"If they sin against thee--for there is no man who does not sin--and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy....If they lay it to heart and repent, and make supplication to thee...then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee."--1 Kings 8:46-50.

"Now, beneath the blows of the warm rays, that which lies under the snow remains bare, both of the former color and the cold; so will I thee inform, with light so living, that it shall tremble in its aspect to thee."--Dante, Paradiso, Canto II, Charles Eliot Norton translation,

Morning Prayer from Judges

"Up! Up! For this is the day...which the Lord has given...into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?" (Judges 4:14) 

Kings from the East

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!

Your light has come,

The glory of the Lord shines upon you. (Is. 60:1)

The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall offer gifts;

The kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. (Ps. 72)

From the readings for the Feast of the Epiphany.

After the Angels

"Glory to God in the highest!" rang a shout from every throat;

We stood there motionless, our souls suspended--

As had the shepherds who first heard that hymn--

Until the the ground grew still and the hymn ended.

(Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Canto XXII, tr. by John Ciardi)

In Dulci Jubilo

Now let us sing with joy and mirth,

In honour of our Lordes birth,

Our heart's consolation

Lies in praesepio,

And shines as the sun...

"When the servant heard the beloved name of Jesus so sweetly sung, he was so happy in heart and mind that all the sufferings he had ever endured disappeared." (Henry Suso, The Life of the Servant)

Henry Suso was a Dominican friar and mystic. When the angels visited him circa 1328, they sang In Dulci Jubilo to celebrate the Savior's birth. We know this German/Latin carol most familiarly in its Victorian incarnation, Good Christian Men, Rejoice. The above is a 16th century translation. "Praesepio" is manger.

Gratitude

"What graces all these little crosses have been....It seems they are so small. [But] they do their work. How God works on your soul by these obscure and unremarkable sufferings that cleanse and drain your wounds! I am glad of every kind of trouble that I have had and thank God in advance for all the trials that are to come." (Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas, entry for December 13, 1948.)


He makes the rough places in you plain. Yet his yoke is easy, and his burden light.