Lyrics:
O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum. Alleluia
O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!
Listen to it all.
There is a nice article on this there.
‘At a moment in history God broke through an adolescent girl’s womb in the Ancient Near East,
eternity intersected with time,
the supernatural became the natural,
the author of the story entered as a character in his own book,
and, in the memorable words of JB Phillips which I have always loved, we became the visited planet.’
–Yours truly from the morning sermon
Adoration of the Shepherds by Dutch painter Matthias Stomer, 1632. pic.twitter.com/KnJq38VjXy
— Archaeology & Art (@archaeologyart) December 24, 2021
“My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of his presence? The Incarnation is the supreme example; it leaves all previous ideas of the Messiah in ruins.”
—A Grief Observed [London: Faber&Faber, 1961], p.52
Adoration of the Shepherds in the stillest of nights, by Georges de la Tour in 1644. For the end of Second Christmas Day. pic.twitter.com/wK5fMD4bJH
— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) December 27, 2021
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, kindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
'Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord'
Romans 8: 39 pic.twitter.com/3Qrdkknjxe— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) December 30, 2023
And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
–Colossians 1:9-20
Erbacon Community Church#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #Faith #Hope #Love #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/XxozfLMymy
— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) December 31, 2023