The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-10-14
QUEST OF The
CHRIST-BEARER
AN ORIGINAL POEM BY SIR
KNIGHT WILLIAM LOUIS
KELLY.

The following address was deliv-
cred by the Honorable William Louis
Kelly of the District Court of Ramsey
County at the banquet given at the
ST. Paul Hotel at the close of the
Fourth Degree initiation held in the
Knights of Columbus Hail on Dis
covery Day, October 12:
In the year 1896, at the city of
Genoa, man-child was born to an
Italian mother. When she presented
this baby boy at the baptismal font
and priest Of the ancient faith
poured on his brow the regenerating
waters, they called hin-with almost
prophetic ken-Christopher, name
which in the unchanging Latin tongue
meant then and means today, the
fChrist-bearer.
And this child grew to become the
most famous sailor of Genoa and of
the age, and in time the prophecy i'm
piled in his name was fulfilled
For when on August 3, 1892, Chris
topher Columbus sailed out from
Palos, with three little caravels, the
Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina,
carrying in all one hundred and
twenty men, and dared to go out into
an unknown ocean, in quest he knew
not where, he sailed under sealed
orders-not from Ferdinand and
Isabella, but under sealed orders from
God. And when on October IL, 1892,
he came to anchor at the first-sighted
land of the western world and called
! it San Salvador-Holy Savior-he re-
ported to Heaven that he had executed
those orders.
And so in after time, when the
founders of the Republic, acting as
Columbus had without chart or
precedent,
Fashioned the model and laid the
And builded our Ship of State"
they, too, took their orders sealed,
and from the same source.
In the following I have endeavored
to illustrate these ideas and present
them to you, my brethren, on this
419th anniversary of the landing of
Columbus at San Salvador, in the
hope it may carry some inspiration to
us here, and may be heard by the
| $4,000 Knights Of Columbus who will
next year gather at the city of Wash
ington to be present when the United
States of America unveils its magn:-
ficent tribute in marble to the Christ
bearer of the nations:
When the Santa Maria sailed one day
Out from port of Spain,
The Christ-bearers faith pointed the
way
Over league after league of ocean
grey
Into the trackless main.
The Christ-bearer's faith found a
broad fair land
Unknown to the world till then
Where he planted the cross, there to
stand
AS Liberty's signal on every hand,
Set up for the children of men.
Then the forefathers came, in course
of time,
To the Christ-bearers new-found
And wrote in their laws, with strength
sublime,
For all the peoples of every cline,
Freedom, for evermore.
For the nation-builders who labored
and planned,
Guided by Faith alone,
With trust in God who gave them
the land,
Made the cross set up by the Christ
bearers hand
The nations cornerstone.
The flag of our fathers, its red, white
and blue,
They caught from the skies above;
The nation it shelters for me and for
you
Is the home of just liberty, safe
guarded and true,
And born of the law Of love-
Then, knights of Columbus, fall into
line.
Fling our banner of stars to the
breeze;
For our name, the symbol of trust
divine
In the Sailor who carried Christ's
glorious sign
Over the western seas.
In our faith in the Cross and our love
for the stars
That shine in the little blue heaven.
On the flag of our Hope, with its
white and red bars
OF law in fair Peace and of courage
in Wars,
Be the acts OF our loyalty given!