*(lines written to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new building at Xavier College, Phoenix. November 7th 1993)
(St Francis Xavier died on Saturday, December 3, 1552 aged forty-six years and eight months as he waited for a boat to take him to Canton.)
Shangchuan Island, my friends, and beyond
That line of hills across the water,
The city of Canton.
Here, sailors, building a small
Wooden hut covered with straw
And a second for a church.
There they broke the ground
And dug his grave on a cold
December day, two ships riding
The swell off the shore,
Waiting for a man to die.
A man waiting and watching the line of hills,
Expecting a boat to take him to the
Gates of Heaven.
Pepper and spice
And all things nice
For a ship to carry him over.
In this dungeon, manacled to their filth,
Foreign devils.
Break the ground,
Break the bread,
In fellowship.
That patch of brown, his blood.
The white, the lime they laid him in
Hoping the bones would be clean.
Sail north, my friend,
For blossom time
In Yamaguchi
Holds the bright pearl of faith.
Antonio, his friend, forgot his Chinese
And a warm coat against the cold,
As this man waits
And watches the line of hills
For a ship to carry him over.
Pepper and spice
And all things nice
For a ship to carry you over.
Break the ground,
Break the bread,
In fellowship.