I need to mark the day
That’s what I feel
Ordination Day
When I was young
When I’d been locked away for thirteen years
Away from life
From what I could become
They day itself
So sunny and so bright
Lots of people came
To wish me well
Mum arranged a Ceilidh
For that night
Everyone came
Everyone enjoyed the fun
It was all wrong
Making me a priest
When I hadn’t had the chance to be a man
A captured child
That what I was
And what I still remained
Factory farming
Priestifying Church
Vocations now are dwindling down to zero
The Churches that I knew
Are closing down
My hometown church
Closed down and yet still standing
Too beautiful to knock
Might yet fall down
I left the priesthood
It didn’t make me sad
I found my self my life
That can’t be bad
And yet I feel a sorrow
For this story
Enforced celibacy
Not a way to glory
The Church is of Christ’s choosing
It is precious
Rich too in very many ways
In scripture and in people
And in presence
These days will pass
We will see better days
I loved the silence
The tabernacle presence
Some old hymns
The Plain Chant plainly sung
A gathered people silently united
In hushed surroundings
And the Latin tongue
No more now to say
That time is over
Its virtues and its vices
We have named
The Lord will guide his Church
And its forum
Per omnia saecula saeculorum
Amen.
Brian Fahy
2 August 2021
Erris Poetry 