Wednesday 8 December
The Lagoon nebula, photographed by Ari Rex, Canberra.
"Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name" (Isaiah 40:25).
Birth, by Kemmer Anderson.
Barn smell: scents from the ark.
Prophecy comes about: God acts.
Writing in the sky guides a star
Along a rainbow's arc to Bethlehem.
A child born in a stable sleeps on straw:
Under the animals; eyes His mother sings.
Joseph's skill, King's wisdom:
This Son learns to lead from shepherds.
Messiah of our flesh, man with God's mind.
Love begins in a stall.
— Songs of Bethlehem: Nativity Poems. Xlibris, 2014
To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 103.1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Matthew 11:28-30
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Almighty God, you make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Rorate Caeli are the opening words of Isaiah 45:8 in the Vulgate. A Gregorian chant hymn traditionally sung in the season of Advent. The recording is old and French accents evident, but it is utterly authentic: sung by by the Chœur des moines des Abbayes de Bricquebec, Citeaux, Sept-Fons et Timadeuc.
Roráte caéli désuper, et núbes plúant jústum.
Peccávimus, et fácti súmus tamquam immúndus nos,
et cecídimus quasi fólium univérsi:
et iniquitátes nóstræ quasi véntus abstulérunt nos:
abscondísti faciem túam a nóbis,
et allisísti nos in mánu iniquitátis nóstræ.
Roráte caéli désuper, et núbes plúant jústum.
Víde Dómine afflictiónem pópuli túi,
et mítte quem missúrus es:
emítte Agnum dominatórem térræ,
de Pétra desérti ad móntem fíliæ Síon:
ut áuferat ípse júgum captivitátis nóstræ.
Roráte caéli désuper, et núbes plúant jústum.
Consolámini, consolámini, pópule méus:
cito véniet sálus túa:
quare mæróre consúmeris,
quia innovávit te dólor?
Salvábo te, nóli timére,
égo enim sum Dóminus Déus túus,
Sánctus Israël, Redémptor túus.
Roráte caéli désuper, et núbes plúant jústum.
Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.
We have sinned, and are as an unclean thing,
and we all do fade as a leaf:
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away;
thou hast hid thy face from us:
and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.
Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people
and send forth Him who is to come
send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth
from Petra of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion
that He may take away the yoke of our captivity
Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
my salvation shall not tarry:
why wilt thou waste away in sadness?
why hath sorrow seized thee?
Fear not, for I will save thee:
for I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.
Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.
May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.