The Old Church
by VP
Posted on Tuesday February 24, 2026 at 12:00AM in Poetry
Procession near Ploumanac'h, 1879 Léon Lhermitte (Brittany, France)
"Tis not a ship on the tossing waves
That the Old Church seems to me,
But a guide light set on a headland high
And gleaming over the sea.
Lit by the breath of Christ Our Lord,
As He sat with His friends to rest,
Where the waves of the blue Genesareth
Kissed the land that His presence blessed.
The powers of earth may chase the gleam
Of will-o'-the-whisps that fly.
But their good ships reel on the sunken rocks,
and the false lights flickering die.
But Thou, white light of the breath of Christ,
Thou shinest across the foam,
Till the shoals are past and the anchor cast
The light is the light of home.
H.H.H., in Irish Catholic
Source: Our Young People, Volumes 39-40
