you drifts To greatness of your stature. Quit the strife For that which rust and moth consume And build to this His fane, not merely gold but life. SPIRIT OF WORSHIP. Spirit of Worship hover nigh! No spirit of debasement thine: The reverence for what is high Raises the worshipper — and shrine. And as before it reach the sky The palm in earth must sprout So bowed and low "Confiteor" cry Before the tk Sanctus" shout. And both are worship. For the pendulum swings In undulations long Twixt "Veneremur Cernui" And "Sursum corda" hig-h and strong". Chasten the soul that seeks to rise To mysteries divine Nor offer to the gods in sacrifice The fruit of unpruned vine. To bow the head and bend the knee, That is naught to God -or thee. But bow the mind and bend the will — Then you righteousness fulfill. CHOOSING THE SITE 21 CHOOSING THE SITE. "The Lord's House shall be established in the top of the mountains." Mich. 4. Set the candle on the stick — For its sheen! Set the city on the hill — That it be seen: Set the church above the crowd — That it may reign: Let it fling- its radiance proud — Far and plain On the great controllingly, While on those of low estate Its smile rests consolingly. Thus the promised kingdom bring: Great the sheepfold shall be made: Great the Pastor: in his shade Great flock shepherding. '•Fundamenta ejus in montibus Sanctis" Foundations hers upon the holy hills. Not one but many mountains form her throne: She stands on Sinai with its peak of stone And though the desert sands continual shift God's voice uptowering 'bove the senseless drift With "shalt" and "shalt not" thrills. Here leafy Olivet of prayer and creed Keeps her breath sweet with oil of gladness; And Thabor's radiant glories speed 22 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Feet that still tread the vale of sadness. On Horny Hattin backed by boulders rude She rests, grass-cushioned, hearing- words that bless; Commandment mellowed to Beatitude, With penalty for failure, changed To bendiction on success. And in Jerusalem is her abode: Outside the gates where flinty mountains rise She stands like Mary on the mount He trod The Calvary place, altar of sacrifice. Nor less from western hills her voice is cast Fulfilling- the commission: "Teach all lands." Where Tiber flows above a pag-an past On the Janiculum of golden sands (Sainted with Tasso's laurelled memories Laurel exchanged for g-olden rose of Heaven) Stands the new Janus — Peter with his keys, For opening- celestial portals g-iven: And yet not this alone — For from the Vatican, upon the breeze Floats oracle of unambiguous tone: While fable tells the story of the Ark Here resting- from its voyage long. While we Beneath the legend may find verity. Oh mountained Rome! thou dost the shipwrecked lure; Oh Holy Church! the truer ark art thou With clean and unclean housed secure SERMONS AND TEXTS 23 For unclean's cleansing-. L,o! we bow To thee, O Leo thirteenth, Pontiff wise, The "Ecce Homo" of the centuries. "Ueber alle Gipfeln ist Ruh\" On every heig-ht is rest: The climbing- tires; but falter not: This slope is awkward halting- spot: Attain the summit and be blest. On Ida's top is learning-'s calm; Olympus sees the g-ods at peace; In saintship passion finds surcease; Cassino's cloisters yield a balm, By foot world-disillusioned pressed. The hig-hest hears not envy's flout: E'en Calvary stilled the rabble shout. On every heig-ht is rest. SERMONS AND TEXTS. God's Call. Is it time to live in dwelling- All with g-old and g-ems ornate With its roof-tree proudly swelling-, While My House lies desolate? Pull the city is of people; But they come not to the Feast; With the call-bell rocks no steeple; Israel is like a beast, 24 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Head to earth on food intent, Downward gazing-, upward never, With the present life content. Shall this blindness last forever? Prophet! raise the voice of warning- Tell my people of their sin; Breaketh now the better morning Let the higher day begin. The Preacher. How long shall the nations utter the taunt "Where now is their God, the God of their trust? Where now is their hope? where now is their vaunt?" His temple is prostrate. See it there in the dust. In the hands ofthe Philistines rusteth the ark; For them it nor guidance nor radiance hath; While our footsteps have stumbled, our light has grown dark, For the Lord was erstwhile both our light and our path. "Those are things of the past." Oh modern world, No! The heart is Philistia or Israel jet. Choose your camp: on forever the battle must go: But one side is the Lord God's: do not forget. See ye the Fanes that around ye are made To Moloch and Venus, to Bacchus and Pan? SERMONS AND TEXTS 25 Shall the sacrifice all on their altars be laid And none to the God, who for man was made man? If I climb to my couch of silk and gold shotten If I give to my limbs the sweet sleep of the blessed May my eyelids and brain be of slumber forgotten If I find not first place for the Holy to rest. My text is: give that you may live: Let every soul perceive its meetness. Give quickly, — then you doubly give: Give willingly — you taste its sweetness. Give proudly, —how your gift will shine! Give humbly, too, as to the Lord: But oh! give not vaingloriously To take the quick and poor reward. Give little, those whose store is scant; Nor think it makes your little less; Lending to God you shall not want, To give to Him is blessedness. Bring lavishly, ye rich, your opulence Make measure of your giving; With no sophistical pretence Your consciences deceiving; Where God has been munificent There God will much expect; The mite in widow's offering praised Prom Dives is reject. 26 THE BUILDING OP A CHURCH Ye spend yourselves in futile giving Ye strive and build and scheme and sin Ye lack the truer soul within Ye miss the inner core of living — Your wealth a bauble and your fame a toy The nation multiplied, but not the joy. Then arise O God's people! arise at the voice! Let a great added beauty our city rejoice. In place of the ashes a garland of gold, And a garment of praise, for the sackcloth of old. Or think ye the hand of Jehovah is shortened, Now that commerce and politics rule in our land? 'Tis for us to quicken new ages of wonder By the faith that inviting will strengthen His hand. The Destroyer our memory may quickly efface; But here shall our Faith to the ages be told: — Like a radiance that travels forever through space When the orb that transfused it is cold. "We'll build so grand that future centuries Will think us mad." And yet we gaze today On the Giralda's grace; its matchless size And say: Here was true sanity. The madness is in building for an hour And lose eternal prize. So build we that the generations late Viewing our temple here SERMONS AND TEXTS 27 May say with Mrs. Siddons — muse and oracle, Before Apollo Belvedere: "I see that God is great Who can create Men to achieve such miracle." "Scio cui credidi," To "the unknown God" the Athenians reared Their altar of Parian stone. They built of their best In darkness confessed — But we to the Lord we have known. Our finger has lovingly touched all His wounds, Our hand in His side was laid; And we saw His form on the rising storm, And we heard the words: "Be not afraid." So from perfecter knowledg-elet greater love spring-, Enlarging- our work to its due; That in far-away day Of us they may say: "This people loved Him whom they knew." 28 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH OBJECTIONS. And wherefore should we raise This temple of man's hands? Why not our notes of praise Swell on the desert sands? Or in the leafy shrine Of Druid holms Or by the steepled pine? Or 'neath the chestnut domes? The part is often greater than the whole: Not all can see God in the burning- bush Of sunset's fire or in the thunder's roll; Not all can love Him in the twilig-ht's hush, Or know His eyes in multitudinous lig-ht Of myriad stars. Nature's infinity Lost by its very vastness to his sigmt Must focussed be for man's infirmity. As in some distant shrine of Hind is seen The g-od — a shade in midst of its own light— So God is often hid, I ween, l)v nature's face too dazzling- brig-ht. Worldly Wisdom No. I. "A public meeting must be held of course, To find the 'sense' of the community. Majorities must rule. They are the source OBJECTIONS . 29 Of power and wisdom ever and thus we Whom public censure else might well assail Escaping- with immunity Are blameless if this matter fail. The bankers and saloon men are a force And Dives sure must take priority As chairman of the gathering." — Go your ways! Tell me no more what prating- Demos says, That Despotism of ten thousand tong-ues; With God one voice is a majority! Worldly Wisdom No. 2. "And then with sociables and dances With picnic and with festival With grab-bag-s and with selling- chances — We're going- to have them all — Dished up by women talkative With ball and dress parade With making all the merchants give For fear to lose our trade — (I don't see why for this they're spiteful!) The money we will raise In manner most delightful To every worldling's praise." And thrilling comes the sentence of the Lord: "Amen! amen! They have received reward." 30 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Worldly Wisdom No. 3. "I'll give five hundred dollars for a window With my name writ in large." How large will look, From the perspective of eternity That lettering- in God's book? Worldly Wisdom No. 4. "We do not need a church." Does not the sacred tome Say that in truest home No altar is, nor priest, No temple and no feast Of viands visible, No sacrifice, no prayer; For God is all in all? Friend! we are not yet there. Worldly Wisdom No. 5. "It might have been given to the poor." Not these are the words of Christ. How they rankle like a curse In him who exploits them today; They are the words of the purse That holds itself shut alway. The while one hungry mouth pleaded, While lay one head unblessed, While sickness moaned, wanting our care, While one orphan passed unheeded, INVITATION TO NATURE 31 Without a home of rest; — Our work — God's work — lay there. But now is the poverty fed And comforted is the pain, And a roof o'er the orphan's head, — Let us open our bible ag-ain: And perhaps — if we look — we may see That the Saviour's command was twofold: And the first was, "Give to the poor," And the second was, "Follow me!" So from "hearer" becoming- "doer" Prom the dust of humanity's street Like Mary we come with our ointment And lavish it on His feet. INVITATION TO NATURE. Bless the Lord ever, O you His creation, Bring of your best all ye works of His hand; Praise the Lord, mountains poised on foundation Firm as His promise, eternal to stand. Voice of the Lord God breaketh the cedar! Will ye not rather bend to His smile Into gracefuller folds than the tenting-s of Kedar Yea! to the curve of our rare Gothic aisle? Clap your hands! clap your hands! hills with the heather; Glory of Libanus come to our aid; 32 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Fir tree and oak tree and pine tree tog-ether Lend of your robur, lend of your shade. First born of God! Light, almost immortal; Shine as you shone on that 'mountain apart* Enter by window and enter by portal Transfiguring our work and transforming our heart. As tribute wealth comes to the g-ate Inflowing from a hundred lands To make the empire great, The Plain, the Mountain and the Sea Three Magi rich with g-enerous hands Their treasures bring- to me. Song of the Colors. The first fiat of Godhead created The parent from whom we spring-; 'Tis fitting that we Lig"ht's daughters First tribute of praise should bring-. We praised Him, His footstool adorning- Before temple or altar uprose, We praised Him in pearl in day's morning-, We praised Him in gold at day's close. We praised Him in green in spring tide In the red of summer's g"low, We praised Him in russet of leaf-fall, We praised Him in white of snow. IN ITS ARMS IS A RIVER. SONGS 33 We praised Him in blue in the South Sea, We praised Him in purple mists rolled Round the axis of earth in the iceberg-, And with none but Himself to behold, We rushed to His arms in the North-light, Or, abashed, and retreating- slow We danced for his pleasance on wave crests And blushed in the rainbow's glow. And if we rejoiced in our duty To g-leam on his vesture's hem In creation's quite outermost zone, How gladly we come with our beauty To stand by His altar throne. THE HOUNTAIN QUARRY. "And in the mountain will our God be seen." "The great strong wind with the Lord behind, Overthrowing the mountain and breaking the rock; And after the cyclone the earthquake rude: But the Lord is not in the sweeping wind, And not in the earthquake shock. And after the earthquake the fire's flare, That Baalim's priests rejoice: And after the fire the whispering air: And the Lord is not in the scorching glare; But alone in the still small voice." Kings III, 19. 34 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Song of the Quarry. Like pleading- of the prostrate obelisks That came to Pius, sixth of name*, These rocky domes from bedded homes With supplicating- voice exclaim: "Will we give of our stone for this Temple you raise V Can you build to compare with our present estate? Can you add any leaf to our garland of bays Or enhance our old past? For its history is great. Unstirred by the whirlwind, unsinged by the levin See how solid we rest. No tempest can shake us; Our feet in the earth, but our forehead in Heaven; Gladly we give of our strength. Do not make us To palsied presentment of what is now grand. Yes! take of our rock. But lest heathendom mock What alway was closed with the modestest vesture, Ashamed in hewn nakedness let us not stand. How noble the sermon that sweeps through our larches! How like to tall steeples yon fir trees uprise! How tender the light through those cedern arches! How bird song and brook song thrills to the skies! How St. Flora and daughters smile down from their niches! Bow each crevice and nook in adornment rejoices! * Supplica (/' i oh liscM giaa nti. Abbe Cancellieri. SONGS 35 O spoil not the riches! O quench not the beauty! O still not the voices! But take of our store, We welcome the duty, Take the mountain as model, we ask for no more. Song of the Cedars. We have stood on the heights as the ages went by, Past our base has humanity streamed; We have seen the tribes to captivity led, We have seen those tribes redeemed. Like St. Christoph of old we vowed our strength Alone to the great and strong-; And conquorers rose, — but we found them men, — And now we have tarried long-, Our heads with the centuries hoar. Gladly we come to this temple you rear: We gave to the son of King David of yore, Behold! greater than Solomon here. Song of the Pines. "Why is your susurrus soft Like the hush of mother's care? Or that sweet slow minstrelsy — Wordless praise and prayer That erstwhile in Bethlehem 36 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Shepherds offered there?" We have trained our muted voices To the self-same theme; Thinking- that— perhaps— we might — Is it a vain dream? Even in this western wild Spread our branches blessingly Over maiden mild; Clothe with love caressingly Little swaddled child. So we keep our verdure greening Through December frore: If the prodigal returning Tastes the choicest store Shall the virgin with her night-lamp Trimmed and ever burning Be denied the door? Let us find within His feast-room Place forevermore. Song of the Firs. Like the candlestick golden of God T s own design See the arc that our branches make! On the lower heights we have left the pine — We must come to Him nearer whose name we take The kl God tree"* of Himalay, Tipped with flame the last at the fall of the night, Tipped with flame the first in the day. Allies deodora. SONGS 37 Song of the Mine. We have hoarded it long - , with a hand brave and strong- This tribute of g-old that we bring - . We deemed it not rig-ht that a metal so brig-ht Should be used for one lower than King-. Of stones too we offer. Refuse not our proffer; For adorning - His vestments' hem. The ruby may blaze with the heartiest rays But slig-ht not the humbler g-em; The opal's soft fire, let it too aspire With topaz of yellowest hue, With the blue and the green and the aquamarine That tint that partakes of the two. From out the depth of saddest soul The song- of joy will sometimes pour — So from the darksome caverned mine Comes the gold's g-leaming- store. Then bring- the joy and bring- the g-old, And each shall take a radiance new From standing- in the presences That fill the Blue. Chorus. We come from the fountain, we come from the moun- tain, We come from the depths beneath; 38 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH We bring- iron's strength and we bring- gold's light And the dim religious shade, the breath Of the forest aisles in their clustered piles, With opal of glooming, and silver of day; But one prayer rises loud on our lips as we crowd Round the horn of His altar adored, It sings itself ever like mountain-fed river: "This alone do we ask of the Lord That we dwell in His Temple alway." Our Trinity. The Trinity alone creates: And so, our church to rear, Must Power, Wisdom, Love, All speak their fiat here. Lending a triple aid: The mountain block to move in space: The whole to plan with compassed law: And beautify with grace. Love brings those graces to our side, Charites called — themselves a trinity; Not those that Athens deified— Thalia, Aglae, Euphrosyne, — But daughters of Divinity. First Architecture with her compass there Copying the canopy of tented Heaven, With mallet and with chisel Sculpture fair And Painting with her light-born colors seven. BUILDING' 39 The Corner Stone. The Pontiff comes with mitred head And crosier outward turned;* to lay Corner of king-dom new; and led As on that Solomonian day, When Salem's Temple rose, By joyous song- and reverent dance With smoke from g-olden censers flung-, With all the pomp of circumstance And Hallel seven times sung-. "Unless the Lord God edify The builders work in vain." Yea! But He standeth near! So workmen have no fear! He is the corner stone; We build on Him alone; He maketh both to one — Uniting Salem's with Gerizim's mount; And as from Dog-ma's fount Rise ceremonies, prayer and song-, So sculptured frieze and arrowy spire Rest on foundations strong-. Half=Done Things. Son of Man, shall these bones live? Ezek. 27. A booby passed today Along- our way In art a Bishop's crosier is turned out ; an Abbot's in; a good hint! 40 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Where piled confusedly The Church materials lay. Voussoir and architrave With rubble-stone in-mixed, Cords Of ashlar ready cut With capitals betwixt, Plinth and apophyge — So lies Caphernaum, Its music dumb, Strewn round the shore of Galilee! He gazed in — "Aw! I say, If ask I may, Will these things make a church?" Children and fools the half-done should not see. Make a church? My dear boy, No! It is the spirit sole Can make a whole Out of the scattered fragmentsjof mortality; And so The architect Will cause to stand erect Each block now prone, And give to every stone Undying, eloquent vitality. The Derrick. And more is done by planning than by force, If only we the fitting measures try. Zethos would toil the heavy stones to raise, — Amphion moves them by his harmony. MOORISH— A FAIRY TALE. BUILDING 41 The Stone Cutter. To the time of the mallet's stroke, To the tune of the chisel's ring, The old man his life tale spoke The rough block fashioning. "Since out of the womb I came Time did my forehead smite, And I knew not the smiter's aim, I felt but the chisel's bite. And the mallet fell early and late And it crushed my budding plan; And I said 'this is merest hate This action of God on man.' But the chisel that galled me all day And the mallet that stunned with its din, Gave more than they took away — Gave the perfecter form within. For out from the mist of the pain Came the face of the Christ to show That the loss of our life is gain That the corn must die ere it grow. And thus, with love's sweetest unspoken, I, bowing beneath His rod, Know my dearest idol broken But to leave the place for God," 42 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The Fly=Wheel. "No need of Faith" the. sneering- sceptic says: "Reason sufficing- allwhere and always." Look at that heavy wheel, apparently Consuming fast the engine's energy, And doing naught but keep the motion even. And is that nothing in this jerky world Where life is alternating ebb and flow? Though certainty and trust are normal states There is a point in soul machinery — A dead-point — now of doubt, now of despair: Faith is the balance-wheel carrying us safe through both. Bridging the interval 'twixt hope and hope And joining certainty to certainty, While tired reason passive waits the turn. Progress. A gradual psalm our building moves along: Forward and upward to majestic chant, With rhythm of Queen's feet beautiful Upon the heights. Dost hear its raptured swell? Heard melodies of earth are sweet to sense: Oh! sweeter far those symphonies of Heaven Unheard — save of the soul. A mother when her darling boy Salutes her forehead white With kissed good night, BUILDING 43 Pleased, proud, she notes with joy A something- added to his height, A luster new upon the shining- hair, A beauty new upon the radiant face, (Making- still fairer what was fair, ) A dawning- thoug-ht within his eyes Like eastern lig-ht that grows apace, A growing- streng-th upon his lips- Instant to hers the words arise "As he in stature grows, oh may he grow in grace!" So grows our church, and so ascends our prayer. Patience. Cycles untold it took To shape this earth for man. Shall we then look To compass by a span? To accomplish in a day? Omnipotence rebukes Our hurried way. If true our books Koeln's Dom six hundred years Required since it beg-an; And only in our day Did its tall spires essay To reach the blue, That smiles above the Rhine, Ripening- its wine, Keeping- its beauty new. 44 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Suspense. A month of disappointment and delay. A Strike! the turning- of the worm heel-crushed; The cry of labor for the 'something more;' Not now the privilege to work, but rest. Not ours the blame, yet is the damage ours; We sail in common and must thus partake Of modern ills: the rivalry between Labor and capital; forgetfulness Of God's commandment and of brother's right. Today all is adjusted and thank God! Our Navicella rides the storm serene. While grow .the walls, how grows our being's stat- ure? Each human spirit is an architect Building to beautiful and true and good In varying measure his progressive life, With matter gathered from a thousand fields From home experience or from foreign saw. Dwarfing by meanness, or by passion wrecking; Building alone the cellar, with its vermin, Or glorious towering into heaven's blue The rich world made by his life richer; Eternity itself gaining an added charm. BUILDING 45 In front of Milan's marble wonder A peasant stood and gazed in pride: "What lovely church we builded yonder!" ''We!" with a sneer the nabob cried. "What did you do?" "I mixed the mort." Ah Friend! restrain the ill retort. This man had done his little best, And that is much. Hast thou done more? So hod-man ply thy tool with zest The future holds thy praise in store. Song of the Mortar=Makers. We may not see the steeple hig*h Lift up the swinging- bell To hurl its joyance to the sky Or lengthen sorrow's knell — But what is that to me and thee? Mioo we our mortar well. Yon tablet's marble front you see The master's name will tell When we shall all forgotten be Locked in some nameless kell — But what is that to thee and me? Mijc we our mortar well. Mayhap that here some Luther wight Inspired by envious Hell May "spread himself" and not the light — "A sorry sentinel" — But what is that to thee and me? Mix we our mortar well. 46 THE BUILDING OP A CHURCH The babj born to me last night Its fate who can foretell? Shall it be dark, shall it be bright? A throne, or dung-eon cell? — But what is that to thee and me? Mix we our mortar well. If we but knew that Heaven were near If we could only see Day lily in the asphodel And Faith get rid of fear — But what is that to thee and me? Mix we our mortar well. The Doorway. We work in exultation, And chanting, as we raise These walls that are salvation, These gateways that are praise. The Temple's veil is rent in twain; Closed will be God's house never: The inmost adytum is plain To mortal sight forever. So make your portals high and wide, With aspect all inviting; The Christian Church is: Time and Tide Epiphany reciting. kk Is our life to be paved and our temple floor With marble eterne, or with wood?" To what would you enter? yourselves make the door: Then make it to noble and srood. CANTOS Y SANTOS 47 CANTOS Y SANTOS. Stones and Saints : the legend of the city Avila. Life's glory is revealed in work and pain: Shall we ingloriously that gain refuse? I wonder not at what men will to suffer; I wonder much at what they will to lose. The Sculptor. The block of unhewn stone before me lies: In whose name strike it with the rod? Within are thousand possibilities. Shall it bring- forth a devil or a god? O Hymn! that sings' itself unbid But finds expression none; O form of beauty in this marble hid Which I must seek alone! O how shall that be heard? how shall this be shown? But still the poet wrestles with the word, And still the sculptor hammers at his stone. 1 made an impatient stroke today: And work on which for weeks I toiled Vainly my prowess to display, All wrecked and mutilated lay; — A life by one sin spoiled. 48 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH I made an awkward stroke today: And though it cost much time and care, My slip was Providence's way, — My work was rounded by delay, To pattern much more fair. Imperfection. The Creator saw that His work was good Nor willed to make it to better or best: That the law of all life might be effort, And all judgment be Mercy blest. So these capital blocks and these tympanum stones We leave in the rough for the artist to come; To be carven to perfectness slowly, by toil; — Evolution of language from forms that were dumb. Compensation. We may not tread the mountain far With 'Sons of thunder' and the 4 Man of rock' To see the Christ transfigured there: — But where the grass and flowers are Can sit among the numbered flock And kneel with Him in prayer. Equality. Poor accidental gifts, the rich and proud May have, by grace of Heaven; Never let envy mention these: Great thiners to all are driven. BUILDING 49 Great love surprises with bis sweeping- wing- The unlikeliest lowliest heart; Great sun, great air, great sea, great nig-ht; In these all men have part. I've seen on altars of the costliest shrines The Hidden Savior rest: — The Chapel up among the pines Receives the self same Guest. Effort. As in the dense compacted ashen groves A tree shoots upward to the air and blue With stem long--drawn seeking- the sun it loves; So from the crowded town our temple grew: So from the body's frailties it behooves Thy spirit stretch to heig-hts of g-ood and true. Inequality. Why are there rich? Why are there poor? Why not An equal distribution of life's load? That man himself may make equality That some may share with others and with God. And God has diverse occupation, For some the calm, for some the strife; For some the ocean's contemplation For some the river's active life. 50 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH No land forlorn. With church or cloistered pile Each spot Religion rills; St. Bernard gladding- the lowlands, St. Benedict blessing the hills. To human face my Temple grows: — The door — a mouth which welcome gives; The tower — strong and prominent nose; And windows — eyes where starlight lives. And like life's actions, deathless every one Immortal wrinkles furrow every stone. As flowers spring from last year's battlefield, Each nook and coigne blossoms to sculptured saint On ax-hewn ground-work of our rougher wall, And we, their brothers, being with each acquaint, Some seem as sentries guardian of the heights Some keep the step of march for those behind; Michael— Christian Apollo— here destroys The Python round our Eden's life tree twined; There St. Sebastian slays the pestilence As Phebus' arrows shot Miasma through; There Catherine with wheel and book — Urania and Minerva too — And all things turn to good in God — The groan of saint— the joy of seraphim — While Stephen's stones build up the church Cecilia chants the triumph hymn. BUILDING 51 The Cross. I see the cross in yon larch's bough; I see the cross in the mustard bloom; I see the cross in the loosestrife leaf, And the cross in the ash-tree's plume. I see the cross in the heavenly swan And the cross in the crystal's sheen; I see it again in the sponge's gold And again in the shamrock's green. And gleaming afar from the colored hills* I see it salute the wave; Then crown with a cross — for the cross is the crown For all this side of the grave. Shall my life alone be amorphous? Shall I for whom He died While the cross is impressed on Nature's breast Be least like the Crucified? His image primal upon you was graved. And as your growing life Rises above the clod Like Moslem with his paper fragments saved On every stone write "God." ♦Holy Cross Mountain in Colorado. 52 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH CHAT. Workman! spare nor time nor art, Grave in yonder stone Not thy hand alone But thy mind, thy heart. As you shape the stone Lay the square thereon; See if it be true. St. Francis' school Says: "Keep the Rule, Then will the Rule keep you." • Epigram. These sects — these fragments — workman, say! Shall they be waste foreverrrTore? No! these shall later pave the way Unto our Church's door. The Irish Hod=Man. Shall we mix this mortar Dost thou think With the common water That the cattle drink? No! for this work holy Must we use Sacred water solely; CHAT 53 See I bring- a cruse With the Easter blessing-, Gained by jostling- and pressing Throug-h the women folk last Saturday. (Thomas, hold your tongue! Father James in passing by the way Said this wasn't wrong. ) Self. I looked in on the wilful man: "What is this here? O workman, say! This stone is ruined. Where's your plan?" "I tried to do it my own way." Some error still maintained in pride; Some sin that will not penance brook; For once denied is thrice denied, Unless the Lord upon us look. Testimony of the Rocks. "And do you believe that a God exists?" The anaemic agmostic cried: And plain from the church's ascending wall, "God exists" the prompt echo replied. To him who has ears the rocks will have tongues, And loud from each rugged stone Comes the voice of the "something- greater That speaks to the heart alone." 54 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The something- that once was known as Pan For its omnipresent gleam; We change the name. But the self-same Power Only understood better from hour to hour, Is today our Theology's theme. Beauty from beauty springs. Make fair your lives and great O ye who build: then will our temple rise A beauty added intermediate Between the beauteous earth and beauteous skies. While down the ages every reverent mind Beholding in its service dutiful Will grow to what it views, until mankind, Gazing on beauty, becomes beautiful. In faith we must labor and on bended knee, Like the Brother Angelic of old; And his work was a prayer, as the traveller may see, Only uttered in colors and gold. Only ages of faith can give us great art; That is not on mere science's scroll, The heart can be seen alone by the heart, The soul alone by the soul. CHAT 55 The Steeple. Slowly like God's choicest blessing's Grows our spire to stature meet^ Grows as grows the palm tree sky-ward Stately, slender, tall and sweet. Like to mother's prayer it pierces To the Throne without a pause, Never wavering- or doubting- God will hear her cause. Workmen! Build strong- with the backbone of moun- tains; Workmen! Build light with the Iris' spring-; Workmen! Build fair as the ferns by the fountains, Rock into beauty's forms blossoming-. Oh workmen see you work your best, A House is building- — not for man, And not for time — this our bequest Is for the centuries; For God these walls arise; All seeing- eyes Will note the shirk Of careless work, But unremembered strokes will also mark, and prize. And when your work is done Shall melody from every stone arise, As once of old from Memuon to the sun. 56 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH If you have faith you shall say to the mountain: "Be moved. The little stone that was cut without hands From the mountain afar; Has grown to a mountain that stands All unmoved mid the centuries' jar. For the mountain must come to our prophet For our Church is where miracles are. Raising the Spire. The crush of sorrow, and the sting- of pain, Temptation's fire, adversity's harsh blow, Or worse, repentance that but sins again, — Of these the purpose we may sometime know, When God has built to perfectness His temple in us, by that stress Of which we now complain. Like wisdom in dust-laden unread tome Of which the busy world ne'er thought The iron lay within its caverned home; Till by the shovel and the pick revealed By furnace cleansed, by skill annealed 'Twas by the cunning- hammer wrought, While ductile from the fire, To forms of beautiful and true — Today it bears into the blue Our glorious heaven-lit spire. . ■ ,fc***^a53 *'•'■* fiw5**5^!^^^rt( mUBI* ■" ' alfflffl ^^^^JtU BP*** - H^Z3H^ _> |H ' BMPHi^^^PMH Pw- *Y , tV' * '•£•£ * "* ^i&'.fli & »« , * , ", Jk *--Ja ^P^^^l fflrf* 1 ^ ,*jmm E3P^ ^F^~ •J*"j2£p , ' y ~ *££jjfii&k jWF^P^^J J*r •• -*;. ' ->.^p Jj, xttP*^ irfiffilflimP ^B8?^^ •- -•■Mi iSBSpP^^ ^»f -•^'^^eS IP "^^fiSiSBSBSK^HpWB BP^Tt\ liPE ^£131 ?(p^ssy^' '?JKr '■-&£'.'?' ^f% ^■h^^'^E^bhHI fiaP* '^ $*W"^BBbI UNUSED. SINGE MEN GREW PUNY. CHAT 57 Roofing. Ih the miraculous no longer doubt: But yesterday our Temple stood Hypasthral — open to the air — Today the roof is on, — but there Is Heaven not shut out. For thronged in countless multitude Prom skyey homes the angels move Knowing- their home is also here, And wonderful and bright — A heavenly photosphere — They hover in the vast above, A dome of wings and light. I live the poem that I build,— These chapels are its verses; Its progress day by day Continual, rehearses That upward course from naught to good, From good to better and to best; The evolution, God-ordained, To work His great behest, — The chant proceeds to climaxed power Of minor and of major tone To where the altar ends the view — Doxology in stone! 58 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Doubt. The cry of a soul in pain: Of a soul that thoug-ht it had seen A path illumed through the screen That parts our existences twain, — Of a soul erst-while content To lean on authority's creed; Now fears that the staff may be reed; And then comes the bewilderment One feels in the earthquake shock, When all we have trusted before Seems to recede and to mock, And the stable is stable no more; — 'Tis the stake removed from the tree: That now must be strong- to bear The buffeting- winds from the lea, Nor trust to the planter's care: 'Tis the trial by fire of the gold That the metal from dross may be clear; 'Tis the scaffolding- taken away That the perfected work may appear. And from this spring-s the personal faith: "I believe because I have seen;" And seen with the mind all my own, Understood, not removed, the screen, Which only then shall be fully rent When at life's Architect's nod This temporal scaffold of flesh dissolves Revealing completed the work of God. MUSINGS 59 MUSINGS. Religion is lost in the whirlpool of day; "And is this world all?" men inquire. So as gloaming- deepens, I take my way Where the higher truths respire. Then my soul once dark grows strangely bright: And as yon black ridge of pines In the glow of the westering light Like silver-tipped javelins shines, So my thoughts are shot through by the spear points of Faith As I traverse this darkening lauud, And through the dim mysteries of pain and of death Comes the gleam of the great Beyond. The Door. With depth and darkness of the Prophet's cave On Horeb, the rich portal draws our feet; So deep recessed that doorway serves for porch, To weary, sun-pained traveller sweet; — Can this be work of man alone? Is it not Deity in nature's forms In mimicry chosen, That archivolt a wreathed scarf of cloud, Or curl of snow wave frozen? 60 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH And see! the generous stone Chamfers itself to very widest flare To let all in, and from each sculptured niche The housed saints welcome to us declare. Approach we with the reverent tread that praises The Moslem's unshod feet. As when an artist graciously upraises (His work being- now complete) The pall from curtained masterpiece; Or when first glimpse of Heaven Is given on soul's release, — What beauties greet Our raptured gaze! Apocalyptic glories gleam From floor and wall mosaic, In wondrous color scheme — Onyx and Chrysoprase, Beryl and Almandine, With Ruby's wine, And Topaz' yellow rays, Jasper and Sard and Amethyst With Hyacinthine blaze — This new Jerusalem — a bride — descending Adorned in vesture where the forest dyes Of western autumn are forever blending With mystery rare of oriental skies. MUSINGS 61 I enter by the ample way, That door unshut, though it be late; And outstretched arms of Jesus say: "My Heart ope's wider than the gate." I am within my Father's house. Outside the strange hard faces meet me; The salty bread, the tiresome stair: But here familiar faces greet me. These saints— our family portraits these — Our brothers of the brave advance; We gaze upon them, and become All saintly by inheritance. Here are the patron saints of trades: St. Zita with her broom Makes clean with sweep and garnishment Her heart as well as room. St. Raphael is ready for the road: St. Bridget for the churn: St. Laurence still declares he knows When flesh is roasted to a turn; St. Isadore plows his field St. Crispin pegs his shoe — Even St. Ivo holds a brief Most wonderful, but true; While Jerome stands aghast to find Lawyer and saint combined! 62 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH How hospitable is this Dome By one red cresset lit! Where all may find a home: Where saint and sinner fit: Where youth may loving- come: Where age may musing- sit. All images distorted by the headlong rush, Through channeled streets life hurries on apace: From whose sad turmoil I would gladly flee; But here, in quietude's encircling hush, My being's river broadens to a sea Reflecting heaven's face. No matter from what door we come, Like lane of moonlight on a stream For fairy's feet to call them home, Our path adown the aisle is strown In silver from the altar gleam To focal-point, the Tabernacle throne. The songs that sing- themselves to faith, The hopes that rise above despair, The doubts that somehow meet their death We know not when, or where, The love that drives out bitterness — All, all are centered there. MUSINGS 63 The deepest grief is ever prayer And prayer the highest joy. And so To this our temple's dome Unlikest sentiments repair, And each soul finds a home With joyous matin song - , or vesper low. The Church the Holy Land. All here concentres. Bethlehem not least, But also Nazareth of peaceful air; The hill-side sermon and the grass-spread feast And morning miracle, and evening* prayer; With starry Galilee above us bent; With Bethany's repose; Jerusalem's strife: Giving to all in Sacrament His seven-fold lustred life. The curious approach but still are far: As in Capharnaum's sad sickened street The many pressed around but only one — A woman with her instinct fleet- Did touch with faith that drew the healing forth; So only love can know the joy intense That here alone on earth is g-iven To raptured spirit and to thrilling- sense. To realize the presences of Heaven, And know, refreshed, their saving- worth. 64 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Before the Tabernacle. Sweet Love came to the darkened heart Bitter— in Mara's flood: And lo! it rose to light and peace And joy scarce understood. Brave Love met craven cowardice Disarmed, in headlong- flight, And turned him back with buckler new To faithful win the fight. Pure Love came to the Magdalene; And though the tears suffuse her face, Like brook flood-washed her soul is clean And sweet with perfumed grace. Wise Love touched lips that long were dumb; Lo! they awoke to prayer and song, That earth and sky and mount and mere Throbbed with the anthem strong. Who is this Love so potent, brave And wise, these conquests prove? The Tabernacle opes its door And whispers "God is Love.'' Before the Rood Screen. I look into my Saviour's eyes. Ah! no, they look on me And chide with love's authority 1 i J(x i IBiiL w .- 8bi ■KS? ENGLAND'S GRACE. MUSINGS 65 My infidelities. Ourselves look often on ourselves Nor mark the cock's accusing-; But when the Lord upon us looks How vain our self-amusing-! If then there be no bitterness Our soul's recess within, No tear stains on our face, We have not less of Peter's sin But less of Peter's grace. The life of him can never be the same Who once beholds a ghost. From this fair fane Emerging, ease nor wealth nor hollow power Their specious eminence retain. Worldlings self-satisfied may scorn the God To them unseen. Refuse we or obey, We who have heard His thrilling: "Follow me!" Can never after be as they. "O not for Thee the glow, the gloom, That changest not in any gale." There are truths that the bragg/art noonday flouts Till they weakly deny their power; There are truths that grow hag-g-ard and doubtful and dark In the mist of the midnig-ht hour: 66 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Those find their soul in the eventide prayer And these in the morrow's blue: But I viewed my Church by the dark and the bright And in both it was greatly true. There are thoughts that seem great when my soul exalts In the joy of an untired wing-; There are griefs that come with a crushing- weight When the spirit falls sorrowing-. But how trivial those to the heart that bleeds Or these to the soul elate: But my Church I viewed by the joy and the woe And in both proved it truly great. Neath this roof life's Benedictions Flow around us, like a psalm; Round our littleness God's greatness, Round our restlessness His calm. O sole refreshment for the feet that tire! City of refuge from the world's alarms! Above, the daily cloud, the nightly fire, And underneath the everlasting arms. INSIDE FINISH 67 Fresco. "Just leave the ornament away" Says the sour Puritan. But nay! A Bride must show her best; The King- her beauty will desire, In her embrace will gladly rest, And dwell with her for aye. For beauty is this Monarch's handmaid; Glowing- in approach to Him, Exiled from the loving- glances, Waning-, faint and dim. Waning- as obedience fails, Dim in heathenesse,— but brightening To the splendors of the Stanze And the Sistine's lightning. My abode is in the full assembly of saints. Eccl. 24. Leave me not lonely in this my earthly dwelling: Gather round my Tabernacle those in life most loved; First, my Maiden Mother, then the Guardian proved, The Disciple next in depth of love excelling. And the Protomartyr Stephen with his palm so ear- ly given From the tree of life supernal, Face upraised, like one inspired To the opening vision; 68 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH And the Little Ones forbid not They the flowerets vernal In their heart's blood shriven, Life relinquished, not yet tasted Such are meet for Heaven. The Baptismal Font. Lo! where the Baptist aloft holds his pennon! There runs the Jordan potent as of yore; Bethbarah heals every genital woe, Naaman leaves here his leprosy's sore, Over this stream is the land of the promise, Land where the milk and the honey yet flow. Fear not the passage through waves or through desert: Know that Jehovah our great Shepherd leads, With the rod and the staff for the valley of shadow, With the cloud and the flame interchanged at our needs. Th£ Soul like brightness-wearied bird Seeks, 'mid the splendor, place of rest; Finding, in sculptured niche and cell, Eyries for thought to nest. To nest and bring her fledgelings forth, Bantlings from lowly parent sprung; Poor squabs mayhap, but all her own, And to her more than Eagle's young. INSIDE FINISH 69 The Lady Chapel. An artist says in every masterpiece There is a point of rest to which returns Our gaze, as beast to stall or bird to nest; Or like the center of a mighty wheel That views, unmoved, whirling circumference. It is not on the height, for there the rays Too dazzling bright: It is not in the plains, For there again is dull monotony. It is the measure of all other parts; It is the gamut's sol which ever shows How far our note is from the ladder's ends. Our Lady's chapel is this point of rest: It is the moon after the radiant noon That streams from out the Tabernacle door That Sinai of the Presence terrible. It gives us power to compare, to see How high the mortal is, if raised by God; But yet how high God above highest man. The Confessional. Magdala's child at confessional kneeling, Here brings her salt tears for frailty's repair; Deaf to the sneers of the proud and unfeeling Still does her golden hair Blessedest feet touch: Still are her eyes the glad tidings revealing: "Much is forgiven, because she loved much." 70 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The Altar. "He Bpoke in parables." And Pity the old way reverses. Not in the baldness of our work-day stated — With figure and with parable adorned, That Teacher Truth rehearses Who loved where others hated, Who praised where others scorned. So carve the crimson Rose, Type of His blood that flows Still for our healing-. Twine too the Passion flower With lilies white, whose dower, That purity of heart and hand, The face of God revealing-. And for remembrance plain — Lest men forg-et ag-ain — Showing in sculptured history The favored fruit and grain Of Sacramental mystery. The Carver. Sweet work! I carve the tendrilled vine Whose pity-tender fingers cling Around His tabernacled shrine, Fairer than gay flower's blossoming. INSIDE FINISH 71 Sweet work! I round to perfectness Each berry full with mystic wine, And hear from far the words that bless: "Ho! ye that thirst, I am the Vine." Sweet work! I form that choicest leaf Of leafy world: five-lobed like hand of God; Hear words that still our selfish grief: "My robe is red; the wine press I have trod.' 1 Sweet work! Beneath my chisel grow The stately shafts of sculptured wheat. Some stand erect; some bending" low Form fitting- capital. While sweet From those that droop toward man's estate, (Like on the cross my Jesus' head) For starving souls the message great: "Ye hungry come! I am the Bread." The Pulpit. And now to my Preacher give you a thought. On high prop him up on Evangelists four, That the tidings of joy to all peoples be taught. While Matthew assures us that Christ is our Broth- er, On a world ever desert let Mark's lion roar, Luke's bull to the sacrifice patient be brought, And the eagle of John must continue to soar Till the sight of this world is lost in that other; 72 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH And the Lion of Juda on eagle wings borne Tying his foal, my son, to the vine, Making His enemies footstool of scorn, And dyeing His vesture in wine, Shall perfect the kingdom and bring the new morn; Coming, not from old JVigJit as mj'thologies say Their gods did arise, but all gloriously bright In the splendor of saints from the womb of the Day. The Nooning. This day I took My rest within the nook — Corner where shadow lies- Farthest from windows bright And from the ray that beams Adown the church— like moon on streams — The sanctuary light. And thought came to me as I sate: I wish religion had no mysteries; I wish my faith from doubt were free. A voice: — it whispering says: "What would life be without its mystery? If all were noonday bright Would we not miss the lovely night?" Let us not waste our powers By knocking at closed doors. INSIDE FINISH 73 Wait till they ope, These portals of our hope, And knowing- we are dumb, Lie down content in childish trust, Hug-ging- the mystery that we cannot plumb; For here is the Lover revealed I ween; That He shows Himself at our lattice Half hidden and half seen. And the Rabbi observes As he rolls up his book; "Three keys God reserves: Man seeks them in vain; The key of the womb, The key of the rain And the key of the tomb." Revelation. Searching- for truths that hidden lie, In lines throug-h darkness spelt, There flashed a lig-ht from Deity — I looked into infinity — and knelt. 74 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH COMPLETION. Consummatum est. Today our work is consummate. Shaped like the cross and pierced by portals live Like Him who hung- thereon: Portals unshut by day or night, With welcome early welcome late, That all may see and live; A sacrifice complete yet still to rise Morning- by morning- on our eyes, Breaking- that eastern verg-e of skies Whence comes the one true Lig"ht. Vision. "Who is this that rises red with wounds so splen- did? All her brow and breast made beautiful with scars; In her eyes a lig-ht and fire as of long- pain ended; In her mouth a song- as of the morning stars." Swinburne. DEDICATION. Our Temple rose to varied chant Of sorrowing- toil throug-h ages long; By one entoned, by others taken up: Now Psalm of labor turns to Triumph's song. DEDICATION 75 Hymn. Lift yourselves up, O eternal gates. Ps. 23. FIRST CHOIR. Open wide your portals, Princes open wide! See! the King- of glory Now will enter in. SECOND choir. Who's this King- of glory Coming- now, O say? THIRD CHOIR. God the strong- and mig-hty, Mig-hty in the fig-ht. Alleluja! FIRST CHOIR. Open then your portals, Princes open wide! See! the King; of glory Now will enter in. SFCOND choir. Who's this King of glory Coming now, O say? THIRD CHOIR. He, the God of virtues, He's this glorious King. Alleluja! 76 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH Litany, "And thither the tribes of the Lord went up;" (Happy the soul that can run.) "Our feet, O Jerusalem, have stood in thy courts, Jerusalem compacted in one." "I joyed in the things that were said unto me;" (Happy the soul that rejoices.) "The rush of the River the City makes glad; And the waters shall lift up their voices." "O come and behold the wonders of God!" (Happy the soul that can see.) "For preciousest stones are all her walls And her towers are jewelry." "Tell ye the wonderful things of the Lord;" (Happy the soul that can shout.) "Narrate it for ages to come, in her towers; Go round about Sion, O go round about." "Arise, O my glory! Rise Psaltery, Harp!" (Happy the soul that can sing.) "Let us come to His presence with joyfullest noise; With voices saluting the King." "Thou hast chosen the lowly, O God my God;" (Happy the soul elect.) "The head of the Temple's corner, behold! Is the stone that the builders reject." DEDICATION 77 "They are planted secure in the house of the Lord;" (Happy the soul that with God is content.) "I had rather be abject and poor in thy courts Than dwell in the sinners' gilt tent." -The presence of Godhead shall fill all the House;" (Happy the soul that can pray.) "For here shall My eyes behold ever, My ears be opened alway." -Who worship in pride shall not dwell in thy house;" (Happy the soul that is humbled.) "The Lord is our staff and the light of our path, And Israel's feet have not stumbled." -Who shall dwell in thy tent? Who shall rest on thy hill? (Happy the soul that can stay.) "In the place that His feet have trodden I kneel; And this is my rest for aye." -How lovely thy tentings, O Israel's God!" (Happy the soul that can love.) -My spirit hath fainted in midst of thy courts, And brooded like turtle dove." "She remembereth not the sorrow today," (Happy the soul that believes.) "Going- out, we wept at our labor But coming, we carry our sheaves." LofC. 78 THE BUILDING OP A CHURCH "He shall be builded and founded in peace." (Happy the soul that has won.) "For I to him shall be ever his God; And he shall be ever my son." Reward. "Cast thy bread upon the waters." I gave a dime, — 'twas sorely done! I went without my food to spare it. But here what treasure have I won! I do not even seem to share it With others. I, poor I, alone Possess the whole, From buttress up to coping- stone. For me the pillars stand, Like rows of sentries tall; For me the roof, like God's own hand, Spreads over all. The gold is mine that gleams, The light is mine that streams . From storied windows higfh, In colors manifold As virtues there retold — And ne'er to die — Outnumbering rainbow's seven fold dole, PROCESSIONS 79 With Martyr's fortitude and Virgin's purity, Confessor's voice and Doctor's scroll, Apostle's zeal with frailty's sorrow, Centurion's faith, disciple's love, Prophetic gaze that seems to borrow From that reserved for Heaven above — This from the Apocalypse — And, focussed back to light, ablaze, The source of all these differing rays, The Figure on the Crucifix! To Lazarus all this is given! Oh! joy is mine! My bread comes back And not as earth, but Heaven. PROCESSIONS. "God will count the steps." Wondrous the strains of the organ's recessional Floating away down the darkening aisle, Bringing to memory groupings processional Visions of those who have swept through this pile. Swiftly or slowly, now coming now going Here do they meet, or there intertwine: Is it the ocean's life ebbing and flowing? Nay! an epitome, mortal, of thine; Where birth and where love and where death are but showing The symphony's need of a trio divine. 80 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The Baptism. Fresh as paradisal flower Every new life springs; But imperfect is its dower, It must win by strife; Cank-er worm to rosebud clings, Satan round the tree of Life. So within the font baptismal Wash the stain of Adam's woe, Head annoint with unction chrysmal Clothe with garment white as snow, Happy mother, blushing father — If the squirming infant cries Proud the gossip, quick to gather Comforting life-prophesies. Faster tie the parents' wed hands, In their lives new beauties weave, This be your work little red hands Clutching at my surplice sleeve. The Marriage Procession. How the joyous bridal march, Mendelssohn's or Wagner's song, Speaks re-echoed from each arch Its antiphonary long: PROCESSIONS 81 Take the "glory" that is thine Man, with consort Heaven sent. Bow to headship made divine, Woman, in this sacrament. Love her with the love of Saviour Where the master serves. Love him with the glad behavior The Church toward Christ observes. Give thy life and g-ive thy blood. Give thy duty nor forget Stand as faithful by the Rood As on gladsome Olivet. With a love and service great Each of each the complement Enter wedlock's blest estate, Equal, because different. And the tong-ueful Paraclete Equal woman, man, with thee, From this union shall complete The terrestrial trinity. As they pace adown these aisles, Earth recedes and heaven nears, In a joy too grave for smiles, In a pain too g-lad for tears. 82 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH First Communion. Like a group of Easter lilies In the gay parterre Kneel the children at the altar: Happy, fluttered hearts are there! Day of days so long- expected! Of life's volume fairest page! Sweet oasis in the desert, 'Twixt the levity of childhood And the worldliness of age. Will time ever yield another With the bloom of this? In the joy of sister, brother, In the rapture of the mother As she prints a kiss On the lips that lately opened To mysterious bliss? Still the sweetness of your faces My fond memory holds; As the fragrance of the censer Clings within the vestment's folds. PROCESSIONS 83 Communion. They knew him in the breaking of bread. Not in the tragedy alone Of Calvary's gloom — Not in the heavy stone Rolled from the tomb — Not in refulgence bright Of Thabor's pinnacle — Not in speech erudite — Or miracle — Not in unusual star, Or heavenward flight Piercing the cloud afar On Olivet's lone height — But in the littleness Of work-day round, In these each life to bless The Lord is found. And in what wondrous wise Is He there seen ! He opes not shuts the eyes By this His screen. In Bread Himself concealing That none may flee; In Bread Himself revealing That all may see. 84 THE BUILDING OF A CHURCH The Funeral. Drawing a stop unused before God's black-robed Azrael On muted heart-strings plays: A discord but to those who dwell Upon the partial phase Of earthly moments. Those who see The whole, glad through their tears adore, And feel the vaster melody. When hark! The consecration bell! The rite is consummate. A radiant train Their wings the morning- ether cleaving Angelic troops descending — To eye of faith how plain! — The Heavens above us leaving For very Heaven around us bending Our earthly sanctuary fill. Christ Jesus to His Temple comes: Let all the earth be still! JAN 1*7 ?"v^ **£ & °^i/ :\^M _ W^js & %^m% '%j> F /^-.x< &Li 'a$pJ~aA\ 4 t4 m :t4>e* ■3tfc. V ««^Kt^ " yi-nm