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Of nails upon his hands; and thrust my hands

Into his side。  I know He is arisen;

But where are now the kingdom and the glory

He promised unto us?  We have all dreamed

That we were princes; and we wake to find

We are but fishermen。



PETER。

                 Who should have been

Fishers of men!



JOHN。

            We have come back again

To the old life; the peaceful life; among

The white towns of the Galilean lake。



PETER。

They seem to me like silent sepulchres

In the gray light of morning!  The old life;

Yea; the old life! for we have toiled all night

And have caught nothing。



JOHN。

                      Do ye see a man

Standing upon the beach and beckoning?

'T is like an apparition。  He hath kindled

A fire of coals; and seems to wait for us。

He calleth。



CHRISTUS; from the shore。

          Children; have ye any meat?



PETER。

Alas! We have caught nothing。



CHRISTUS。

                        Cast the net

On the right side of the ship; and ye shall find。



PETER。

How that reminds me of the days gone by;

And one who said: Launch out into the deep;

And cast your nets!



NATHANAEL。

            We have but let them down

And they are filled; so that we cannot draw them!



JOHN。

It is the Lord!



PETER; girding his fisher's coat about him。

              He said: When I am risen

I will go before you into Galilee!



He casts himself into the lake。



JOHN。

There is no fear in love; for perfect love

Casteth out fear。  Now then; if ye are men;

Put forth your strength; we are not far from shore;

The net is heavy; but breaks not。  All is safe。



PETER; on the shore。

Dear Lord! I heard thy voice and could not wait。

Let me behold thy face; and kiss thy feet!

Thou art not dead; thou livest!  Again I see thee。

Pardon; dear Lord!  I am a sinful man;

I have denied thee thrice。  Have mercy on me!



THE OTHERS; coming to land。

Dear Lord! stay with us! cheer us! comfort us!

Lo! we again have found thee!  Leave us not!



CHRISTUS。

Bring hither of the fish that ye have caught;

And come and eat!



JOHN。

         Behold!  He breaketh bread

As He was wont。  From his own blessed hands

Again we take it。



CHRISTUS。

                  Simon; son of Jonas;

Lovest thou me; more than these others?



PETER。

                                   Yea;

More; Lord; than all men; even more than these。

Thou knowest that I love thee。



CHRISTUS。

                      Feed my lambs。



THOMAS; aside。

How more than we do?  He remaineth ever

Self…confident and boastful as before。

Nothing will cure him。



CHRISTUS。

                   Simon; son of Jonas;

Lovest thou me?



PETER。

        Yea; dearest Lord; I love thee。

Thou knowest that I love thee。



CHRISTUS。

                       Feed my sheep。



THOMAS; aside。

Again; the selfsame question; and the answer

Repeated with more vehemence。  Can the Master

Doubt if we love Him?



CHRISTUS。

                  Simon; son of Jonas;

Lovest thou me?



PETER; grieved。

   Dear Lord; thou knowest all things。

Thou knowest that I love thee。



CHRISTUS。

                       Feed my sheep。

When thou wast young thou girdedst thyself; and walkedst

Whither thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old;

Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands; and other men

Shall gird and carry thee whither thou wouldst not。

Follow thou me!



JOHN; aside。

                It is a prophecy

Of what death he shall die。



PETER; pointing to JOHN。

                      Tell me; O Lord;

And what shall this man do?



CHRISTUS。

                        And if I will

He tarry till I come; what is it to thee?

Follow thou me!



PETER。

Yea; I will follow thee; dear Lord and Master!

Will follow thee through fasting and temptation;

Through all thine agony and bloody sweat;

Thy cross and passion; even unto death!







EPILOGUE



SYMBOLUM APOSTOLORUM



PETER。

I believe in God the Father Almighty;



JOHN。

Maker of heaven and Earth;



JAMES。

And in Jesus Christ his only Son; our Lord;



ANDREW。

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;



PHILIP。

Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified; dead; and buried;



THOMAS。

And the third day He rose again from the dead;



BARTHOLOMEW。

He ascended into Heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of God;

the Father Almighty;



MATTHEW。

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead。



JAMES; THE SON OF ALFHEUS。

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church;



SIMON ZELOTES。

The communion of Saints; the forgiveness of sins;



JUDE。

The resurrection of the body;



MATTHIAS。

And the Life Everlasting。







FIRST INTERLUDE



THE ABBOT JOACHIM



A ROOM IN THE CONVENT OF FLORA IN CALABRIA。  NIGHT。



JOACHIM。

The wind is rising; it seizes and shakes

The doors and window…blinds and makes

Mysterious moanings in the halls;

The convent…chimneys seem almost

The trumpets of some heavenly host;

Setting its watch upon our walls!

Where it listeth; there it bloweth;

We hear the sound; but no man knoweth

Whence it cometh or whither it goeth;

And thus it is with the Holy Ghost。

O breath of God!  O my delight

In many a vigil of the night;

Like the great voice in Patmos heard

By John; the Evangelist of the Word;

I hear thee behind me saying: Write

In a book the things that thou hast seen;

The things that are; and that have been;

And the things that shall hereafter be!



This convent; on the rocky crest

Of the Calabrian hills; to me

A Patmos is wherein I rest;

While round about me like a sea

The white mists roll; and overflow

The world that lies unseen below

In darkness and in mystery。

Here in the Spirit; in the vast

Embrace of God's encircling arm;

Am I uplifted from all harm

The world seems something far away;

Something belonging to the Past;

A hostelry; a peasant's farm;

That lodged me for a night or day;

In which I care not to remain;

Nor; having left; to see again。



Thus; in the hollow of Gods hand

I dwelt on sacred Tabor's height;

When as a simple acolyte

I journeyed to the Holy Land;

A pilgrim for my master's sake;

And saw the Galilean Lake;

And walked through many a village street

That once had echoed to his feet。

There first I heard the great command;

The voice behind me saying: Write!

And suddenly my soul became

Illumined by a flash of flame;

That left imprinted on my thought

The image I in vain had sought;

And which forever shall remain;

As sometimes from these windows high;

Gazing at midnight on the sky

Black with a storm of wind and rain;

I have beheld a sudden glare

Of lightning lay the landscape bare;

With tower and town and hill and plain

Distinct and burnt into my brain;

Never to be effaced again!



And I have written。  These volumes three;

The Apocalypse; the Harmony

Of the Sacred Scriptures; new and old;

And the Psalter with Ten Strings; enfold

Within their pages; all and each;

The Eternal Gospel that I teach。

Well I remember the Kingdom of Heaven

Hath been likened to a little leaven

Hidden in two measures of meal;

Until it leavened the whole mass;

So likewise will it come to pass

With the doctrines that I here conceal。



Open and manifest to me

The truth appears; and must be told;

All sacred mysteries are threefold;

Three Persons in the Trinity;

Three ages of Humanity;

And holy Scriptures likewise three;

Of Fear; of Wisdom; and of Love;

For Wisdom that begins in Fear

Endeth in Love; the atmosphere

In which the soul delights to be

And finds that perfect liberty

Which cometh only from above。



In the first Age; the early prime

And dawn of all historic time;

The Father reigned; and face to face

He spake with the primeval race。

Bright Angels; on his errands sent;

Sat with the patriarch in his tent;

His prophets thundered in the street;

His lightnings flashed; his hailstorms beat;

In earthquake and in flood and flame;

In tempest and in cloud He came!

The fear of God is in his Book;

The pages of the Pentateuch

Are full of the terror of his name。



Then reigned the Son; his Covenant

Was peace on earth; good…will to man;

With Him the reign of Law began。

He was the Wisdom and the Word;

And sent his Angels Ministrant;

Unterrified and undeterred;

To rescue souls forlorn and lost;

The troubled; tempted; tempest…tost

To heal; to comfort; and to teach。

The fiery tongues of Pentecost

His symbols were; that they should preach

In every form of human speech

From continent to continent。

He is the Light Divine; whose rays

Across the thousand years unspent

Shine through the darkness of our days;

And touch with their celestial fires

Our churches and our convent spires。

His Book is the New Testament。



These Ages now are of the Past;

And the Third Age begins at last。

The coming of the Holy Ghost;

The reign of Grace; the reign of Love

Brightens the mountain…tops above;

And the dark outline of the coast。

Already the whole land is white

With Convent walls; as if by night

A snow had fallen on hill and height!

Already from the streets and marts

Of town and traffic; and low cares;

Men climb the consecrated stairs

With weary feet; and bleeding hearts;

And leave the world and its delights;

Its passions; struggles; and despairs;

For contemplation and for prayers

In cloister…cells of coenobites。



Eternal benedictions rest

Upon thy name; Saint Benedict!

Founder of convents in the West;

Who built on Mount Cassino's crest

In the Land of Labor; thine eagle's nest!

May I be found not derelict

In aught of faith or godly fear;

If I have written; in many a page;

The Gospel of the coming age;

The 

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