Spirituality

Thou hast made all creation shine with joy

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December 30, 2011
The Street, Betchworth in Surrey, in snow. © Ian Capper, Geograph. Used under licence. Click for original.

Made flesh of the Holy Spirit and made man of the ever-Virgin Mary, Thou hast enlightened us by Thy coming. O God who art, and who hast ever been, who hast shone forth from a Virgin, have mercy upon us.
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Verily today there was made but one fold of angels and men

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December 30, 2011
Stained glass (19th century) depicting angels with a text from the Magnificat, All Saints' Church, Hawstead, Suffolk (detail). © Evelyn Simak, Geograph. Used under licence.

Keeping the feast in their company, in all readiness to open the treasuries of our hearts, let us offer to him our good deeds, faith, hope and charity, as gold and frankincense and myrrh.
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O Bethlehem, let not thy countenance shew thy grief

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December 29, 2011
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, sometime between 1898 and 1946. From Wikimedia Commons.

Herod determined to have the mastery of thee, who cannot be mastered, not perceiving the choir of martyrs he would bring unto thee.
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St Cyril: the iron plunged into fire

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December 29, 2011
Molten metal

When iron is plunged into fire, then it is filled with its energy, and though it is iron in its own nature, it throbs with the power of fire. So too the lifegiving Word of God, uniting himself to his own flesh, made it lifegiving.
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The Dayspring from on high hath visited us (Russian polyphony)

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December 28, 2011
An icon of the Adoration of the Magi

Thy nativity O Christ our God hath made the light of knowledge dawn upon the world: for thereby those who worshipped the stars were taught through a star to know thee, the Dayspring from on high.
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St Bede: As they saw him crying in a manger, may we see him reigning on his Father’s throne

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December 27, 2011
Nativity scene in Holy Cross church near Waltham Abbey. © Richard Croft, Geograph. Used under licence.

Let us go in thought with the shepherds, my dearest brethren, to Bethlehem, the city of David, and lovingly recall that in her the Word was made flesh, and let us celebrate his incarnation with fitting honor.
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St Stephen the first martyr: the testimony of the brightness within

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December 27, 2011
An icon of Christ in glory in the ceiling of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
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Isaiah: Be comforted, God will come Himself and save us

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December 26, 2011
An icon of the Theotokos near Hajdúdorog, Hungary. © Jojojoe, Wikimedia Commons.

O Come ye faithful, let us behold the place where Christ was born. Angels are raising their hymns there. Shepherds are abiding in the fields, singing Glory be on high to him that was born today.
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Anthony Trollope: Christmas in church needs a personal touch

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December 25, 2011
St Petroc's Church, South Brent, Devon. © Adrian Platt, Geograph. Used under licence. Click for original.

No one knows who does it. The peculiar munificence of the squire who has sacrificed his holly bushes is not appreciated. It has been done by contract, probably, and even if well done has none of the grace of association.
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Christ is born, glorify ye him

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December 25, 2011
Angels depicted in the ceiling of Worcester Cathedral, England

Today he that hath no beginning beginneth, and the Word is made flesh. The powers of heaven are rejoicing, and the earth is glad together with men.
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