03 August 2012

ECCE HOMO

H.T. Henry, Litt.D.
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ECCE  HOMO !

A plaything of man s hate and pride,
    All worn and wan,
In mocking purple clad new-dyed
With eager streams of life s red tide
    Behold the  Man !

And yet, when senseless we, how feels
    Each senseless thing!
For though a Caesar's be the seals,
Lo, Christ the yielding rock reveals :
    Behold the King !

And now He plans a Wedding-Feast :
    Around His Board
Throng good and bad, and great and least,
The wise, the fool, the scribe, the priest :
    Behold the Lord !
 
Yet meekly, in His altared bliss,
    He wields no rod,
While saints adore, and scoffers hiss,
And friends embrace, and traitors kiss :
    Behold the God ! 

Rt Rev Msgr Hugh T. Henry
Eucharistica
Verse and Prose in Honour of
THE HIDDEN GOD
[Philadephia: The Dolphin Press, 1912]