St. Francis Xavier – Castle To Casket (Poem By Dr John Celes) Poem by Dr John Celes

The Potter made this pot from clay,
Just as He made the other pots;
This pot alone kept on His way
From when among most tiny tots.

The dust that went to form a man,
Had glorified his earthly form;
And showed unto the world, he can
Like Jesus Christ calm any storm.

Though castle-bred, royally-dressed,
He took the vow of poverty,
And gave up all the things were best,
And led life in celibacy.

Though Paris made him erudite,
He relinquished his teaching post,
And took his cross to tread and fight,
The evil One at any cost.

With Ignatius, he lit a lamp –
Society of Jesus, they found;
The torch was carried by a camp
Of seven members, duty-bound.

He learnt new languages to tell
The Word of God to people new;
His miracles made people well,
As Christianity came in view.

He sailed the seas and entered lands
To tell the message good, to all;
The priest suffered in alien hands,
And had to quench his thirst with gall.

The cross before him showed his way;
The creed he knew was truth and light;
He baptized many every day;
The soul-fisher fished with all might.

He founded churches everywhere;
He sowed good seeds in soil too good;
His cross was more than he could bear;
Through him, the east got heaven’s food.

The teacher drove out ignorance;
The Jesuit earned a rarer fame;
He won myriad spiritual fans;
On death, a saint he then became.

He died when young but left a name,
Indelible on earth, heaven;
From castle to casket, he came,
His toil was in the least, in vain.

Lovingly dedicated to the deceased saint
On his death anniversary December 3rd,1552

Copyright by Dr John Celes 1-12-’15