Solstice

Never we know but in sleet and in snow,

The place where the great fires are,

That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth

And the heart of the earth is a star.

 

The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,

For the flame of the sun is flown,

The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold,

And a Child comes forth alone.

--"A Child of the Snows" by G.K. Chesterton

O Key of David

"The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens. 'I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut; I know you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.'" --Rev. 3:7-8

 

In my arms I still carry flowers from the wilderness, the dew on my hair is from the valleys of the dawn of mankind,

I have prayers that the meadows lend an ear to, I know how storms are tempered, water is blest;

I carry in my womb the secrets of the desert, on my head the noble web of ancient thought,

For I am mother to all Earth's children: why do you scorn me, world, when my heavenly Father makes me so great?

--Gertrude Von Le Fort, Hymns to the Church

He is Near

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above

Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

--Wm. Chalmers Smith (1824-1908)

The Immaculate Conception

St. Ann with the Blessed Virgin

The feast of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on December 9th this year. All around us, holiday "madness" has begun. Don't fret; rather, keep a quiet Advent in your heart.

"With the Immaculate Conception the story of the human race is begun again; all is clear once more. It is from that perfectly pure and docile matter that the new Adam will be fashioned. So, too, will it be with us if we allow ourselves to be born again....Open your eyes, then, and your heart, in an undisturbed solitude with God alone. Be still, and see what he is offering you, what he is to you. Our courage, like our patience, can only be unshakeable when it proceeds from a deep joy." (The Prayer of Love and Silence by "A Carthusian," 1951)