At the time of his birth Christ, through whom every place was created, finds no place in the inn; and he who is Lord of all the world is born as though a foreigner, to enable us to be citizens whose homeland is heaven. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes in order to restore inContinue reading “He lies in swaddling clothes, but he reigns in heaven”
Tag Archives: Luke 2
Now the angels honor us as friends
The Angel announces that a King is born, and the choirs of angels unite their voice with his, and rejoicing all together they sing: “Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” Before the Redeemer was born in the flesh, there was discord between us and theContinue reading “Now the angels honor us as friends”
The true gain and fruit of the angel’s message
When I die I shall see nothing but black darkness, and yet that light, “To you is born this day the Savior,” remains in my eyes and fills all heaven and earth. The Savior will help me when all have forsaken me. And when the heavens and the stars and all creatures stare at meContinue reading “The true gain and fruit of the angel’s message”
Mother and Child by Charles Causley
Holding in clear handsThe world’s true lightShe lifts its perfect flameAgainst the night. About its pulse of fireEarth and seas run,Season and moon and star,The unruly sun. Upon the hill a scuffedThinness of snow,First of green thorn, a streamStopped in its flow. She keeps within her handThe careful dayNow the slow wound of nightHas bledContinue reading “Mother and Child by Charles Causley”
BC:AD
This was the moment when BeforeTurned into After, and the future’sUninvented timekeepers presented arms. This was the moment when nothingHappened. Only dull peaceSprawled boringly over the earth. This was the moment when even energetic RomansCould find nothing better to doThan counting heads in remote provinces. And this was the momentWhen a few farm workers andContinue reading “BC:AD”
Release me from this life
Since Thou hast become life and resurrection for all men through Thy goodness,Release me from this life.Thou Who art immortal, and send me away from this life, which is mortal:Give my body over to mortal death, as with all Thy friends,But grant me, Merciful One, life spiritual and eternal.Since I have seen Thee in theContinue reading “Release me from this life”
Three Days
For three days Esther fasted and Judith kept vigil, the exiles came home to Jerusalem and the Hebrews marched to the waters of Marah. For three days darkness afflicted the Egyptians, Hezekiah lay mortally ill, Jonah was entombed in the belly of a fish, and Paul waited in blindness. On the third day Abraham offeredContinue reading “Three Days”
T. S. Eliot on Peace
Now think for a moment about the meaning of this word ‘peace.’ Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the fear of War? Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise wasContinue reading “T. S. Eliot on Peace”
Locus Communis 