At Christmas we saw a weak baby, giving proof of our weakness. In today’s feast, we see a perfect man, hinting at the perfect Son who proceeds from the all-perfect Father. At Christmas the King puts on the royal robe of his body; at Epiphany the very source enfolds and, as it were, clothes the[…]
Quotes
Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold[…]
Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; everything passed on with grace. (G.K. Chesterton)
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.* Heaven itself cannot contain the One whom you bore in your womb. (Responsory for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God)
How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory. (St. Quodvultdeus, +450)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with[…]
If we celebrate with such solemnity the birth of Jesus, it is to bear witness that every human being is somebody unique and unrepeatable…somebody thought of and chosen from eternity, some[one] called and identified by his own name. It is as it was with the first man, Adam. It is as it was with the[…]
O Immanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God. (O Antiphon for December 23rd)
O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man, whom you made from clay. (O Antiphon for December 22nd)
Key of David, who open the gates of the eternal kingdom, come to liberate from prison the captive who lives in darkness. (O Clavis David – O Antiphon for December 20th)