ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Tyaskin, MD

 

 

In deep green forest and untilled sod;

They sought a closer walk with God.

Near the banks of the beautiful Nanticoke,

The St. Mary’s fathers met Indian folk.

By seventeen hundred and ninety five,

With thought of worship much alive;

With Indians moving day by day

Far to the North, where they would stay,

These local folk began to plan,

A house of God upon this land.

By Seventeen Hundred and Ninety eight,

Destined to be an important date,

Before President Washington had expired,

Carpenters and workers long since hired.

Completed here a parish home,

For worship of God near salty foam,

When flames this chapel later claimed,

A new St. Mary’s with self-same aim.

Saw light of day in a rich decade,

When the postage stamp and new states were made,

When teen aged Mark Twain with a shore slave did play,

On Missour’s shores then far away.

When gold was found near Pacific shore,

Birth came to a Naval Academy rich in lore,

Yes in Eighteen hundred and forty eight,

The new St. Mary’s added to this new state,

The place of worship where folk still pray,

For brothers and sisters near and far away.

God grant us grace to meet a need,

In a world obsessed with power and greed,

To work and look for a better day,

As close to thee and Thy Son we stay.

 

November 1973

 

The Edward Eharts