Montmartre, a poem

Saturday, August the fifteenth, fifteen thirty-four:
the Solemnity of Our Lady’s Assumption.

Regina adstat ad dexteram tuam
ornate auro ex Ophir.

On the edge of this city of learning,
a nondescript chapel stands on a hill
dedicated to the martyr, Saint Denis
and his forgotten companions.

The queen stands at your right hand
arrayed in gold of Ophir.

In the dim crypt, they are at Mass.
Peter Faber raises before them the sacred host:
Ignatius of Loyola
who is not worthy …
Francis Xavier, of Navarre,
who is not worthy that the Lord enter under his roof.
Simon Rodrigues, of Portugal
Domine, non sum dignus,
Diego Lainez,
ut intres sub tectum meum,
Alfonso Salmeron,
sed tantum dic verbo
Nicolas Bobadilla, all of Spain,
et sanibitur anima mea.

“In order to imitate and be more actually like Christ our Lord,
I want and choose poverty with Christ poor
rather than riches,
opprobrium with Christ replete with it
rather than honours;
and to desire to be rated as worthless and a fool for Christ,
rather than wise or prudent in this world.”

Ignatius the student has taught them all he knows;
Paris has no more to teach them.

Andrew Bullen SJ
Ignatius the Pilgrim: Poems and Prayers, 2013