The Vision of St Ita

The Vision of Ita

(Saint Ita sees Christ come to her in a vision as a baby to be nursed)


It is Jesu
who is nursed by me in my little hermitage:
though it be a cleric with treasures,
all is a lie save Jesu.

The nursing I do in my house
is not the nursing of a base clown:
Jesus with the men of Heaven
under my heart every single night.

Young Jesu, my eternal good!
to heed him is a cause of forgiveness,
the king who controls all things,
not to beseech Him will cause repentance.

It is Jesus, noble, angelic,
not an unlearned cleric,
who is fostered by me in my little hermitage,
Jesus the son of the Hebrew woman.

Sons of princes, sons of kings,
though they should come into my country,
I should not expect profit from them;
more likely, I think, from Jesu.

Sing ye a chorus, O maidens,
to Him who has a right to your little tribute,
who sits in his place above,
though Jesu is at my breast.

A lullaby attributed to St Ita later put to music as one of  Samuel Barbers Hermit  Songs

SOURCE:
The Martyrology of Oengus. translated by Whitley Stokes. London, 1905.