I offer the purple sash
and the white surplice.
I offer the cold mornings
when snow crunched
and the church was dark
and silent
and an old man
came down the aisle.
I offer the cruets,
and the words at the foot of the altar,
and the priest, heavy with vestments
Introibo ad altare Dei.
I offer the bells and the cross,
and incense sprinkled on coals.
I offer
the long white tapers
and the flames.
Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.
Patrick T. Reardon
2.6.14