“You shall receive me when the clouds are high
With evening and the sheep attain the fold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.” Hilaire Belloc
I have been relaying to you* the story of the Marian grotto which is being built in a New Jersey backyard. The initial work included preparing the site, obtaining the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and power washing the statue to prepare it for a new coat of paint.
This week, the glorious Lady received her coat of paint, and it is quite lovely, as seen in the picture (above).
Reports are that the group, including a seminarian from the North American College in Rome, are enjoying the project.
When I saw the picture of the painted statue, I thought of Hilaire Belloc, and his Ballade to Our Lady of Czestochowa: a beautiful ballad to our beautiful Lady:
I
Lady and Queen and Mystery manifold
And very Regent of the untroubled sky,
Whom in a dream St. Hilda did behold
And heard a woodland music passing by:
You shall receive me when the clouds are high
With evening and the sheep attain the fold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.II
Steep are the seas and savaging and cold
In broken waters terrible to try;
And vast against the winter night the wold,
And harbourless for any sail to lie.
But you shall lead me to the lights, and I
Shall hymn you in a harbour story told.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.III
Help of the half-defeated, House of gold,
Shrine of the Sword, and Tower of Ivory;
Splendour apart, supreme and aureoled,
The Battler’s vision and the World’s reply.
You shall restore me, O my last Ally,
To vengence and the glories of the bold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.Envoi
Prince of the degradations, bought and sold,
These verses, written in your crumbling sty,
Proclaim the faith that I have held and hold
And publish that in which I mean to die. Hilaire Belloc
I will post another update on the grotto as the work progresses.
Have a beautiful day.
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*Previous posts on the grotto project:
Home and Roadside Shrines: here
Grotto Work Continues in New Jersey: here