The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts

Rose Abstraction
By Caroline Coolidge Brown
acrylic and pastel on paper, 2004
8" x 20"

A Thought
By Abram J. Ryan

The summer rose the sun has flushed
With crimson glory may be sweet;
‘Tis sweeter when its leaves are crushed
Beneath the wind’s and tempest’s feet.

The rose that waves upon its tree,
In life sheds perfume all around;
More sweet the perfume floats to me
Of roses trampled on the ground.

The waving rose with every breath
Scents carelessly the summer air;
The wounded rose bleeds forth in death
A sweetness far more rich and rare.

It is a truth beyond our ken –
And yet a truth that all may read –
It is with roses as with men,
The sweetest hearts are those that bleed.

The flower which Bethlehem saw bloom
Out of a heart all full of grace,
Gave never forth its full perfume
Until the cross became its vase.

Father Abram J. Ryan (1838-1886) was known as the poet-priest of the South. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he became a Catholic priest and served as a chaplain with the Confederate army during the Civil War and delivered sacraments to the soldiers on both sides. After the war he became a popular lecturer in the North as well as the South. A book of his writing, Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous, has been through numerous printings.

Caroline Coolidge Brown is a member of the ECVA New York Chapter and lives at the General Theological Seminary where her husband is pursuing an M.Div. degree. Their home parish is Grace-St. Luke's Church in Memphis, Tennessee.
email: mail@carolinecbrown.com
website: www.carolinecbrown.com