Volume 19 — To S. Joseph: On The Day Of My First Mass.

Type of the Priesthood with its Virgin Spouse,

The Immaculate Church, our Mother ever fair!

Since even to me God's wondrous grace allows

An office more than seraphim may share,

I kneel to thee, most gentle Saint, and dare

To choose thee patron of the trust. Oh! make

My evermore fidelity thy care,

And keep me Mary's, for her own sweet sake!

Her knight before, and poet, now her priest

(Nor less her slave—a thousandfold the more),

I glory in a bondage but increased,

And kiss the chain her dear De Montfort wore,

With “Omnia per Mariam” mottoed o'er:

Which seals me her apostle, though the least.

Feast of the Seven Dolors, March 31, 1871.

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