The St. Valentine Martyrs, 14th February, 2005

When planet, sun and constellation
At the time of their creation,
Gloried in their new-born gleaming splendour,
And knelt to honour their creator,
Almighty God gave all the nations land,
To men who were the work of his own hand;
But chose he for himself a corner dear
With mystery and all its beauty clear.
He named it Lebanon, his favourite domain,
A garden hung ‘twixt mountain and the plain.
For men to come He made the cedars grow
And clothed the summits with the gleaming snow.
Men and lions lay down side by side
And far above the soaring eagles cried.
As for the Lebanese, strong of build and mind,
God for this Eden chose him from mankind.
Love ruled with all the virtues and each art,
With all adornments of the human heart.
This Lebanon of welcome with its charm,
Flower of the nations, star of the early dawn,
By the plotting of the dregs of human breed
Was o’erwhelmed by a cruel, hate-filled creed,
Perverting all that’s noble in belief
And using every way of causing grief:
Destruction, rape, violence and plunder,
Looting, torture, and every means of murder.
Sister countries and guests deprived of feeling
Bathed the land in blood and left it reeling.
For thirty years they bathed the land in blood,
Bringing death to the elite, to the great and to the good.
Now by the sea on Valentine’s Day,
Feast of love and of flowers and bashful play,
A criminal hand sets fire and flame
To kill a great man of virtue and fame.
But now the Almighty returns to the place
That once he protected by His grace.
Now seeing the evil wrought in His garden
He will punish the evil without any pardon.
With the tears of the people this land has been watered,
It is red with the blood of those that were martyred.
This land of saints and scholars has been long abused
But now comes the freedom it was refused
The Phoenix relives with lustre new,
This sacred land will be ablaze with glory due.

Pope more than Pope and Nation more than Nation

Cosmic pilgrim tireless, messenger of light,
Of all your pastoral visits, this is most bright,
To a shining Paradise of angelic psalms
Where the Lord will receive you with open arms.
Pilgrim of all creation, with the Good News from above,
The Gospel and hope, and succour and love
For all races and colours of human kind,
Calming mankind’s anguish with peace of mind.
Christian believers answered the call
To Vatican City, the Rome of Peter and Paul.
He stood for Christ in the Church of the Rock
And to all mankind from there he spoke.
To the ends of the earth, pilgrim in white,
He stood for liberty, justice and right,
Bearing the Cross, the Cross of the Son of Man,
Addressing the farthest horizons, the beacon of Rome,
Courageous, a poet, a thinker, holy and strong,
He gave his love to a worldwide throng.
He revealed the mysteries of Christianity,
Its splendour, pardon, sacrifice, love and humility.
Under his Cross among those nations where violence,
Fanaticism and slaughter reigned in permanence
He sowed peace in all hearts and in the place
Of terror and rancour there entered Christ’s grace.
A pilgrim, he made all the planet his home
And the curtain of iron came tumbling down;
The walls of dictators fell down in his face,
Mutual enemies were now locked in embrace,
Past mutual hatreds were now cause for regret.
On nobler aims all eyes could be set.
He came with the prayers of Poland his home
While the world was awaiting a new bishop of Rome.
Then the nations all hastened to hear his word,
The same the disciples in Galilee heard,
The same that echoed through Palestine
Bringing the world the message divine –
Palestine sheltered by Lebanon’s mountains,
Receiving the waters of Lebanon’s fountains,
Lebanon more than a land that is fair
But itself a message and even a prayer.
John came to this land he strongly defended
And left us a memory that will never be ended.
Lebanon mourns while the planet sheds tears
For the leader embracing its hopes and its fears.
Beyond time and space the angels in throngs
Fill the whole cosmos with joyful songs,
Unfurling their banners for one holy and great
To lead him in triumph to the heavenly state,
On one last journey beyond human sight
To receive in heaven a crown of light,
There where the suffering of earth must cease,
There where the labourer has his release.
Our land loved with passion our holy pope
Who brought us the Word and love, faith and hope.
Rome the Eternal, and what can be greater?
Went down on its knees with its tears to water
This papal city where as believer I have often been
To admire and ponder the greatest art the world has seen,
This Vatican with its ancient history
Of Peter’s heirs guarding love’s great mystery.
Now he is gone, we of Lebanon all recall
The love that was shown us by Pope John Paul
And request through him that God’s protecting hand
May show mercy to mankind and favour for our land.

Joseph Matar
All rights reserved © LebanonArt
Translated from French: K.J.Mortimer

>> Fourth Page <<