George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | Nature | Christian Poems | Metaphysical Poetry
Christian Art | George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | Nature
Full of rebellion, I would die,
Or fight, or travell, or denie
That thou hast ought to do with me.
O tame my heart;
It is thy highest art
To captivate strong holds to thee.
If thou shalt let this venome lurk,
And in suggestions fume and work,
My soul will turn to bubbles straight,
And thence by kinde
Vanish into a winde,
Making thy workmanship deceit.
O smooth my rugged heart, and there
Engrave thy rev’rend law and fear;
Or make a new one, since the old
Is saplesse grown,
And a much fitter stone
To hide my dust, then thee to hold.
George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | Nature
The poem reflects an inner struggle between rebellion and submission to divine authority, expressing the poet’s desire to resist God but also recognition of the futility of doing so. The first stanza presents the poet’s rebellious spirit, where he admits to wanting to die, fight, or deny God’s influence over him. This opposition to God’s control is portrayed as a natural inclination of the poet’s heart, which he acknowledges as a stronghold that resists divine authority. However, the poet also requests that God tame his heart, recognizing that the ultimate skill or ‘highest art’ of God is to bring even the strongest opposition into submission. This sets the poem’s central theme of rebellion versus surrender.
The second stanza delves deeper into potential consequences if God allows the rebellious spirit to remain unchecked. The poet likens this rebellion to venom that festers in his soul, suggesting that if left to ‘lurk’ and ‘fume’, it will quickly dissolve his soul into meaningless ‘bubbles’ or empty thoughts. The phrase ‘thence by kind vanish into a wind’ illustrates fleeting nature of the soul when not anchored in God. The idea is that without divine intervention, the poet’s soul will disappear like vapor, making God’s creation — God’s ‘workmanship’ — seem failure. This highlights the poet’s dependence on God for the preservation of his soul and identity.
The final stanza introduces a plea for transformation. The poet shifts from a description of rebellion to a prayerful request for God to smooth his ‘rugged heart’. The metaphor of engraving God’s ‘reverend law and fear’ into the heart suggests a deep desire for lasting, transformative relationship with God’s will. The image of engraving implies a permanent and unchangeable impact, a contrast to the earlier image of the soul vanishing like bubbles. If the rebellious heart cannot be smoothed, the poet asks for a completely new one, as the old heart is ‘sapless’, implying it has lost its life and vitality. The ‘old heart’ is compared to a stone, which serves as a final resting place for the poet’s dust after death. This stone, without divine intervention, is inadequate to sustain relationship with God. It is only fit to hide the poet’s remains rather than be the seat of spiritual life.
Throughout the poem, imagery of rebellion and of the soul’s decay without divine intervention emphasizes the poet’s dependence on God’s grace. The idea that God’s law and fear must be inscribed on the heart suggests that true obedience comes from an internal transformation, rather than external compulsion. This contrast between rebellious heart and heart engraved with God’s law illustrates such tension between human frailty and THE divine power to reform and renew.
The poem explores themes of rebellion, transformation, and the human heart’s resistance to God’s will. The poet recognizes futility of fighting against divine authority and pleads for God to reshape his heart, acknowledging that without this divine intervention, the poet’s soul is destined for futility.
Christian Art | A Boy At Prayer With Jesus | Eucharist Office Of Readings | Eastertide Week 3, Sunday | A Reading From The First Apology Of Saint Justin Martyr In Defence Of The Christians | Celebration Of The Eucharist ‘Celebration of the eucharist.’ Saint Justin Martyr: Celebration of the Eucharist Saint Justin Martyr’s account of Christian Eucharistic worship, written around 155 AD, is one of the earliest and most significant descriptions of the liturgy outside of the New Testament. Composed as part of his First Apology—a formal defense of Christianity addressed to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius—this passage reveals not only the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the early Church but also the theological, communal, and sacrificial dimensions of Christian worship as it was practised just a few generations after the apostles. Faith, Baptism And The Moral Life As Prerequisites Justin opens by affirming that no one may partake of the Eucharist unless they believe the Church’s teachings, have been baptized (‘washed in the regenerating waters’), and live according to Christ’s commands. This threefold requirement—orthodoxy (right belief), sacramental initiation (baptism), and orthopraxy (right living)—highlights the deeply integrated nature of early Christian identity. Eucharistic communion was not a casual or symbolic act; it was a profound participation in the mystery of Christ, accessible only to those who were fully incorporated into his Body, the Church. Real Presence And Eucharistic Transformation Justin’s teaching on the Eucharist is unmistakably clear: the bread and wine, through the ‘prayer of thanksgiving’ (Greek: eucharistia), become the body and blood of the incarnate Jesus Christ. This is not metaphorical language. Drawing on the Incarnation itself as an analogy, Justin explains that just as Christ became flesh by the power of the Word, so the Eucharistic elements become his flesh and blood by the power of the same Word, invoked in prayer. This theological reasoning lays a foundation for later doctrinal developments such as the Church’s formal teaching on the Real Presence and transubstantiation. Notably, this passage predates the formalization of these doctrines by centuries, yet the essential belief is already fully formed—a powerful testimony to the apostolic origin of the Church’s sacramental theology. The Apostolic Command And Continuity Justin grounds the Eucharistic rite in the direct command of Jesus: Do this in memory of me. He attributes this tradition to the apostles’ ‘recollections’ (anamneses), which are equated with the Gospels. This demonstrates the early Church’s consciousness of its liturgical life being not a novel invention but the faithful continuation of Christ’s instruction, carried on through apostolic succession. The fact that this teaching is described in a public defence of Christianity underscores Justin’s desire to correct Roman misunderstandings about Christian worship, which had been accused of cannibalism due to misinterpretations of Eucharistic language. Sunday Worship And Scriptural Proclamation Justin describes the Sunday assembly (koinē synaxis) as a weekly gathering of Christians from both city and countryside, centered around the reading of Scripture—first the writings of the prophets (the Old Testament), then the apostolic writings (what we now call the New Testament). After the readings, the presider (likely a bishop or priest) offers a homily, encouraging moral and spiritual growth. This structure is clearly recognizable in the Mass today: the Liturgy of the Word followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Importantly, Justin situates this practice within the broader theological framework of the Lord’s Day—the first day of creation and the day of the Resurrection. Thus, Sunday worship is simultaneously eschatological and cosmological: it celebrates not only the new creation in Christ but also the re-creation of the world through his rising from the dead. The Eucharistic Prayer And Communion Justin’s account continues with the presentation of bread, wine, and water, followed by a Eucharistic Prayer during which the president offers thanks ‘to the best of his ability’, and the people respond with ‘Amen.’ This prayer is the epicentre of the liturgy, paralleling the Canon of the Mass. The Eucharist is then distributed to those present, and deacons carry it to those absent—perhaps the sick or imprisoned. This detail reveals the strong pastoral and communal dimension of the Eucharist. It is not a private devotion but a gift of Christ shared with the whole body, particularly the vulnerable. Charity And Ecclesial Responsibility The offering of gifts by the wealthy, administered by the president and used for the support of the poor, widows, orphans, and the imprisoned, reflects how closely the Eucharist was tied to practical charity. The Eucharist made real the communion of the faithful with Christ and with one another. It was not only a mystical participation in Christ’s body but also a lived expression of solidarity and sacrificial love. This aspect finds resonance in Acts 2:42–47 and remains central to Catholic social teaching. Apostolic Tradition In Action Justin’s testimony, written a mere century after the Resurrection, powerfully confirms that the early Church’s Eucharistic worship—centred on the Word, Sacrament, community, and charity—was already well-developed and firmly grounded in apostolic tradition. His witness is critical not only for understanding the historical roots of the Mass but also for deepening modern appreciation of the Eucharist’s enduring meaning. In our own time, when the mystery of the Eucharist is often misunderstood, taken for granted, or even rejected, Justin’s words remind us that the Church has always confessed the true and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist. His account also reinforces the communal, sacrificial, and transformative nature of this sacrament, which, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, is the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (CCC 1324). A Reading From The First Apology Of Saint Justin Martyr In Defence Of The Christians | Celebration Of The Eucharist No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ. We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as […]
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