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Of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Once I used to live a waking dream
Devoid of starlight: lanterns on the hill
Betwined the huddled palaces which gleam
In reverence to the crown cathedral’s will.
I saw her from my window in those days;
From everywhere. From alley, square, and park;
The river ripples ever in her praise;
Pastel facades extol her in the dark.
Yet humbly as you dare to enter in
Her dusky stillness, licked with window flame
Which fathoms all—she censures not your sin:
Her Lord and Master knows you by your name.
I dream and dream and try to understand
How such a One could take me by the hand.

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Isabel Scheltens teaches at a Lutheran Classical school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she shares a love of history, literature and music with her students. 

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11 Responses

  1. jd

    A lovely poem, Isabel. Very timely for me as I attended a Passion service at St. Vitus’ in Los Angeles
    on line last night. Would that they had such a beautiful Cathedral as you describe so beautifully; their venue seems to be a large tent. Easter blessings.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Happy Easter from Saint Vitus in Los Angeles! We do have a tiny church building that you can probably see during weekday Masses next week at LiveMass.net. During covid, we turned the parking lot into a sturdy tent to welcome more faithful and others while gatherings were required to take place outdoors. The parish grew so much that we continue to use the tent for better-attended services (Sundays and holydays including Holy Week). We have paid off the small property and are saving money to construct a new church, possibly including some features of the revered namesake in Prague. But meanwhile, the priests and people of Saint Vitus Los Angeles have tried to furnish the tent as the finest possible substitute for a Catholic church of traditional style.

      Reply
      • jd

        How nice to know that you attend there. I could have seen you going up to kiss the Cross. I’m actually in Massachusetts and attend St. Irene’s in Montreal when I have no Tridentine Mass to attend in person. A blessed Easter to you, Margaret, and to any who may read this.

      • Isabel Scheltens

        One of the things I came to appreciate while living abroad was how much a beautiful worship space can add by inspiring and focusing your reflection. However, I also came to realize that such reflections can be fostered also in a dingy space if you pay careful attention to the paraments and artwork that you do have control over. For the past three months, my husband and I have been worshiping in a gym, and our frustration has not been with the space itself so much as with the avoidably tasteless and mismatched (newly purchased!) liturgical furniture. You can be tasteful without spending millions.

  2. Cynthia Erlandson

    Isabel, this is a very impressive sonnet! The scene you paint with your words is indeed beautiful, but the profound thoughts you express about them are even more impressive. Your use of personification — Palaces gleaming “In reverence to the crown cathedral’s will”; “The river ripples ever in her praise, /Pastel facades extol her in the dark” is lovely and smoothly continuous throughout the octet. Then the clear, but not abrupt, turn to the sestet puts the reader inside and personalizes the experience. Thank you for this poem.

    Reply
    • Isabel Scheltens

      Thank you for the feedback! I was slightly uncomfortable with the personification—I was concerned it was over-the-top. I’m glad you thought it came off well, thank you!

      Reply
  3. Brian A Yapko

    Isabel, this is a splendid evocation of a most beautiful cathedral in a most magical city. Like Cynthia, I really like your use of personification and, even more, I like the smooth way you transition from focusing on the cathedral itself (exterior to interior) to focusing on “her Lord and Master” who not only gives the structure its meaning but us as well. Well done!

    Reply
    • Isabel Scheltens

      Thank you for your comment. I wrote this one without planning ahead, which may have contributed to the spontaneous feel. I tried to imply the point without stating it explicitly: The whole city does reverence to the cathedral, she does reverence to Jesus, but he turns around and serves us. The grandeur of it all really brought the wonder home to me.

      Reply
  4. Geoffrey S.

    “[S]he censures not your sin.” This phrase makes me ponder. First time I went to Europe, I wandered into many churches as a skeptical atheist. I spent hours gazing at and within Notre Dame in Paris. That’s no exaggeration. So beautiful! I entered many others, in Chartres, Toledo, Barcelona. Not one church barred me from entering. Thanks be to God!

    Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    A lovely sonnet, Isabel. As you say, Saint Vitus Cathedral is the crown of Prague, built on an elevation where it can be seen from almost everywhere. I like your substitution of “lanterns” (the open portions in the steeples) for starlight in your “waking dream.” The word “dream” repeated in the next-to-last line forms an effective closure, after you move in fascination through the glorious city landscape to the more glorious “Lord and Master” of the cathedral.

    Reply

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