Metropolitan Petros: To the Priest in a Foreign Land

 

A priest upon a foreign shore
hides in his heart a wound he bore...
He is not only Christ’s devoted
servant and minister.
In the open-hearted light of dawn,
he is the Apostle of that land...
a star pursued by the rainstorm
of the night.

As a priest in foreign lands,
he lives with longing, without solace,
a laborer in the vineyard and in
the service of Christ;
he scatters light and joy,
but his... broken wings
cannot fly as far as the distant
motherland...

And so, no one speaks of it anymore;
yet sometimes there falls
into the chalice the tear
of the homesick priest...
Upon the bed of faith,
the lambs of longing are sacrificed;
and the soul dozes lightly
at the edge of expectation.

 

Greek source: Ἀπό τό περιβόλι τῆς Παναγίας τήν Μυροβόλο Χίο καί τήν Ἀμερική [Sacred Memories from the Garden of the Theotokos, Fragrant Chios, and America], Metropolitan Petros of Astoria, Athens, 1990, pp. 98-99.