"The Order of Melchizedek"

This poem appeared in the May 2012 edition of U.S. Catholic magazine.  It's author, Brian Doyle, is editor of University of Portland Magazine and a poet and essayist.


The Order of Melchizedek

Bizarrely enough, a priest friend of mine says,
What I remember clearest from my ordination
Is that when we were all sprawled on the floor
Face-first and silent and awed before the One,
My nose was freezing.  I think every single guy
Felt the same way.  There we were, soon to join
The Order of Melchizedek, priests of The Lord
Until we breathed our last on this lovely planet,
And we are all thinking Lord, hurry the bishop!
I mean, you have to laugh.  I have often thought
In these years here at the end of my priesthood,
How exactly right and holy and human the start
Was, though, as a priest.  Everyone was suitably
Awed by the vow, and the ritual, and the smoke
And ancient tradition of it; it's very real, and he
Who would make fun of it is missing the power
And glory of the promise--we were mere boys,
Taking a really unimaginable leap into wild lives,
Not knowing anything, really, of long loneliness,
Or how you can be given a sort of clan and tribe,
As a priest, of friends and parishioners, and kids
You baptize--I think I have 20 godchildren.
But my point is how very human the first minute
Is, sprawled out on the floor, not thinking of awe
Or prayers or promises, but of your ice-cold nose.
That's the exact right honest human way to begin.

By Brian Doyle


Spring is the usual time of year for priestly ordinations across the United States of America, and elsewhere.  May the newly ordained men pray as well as this unnamed, holy, elderly priest.