Admitted to the Holy Priesthood

This poem is Father Ed Pacht’s reflection on the second Mass of the newly ordained Father Christian Tutor, an Augustinian monk, who celebrated the Mass in Latin at Trinity Anglican Church, Rochester New Hampshire on the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration.


Mass on the Feast of Transfiguration

Opening movement.

Introibo ad altare Dei,
ad altare Dei,
to the altar,
to the altar of God,
of God most high,
most high and lifted up
lifted up upon the hill before me,
and I
stand,
unworthy,
soiled and stained,
unable to ascend these steps until,
until,
until I lay my sins,
all my sins,
and all my weakness,
in a heap upon this floor,
in a heap with those my brothers bring,
and so I climb.

Illuxerunt,
a world ablaze in uncreated Light,
a world a-tremble reels in awe,
and I stand, a-dazzled by that glory;
in my weakness there I cry,

Kyrie,
Kyrie,
Kyrie eleison,
mercy, Lord, I cry for mercy,
as I stand within that light,
as my eyes behold and lips proclaim,

Gloria,
in excelsis,
in excelsis Deo;
the glory of Thy Light,
the light that shines upon Thy Face,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
that shines into every darkness,
that takes away all sin,
and lets me, sinful as I am,
stand before Thy Face,
now behold Thy Face,
and on this day of such great glory,
admitted to the Mysteries holy,
permitted to that Feast on high,
I boldly, humbly now step forward
and set my feet beyond the veil.

and the Mass goes on.

c) 2007 Ed Pacht