O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting.  Amen.

Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord

Caesar's edict obliges Mary and Joseph to leave their home in Nazareth. They make no complaint . . . And they go, trusting in God's Providence; God knows, God will provide: "To them that love God, all things work together unto good" (Rom 8,28). pic.twitter.com/lQ5mBZRm4h

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) December 24, 2024

Men overlooked a baby’s birth
When love unnoticed came to earth
And later, seeking in the skies,
Passed by a man in workman’s guise.
And only children paused to stare
While God Incarnate made a chair.

–Mary Tatlow

Christmas Eve Mass was packed so much so my parish opened up the church basement to hold a separate Mass; according to our priest an extra 400 people were at the basement Mass to celebrate the birth of Christ (that that's how many folding chairs he said they had and still there… pic.twitter.com/6Ev97ZazRf

— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) December 24, 2025

We pray thee, O Lord, to purify our hearts that they may be worthy to become thy dwelling place. Let us never fail to find room for thee, but come and abide in us that we also may abide in thee, who as at this time wast born into the world for us, and dost live and reign, King of kings and Lord of lords, now and for evermore.

–-William Temple

"The Word is God! St. John the Evangelist, in the beginning of his Gospel, presents to us the eternal generation of the Word, existing ab aeterno (from all eternity), in the bosom of the Father, equal to the Father in all things, but distinct from Him. "In the beginning was the… pic.twitter.com/sVViAOBGwD

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) December 23, 2025

ALMYGHTYE God, whiche haste geuen us thy onlye begotten sonne to take our nature upon hym, and this daye to bee borne of a pure Vyrgyn; Graunte that we beyng regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, maye dailye be renued by thy holy spirite, through the same our Lorde Jesus Christe who lyueth and reygneth &c.

"Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth"

Astronauts orbited the Moon for the first time in history on Christmas Eve, 1968. On their fourth orbit, they captured the sight of the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon, a photo dubbed "Earthrise." pic.twitter.com/PDfWoM7ROM

— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) December 24, 2025

We are going to take a break from the Anglican, Religious, Financial, Cultural, and other news until later in the Christmas season to focus from this evening forward on the great miracle of the Incarnation–KSH.

The Christmas Tree (1911), by Albert Chevallier Tayler pic.twitter.com/rOd0wT4ygR

— The Art Curator (@SeekAfterBeauty) December 24, 2025

An online Christmas service designed for people working shifts will be released on the Church of England website at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Lasting 15 minutes, so that it can be watched in the course of a break from work, the service was created in response to a request by hospital chaplains, and includes a Gospel reading, sermon, prayers, and music.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, features in the service. A former nurse, and Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS, she says that she has “fond memories” of working on Christmas Day.

“Although not always easy, it is a privilege to be with people who need us most at this time. And of course, we receive so much from them too.”

Read it all.

An online Christmas service designed for people working shifts will be released on the Church of England website at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day.https://t.co/dVHP8yQ3VK

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 24, 2025

One major reason for the proposed changes is the radical upsurge of antisemitic attacks in Canada. According to B’nai Brith Canada’s “Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in Canada,” ntisemitic incidents rose 124 percent from 2022 to 2024.

“Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, Jewish institutions in Canada have faced unprecedented threats, such as shootings, arson and bomb threats,” the report added.  

But what are called “hate” laws frequently violate freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. They also tend to be vague and, hence, their scope expands and governments use them to punish views that they simply do not like. Moreover, in free societies, they do not reduce extremist activity.

In addition, as the Canadian Constitution Foundation argues: “Bill C-9 would … remove safeguards against politically motivated charges, remove political accountability for charges, would create a risk of overcharging to force plea bargains, expand the availability of hate offences beyond the criminal law, and risks limiting constitutionally protected protest activity.”

Even if one were to accept the necessity of such laws, sections 318 and 319 of the criminal code already ban advocating genocide and the willful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group.

Read it all.

Canada’s Bill C-9 And The Growing Threat To Religious Freedom @drpaulmarshall https://t.co/ear0ALDqsE

— Baylor ISR (@BaylorISR) December 24, 2025

Concerned that artificial intelligence could threaten Communist Party rule, Beijing is taking extraordinary steps to keep it under control.

Although China’s government sees AI as crucial to the country’s economic and military future, regulations and recent purges of online content show it also fears AI could destabilize society. Chatbots pose a particular problem: Their ability to think for themselves could generate responses that spur people to question party rule.

In November, Beijing formalized rules it has been working on with AI companies to ensure their chatbots are trained on data filtered for politically sensitive content, and that they can pass an ideological test before going public. All AI-generated texts, videos and images must be explicitly labeled and traceable, making it easier to track and punish anyone spreading undesirable content.

Authorities recently said they removed 960,000 pieces of what they regarded as illegal or harmful AI-generated content during three months of an enforcement campaign. Authorities have officially classified AI as a major potential threat, adding it alongside earthquakes and epidemics to its National Emergency Response Plan.

Read it all.

China Is Worried AI Threatens Party Rule—and Is Trying to Tame It: Beijing is enforcing tough rules to ensure chatbots don’t misbehave, while hoping its models stay competitive with the U.S.@stuwoo https://t.co/wOtnfHJGQchttps://t.co/wOtnfHJGQc

— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) December 24, 2025

The poll…finds 24% of Americans satisfied and 74% dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, which is unchanged from November but more negative than all other readings since January. As recently as May, 38% of U.S. adults were satisfied. Satisfaction levels remain slightly higher than at the end of the Biden administration.

Declining satisfaction has coincided with worsening views of the economy in recent months. Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index currently sits at -33, which is down 10 points from October and 19 points from June, and is the lowest it has been since registering -35 in July 2024. The index summarizes Americans’ evaluations of current economic conditions and their perceptions of whether the economy is getting better or getting worse. It has a theoretical range of -100 to +100.

Read it all.

Americans End Year in Gloomy Mood https://t.co/JcHu7bBBn5

— Patrick Riccards (@Eduflack) December 23, 2025

O God, who didst promise that thy glory should be revealed, and that all flesh should see it together: Stir up our hearts, we beseech thee, to prepare the way of thine only begotten Son; and pour out upon us thy loving kindness, that we who are afflicted by reason of our sins may be refreshed by the coming of our Saviour, and may behold his glory; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth one God, world without end.

Good morning from Berneray ☺️ #OuterHebrides pic.twitter.com/OAEMSNehec

— Eilidh (@EilidhCarr) December 24, 2025

Now when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you.”

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men; but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

–2 Samuel 7:1-17

Just 1 day to go until Christmas in my Top 10 Christmas Countdown, where I'm sharing one of my own favourite Peak District festive photos every day until the big day.

This was one of the first photographs I ever shared on social media, taken more years ago than I care to… pic.twitter.com/04Kksu1wEg

— peaklass (@peaklass1) December 24, 2025