Daily Reading for December 1 • Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, 1637, and Charles de Foucauld, Hermit and Martyr in the Sahara, 1916

I wanted to be a religious and to live for God alone. I wanted to do the most perfect thing whatever it might be. My confessor made me wait three years. As for myself, though I longed to “breathe out my life before God in sheer losing of myself,” as Bossuet says, I did not know what order to choose. The Gospel showed me that “the first commandment is to love God with all your heart,” and that everything had to be enfolded in love. Everyone knows that love’s first effect is imitation. Therefore I was to enter the order where I would find the most exact imitation of JESUS. I didn’t feel I was made to imitate his public life of preaching: thus I ought to imitate his hidden life as a poor and humble workman at Nazareth. It seemed to me that no one offered me this life better than the Trappists. . . .

I was just ordained a priest, and I’m applying now to go to the Sahara where I would continue “the hidden life of Jesus at Nazareth.” I don’t mean to preach but to live in the solitude, the poverty, and the humble labor of Jesus, while trying to do good to souls not with my words but with prayer, the offering of the Holy Sacrifice, penance, and the practice of charity.

From Charles de Foucauld: Writings, edited by Robert Ellsberg, Modern Spiritual Masters Series (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1999).

Daily Reading for December 2 • Channing Moore Williams, Missionary Bishop in China and Japan, 1910

The conviction has been growing for some time past, that steps must be taken to meet the natural desire which the Japanese have for some voice in the management of the evangelistic work in their own country. The more the work grows, and the greater the number of converts, the stronger will this feeling become. The converts gathered by the missionaries of the three Church Societies in Japan—English and American—see other bodies of Christians giving a large amount of control to the Japanese, and naturally expect that they should be allowed to take part in the management of the work.

But apart from this natural desire of the Japanese, which cannot be disregarded, the best interests of the missions require that the Japanese should be made to feel, at the earliest time possible, that the responsibility of evangelizing their own country rests on them; and there can be no doubt that they will take a deeper interest in what is done, and throw themselves more heartily into the work when they realize that it is their work, and that they have a voice in the settlement of the manner in which it is to be done. With this in view, a conference of delegates from the three Church Societies laboring in Japan was called by the Bishops in July to try to arrange, by personal consultation, some plan by which the three societies might work more together, and bring the Japanese converts into closer union. The conference was most harmonious, and there was a marked unanimity of opinion that every effort should be made to draw the converts gathered by the different societies into the closest relations, so as to form one Church. A provisional constitution and canons (very few in number) were drawn up, and it is earnestly hoped that the Churches in America and England will approve our action, and give us authority to use the canons until such time as the Church in Japan shall be prepared to enact laws for itself.

From the 1886 annual report of Bishop Channing Moore Williams, quoted in An Historical Sketch of the Japan Mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. (New York: DFMS, 1891).

Daily Reading for December 3 • Francis Xavier, Missionary to the Far East, 1552

By the favor of God we all arrived at Japan in perfect health on the 15th of August, 1549. We landed at Cagoxima, the native place of our companions. We were received in the most friendly way by all the people of the city, especially the relations of Paul, the Japanese convert, all of whom had the blessing to receive the light of truth from heaven, and by Paul’s persuasion became Christians. During our stay at Cagoxima the people appeared to be wonderfully delighted with the doctrines of the divine law, so entirely new to their ears. . . .

The Japanese doctrines teach absolutely nothing concerning the creation of the world, of the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the earth, sea, and the rest, and do not believe that they have any origin but themselves. The people were greatly astonished on hearing it said that there is one sole Author and common Father of souls, by whom they were created. This astonishment was caused by the fact that in their religious traditions there is nowhere any mention of a Creator of the universe. If there existed one single First Cause of all things, surely, they said, the Chinese, from whom they derive their religion, must have known it. For the Japanese give the Chinese the pre-eminence in wisdom and prudence in everything relating either to religion or to political government. They asked us a multitude of questions concerning this First Cause of all things; whether He were good or bad, whether the same First Cause were the origin of good and of evil. We replied that there exists one only First Cause, and He supremely good, without any admixture of evil.

This did not satisfy them; they considered the devils to be evil by nature, and the enemies of the human race; God therefore, if He were good, could never have done such a thing as create beings so evil. To these arguments we replied that the devils were created good by God, but became evil by their own fault, and that in consequence they were subject to eternal punishment and torment. Then they objected that God, who was so severe in punishing, was not at all merciful. Again, how could He, if He created the human race in the manner we taught, allow men sent into the world to worship Him to be tempted and persecuted by the devil? In like manner, if God were good, He ought not to have made man so weak and so prone to sin, but free from all evil. Again, it could not be a good God, they said, who had created that horrible prison of hell, and was to be for ever without pity for those who suffer therein the most fearful torments from all eternity. Lastly, if He were good, He would not have imposed on men those difficult laws of the Ten Commandments. Their religious traditions, on the contrary, taught that all who should invoke the authors of their religion would be delivered even from the torments of hell.

They were quite unable to digest the idea that men could be cast into hell without any hope of deliverance. They said, therefore, that their doctrines rested, more than ours, on clemency and mercy. In the end, by God's favour, we succeeded in solving all their questions, so as to leave no doubt remaining in their minds. The Japanese are led by reason in everything more than any other people, and in general they are all so insatiable of information and so importunate in their questions that there is no end either to their arguments with us, or to their talking over our answers among themselves. They did not know that the world is round, they knew nothing of the course of the sun and stars, so that when they asked us and we explained to them these and other like things, such as the causes of comets, of the lightning and of rain, they listened to us most eagerly, and appeared delighted to hear us, regarding us with profound respect as extremely learned persons. This idea of our great knowledge opened the way to us for sowing the seed of religion in their minds. . . .

Before their baptism the converts of Yamaguchi were greatly troubled and pained by a hateful and annoying scruple—that God did not appear to them merciful and good, because He had never made Himself known to the Japanese before our arrival, especially if it were true that those who had not worshipped God as we preached were doomed to suffer everlasting punishment in hell. It seemed to them that He had forgotten and as it were neglected the salvation of all their ancestors, in permitting them to be deprived of the knowledge of saving truths, and thus to rush headlong on eternal death. It was this painful thought which, more than anything else, kept them back from the religion of the true God. But by the divine mercy all their error and scruple was taken away. We began by proving to them that the divine law is the most ancient of all. Before receiving their institutions from the Chinese, the Japanese knew by the teaching of nature that it was wicked to kill, to steal, to swear falsely, and to commit the other sins enumerated in the Ten Commandments, a proof of this being the remorse of conscience to which any one guilty of one of these crimes was certain to be a prey.

We showed them that reason itself teaches us to avoid evil and to do good, and that this is so deeply implanted in the hearts of men, that all have the knowledge of the divine law from nature, and from God the Author of nature, before they receive any external instruction on the subject. . . . The converts were so satisfied with this reasoning, as to see no further difficulty; so that this net having been broken, they received from us with a glad heart the sweet yoke of our Lord.

From a letter from Japan to the Society of Jesus in Europe (1552) by Francis Xavier; found at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1552xavier4.html.

Daily Reading for December 4 • John of Damascus, Priest, c. 760

There is nothing created, nothing of the first and second order, nothing lord and servant;
but there is unity and trinity—
there was, there is, and there shall be forever—
which is perceived and adored by faith—
by faith, not by inquiry, nor by searching out, nor by visible manifestation;
for the more He is sought out, the more He is unknown,
and the more He is investigated, the more He is hidden.

And so, let the faithful adore God with a mind that is not overcurious. And believe that He is God in three hypostases, although the manner in which He is so is beyond manner, for God is incomprehensible. Do not ask how the Trinity is Trinity, for the Trinity is inscrutable.

But, if you are curious about God, first tell me of yourself and the things that pertain to you. How does your soul have existence? How is your mind set in motion? How do you produce your mental concepts? How is it that you are both mortal and immortal? But, if you are ignorant of these things which are within you, then why do you not shudder at the thought of investigating the sublime things of heaven?

Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son like a river and the Holy Ghost like a sea, for the spring and the river and sea are all one nature.

Think of the Father as a root, and of the Son as a branch, and the Spirit as a fruit, for the substance in these three is one.

The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.

The Holy Trinity transcends by far every similitude and figure. So, when you hear of an offspring of the Father, do not think of a corporeal offspring. And when you hear that there is a Word, do not suppose Him to be a corporeal word. And when you hear of the Spirit of God, do not think of wind and breath. Rather, hold you persuasion with a simple faith alone. For the concept of the Creator is arrived at by analogy from His creatures.

From “On the Trinity” by John of Damascus, in Saint John of Damascus: Writings, translated by F. H. Chase, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University, 1958).

Daily Reading for December 5 • The Second Sunday of Advent

Cultivate quietness in word, quietness in deed, likewise in speech and gait; and avoid impetuous eagerness. For then the mind will remain steady, and will not be agitated by your eagerness and so become weak and of narrow discernment and see darkly; nor will it be worsted by gluttony, worsted by boiling rage, worsted by the other passions, lying a ready prey to them. For the mind, seated on high on a quiet throne looking intently towards God, must control the passions. By no means be swept away by temper in bursts of anger, nor be sluggish in speaking, nor all nervousness in movement; so that your quietness may be adorned by good proportion and your bearing may appear something divine and sacred. Guard also against the signs of arrogance, a haughty bearing, a lofty head, a dainty and high-treading footstep.

Let your speech be gentle towards those you meet, and your greetings kind; be modest towards women, and let your glance be turned to the ground. Be thoughtful in all your talk, and give back a useful answer, adapting the utterance to the hearer’s need, just so loud that it may be distinctly audible, neither escaping the ears of the company by reason of feebleness nor going to excess with too much noise. Take care never to speak what you have not weighed and pondered beforehand; nor interject your own words on the spur of the moment and in the midst of another’s; for you must listen and converse in turn, with set times for speech and for silence. Learn gladly, and teach ungrudgingly; never hide wisdom for others by reason of a grudging spirit, nor through false modesty stand aloof from instruction. Submit to elders just as to fathers. Honour God’s servants. Be first to practice wisdom and virtue. Do not wrangle with your friends, nor mock at them and play the buffoon. Firmly renounce falsehood, guile and insolence. Endure in silence, as a gentle and high-minded man, the arrogant and insolent.

Let everything you do be done for God, both deeds and words; and refer all that is yours to Christ; and constantly turn your soul to God; and lean your thought on the power of Christ, as if in some harbour by the divine light of the Saviour it were resting from all talk and action. And often by day communicate your thoughts to men, but most of all to God at night as well as by day; for let not much sleep prevail to keep you from your prayers and hymns to God, since long sleep is a rival of death. Show yourself always a partner of Christ who makes the divine ray shine from heaven; let Christ be to you continual and unceasing joy.

From To the Newly Baptized by Clement of Alexandria (ca 210); found at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-baptized-uni.html.

Daily Reading for December 6 • Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c. 342

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith,
an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance;
for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility,
riches by poverty.
O Father and Hierarch Nicholas,
intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
Saintly One, St. Nicholas, in Myra you proved yourself a priest;
for in fulfilling the Gospel of Christ, venerable One,
you laid down your life for your people
and saved the innocent from death.
For this you were sanctified as One learned in divine grace.

Orthodox hymns for the Feast of St. Nicholas of Myra; Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex Press; Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery; found at http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints/325.

Daily Reading for December 7 • Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, 397

While engaged in reading, after resting my mind for a while and desisting from study, I began to meditate on that versicle which in the evening we had sung at Vigils, Thou art fairer than the children of men, and, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good tidings of Him. And truly nothing is more beautiful than that chief good, the very preaching of which is beyond measure lovely, and specially the progress of continuous discourse, and the footsteps, so to speak, of apostolic preaching. But who is equal to these things? They to whom God gave not only to preach Christ, but also to suffer for Him.

Let us, as far as we can, direct our minds to that which is beautiful, seemly, and good, let us be occupied therein, let us keep it in mind, that by its illumination and brightness our souls may become beautiful and our minds transparent. For if our eyes, when obscured by dimness, are refreshed by the verdure of the fields and are able by the beauty of a grove or grassy hill to remedy every defect of the failing vision, while the very pupils and balls of the eye seem to be coloured with the hue of health: how much more does this eye of the mind, beholding that chief good, and dwelling and feeding thereupon, brighten and shine forth, so as to fulfil that which is written, My soul shall be satisfied even as it were with marrow and fatness. Moreover, he who has a skilful knowledge of the souls of his flock, pays attention to wild grasses, that he may obtain much pasturage: for by the sweeter kind of herbage lambs are made fatter, and the milky juice more healthful. On these pastures those fat ones have fed, who have eaten and worshipped, for good indeed are those pastures wherein is placed the saint of God.

There is grass also, whereby the flocks of sheep are nourished, for whence come the fleeces of wisdom, and the clothing of prudence. And perchance this is the grass of the mountain, upon which the words of the prophet distil as the showers upon the grass, and which the wise man carefully gathers, that he may have a fleece for a covering, that is, for a spiritual garment. And thus proper food and clothing are provided for that soul which cleaves to the chief Good, that Good Which is Divine, and which the Apostle Peter exhorts us to seek for, that by the acquisition of such knowledge we may become partakers of the Divine nature. The knowledge hereof the good God opens to His saints, and grants it out of His good treasury. . . .

In Him therefore let us be and in Him abide, of Whom Isaiah says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. . . . May this Good which the merciful God gives to them that seek Him come into our soul, and into our inmost heart. He is our Treasure, He is our Way, He is our Wisdom, He is our Righteousness, our Shepherd, the good Shepherd, He is our Life.

From a letter of Ambrose to Irenaeus (389), in The Letters of S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (Oxford: James Parker and Rivingtons, 1881), letter 29.

Daily Reading for December 8 • Richard Baxter, Pastor and Writer, 1691

Say not, “We are unable to set our own hearts on heaven; this must be the work of God only.” Though God be the chief disposer of your hearts, yet, next under him, you have the greatest command of them yourselves. Though without Christ you can do nothing, yet under him you may do much, and must, or else it will be undone, and yourselves undone through your neglect. Christians, if your souls were healthful and vigorous, they would perceive incomparably more delight and sweetness in the believing, joyful thoughts of your future blessedness, than the soundest stomach finds in its food, or the strongest senses in the enjoyment of their objects; so little painful would this work be to you. . . .

Consider that a heart set upon heaven will be one of the most unquestionable evidences of your sincerity, and a clear discovery of a true work of saving grace upon your souls. You are often asking, “How shall we know that we are truly sanctified?” Here you have a sign infallible from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself: “where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also.” God is the saints’ treasure and happiness; heaven is the place where they must fully enjoy him. A heart, therefore, set upon heaven, is a heart set upon God; and surely a heart set upon God, through Christ, is the truest evidence of saving grace. When learning will be no proof of grace; when knowledge, duties, gifts will fail; when arguments from thy tongue or hand may be confuted; yet then will this, from the bent of thy heart, prove thee sincere. Take a poor Christian, of a weak understanding, a feeble memory, a stammering tongue; yet his heart is set on God, he hath chosen him for his portion, his thoughts are on eternity, his desires are there; he cries out, “O that I were there!” He takes that day for a time of imprisonment, in which he hath not had one refreshing view of eternity. I had rather die in this man’s condition, than in the case of him who hath the most eminent gifts, and is most admired for his performances, while his heart is not thus taken up with God. The man that Christ will find out at the last day, and condemn for want of a “wedding garment,” will be one that wants this frame of heart. The question will not then be, How much have you known, or professed, or talked? but, How much have you loved, and where was your heart?

From The Saints’ Everlasting Rest by Richard Baxter (New York: American Tract Society), chapter 11, “The Importance of Leading a Heavenly Life upon Earth.” Found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/baxter/saints_rest.iii.XI.html

Daily Reading for December 9 • Thomas Merton, Contemplative and Writer, 1968 (transferred)

A door opens in the centre of our being and we seem to fall through it into immense depths which, although they are infinite, are all accessible to us; all eternity seems to have become ours in this one placid and breathless contact. God touches us with a touch that is emptiness and empties us. He moves us with a simplicity that simplifies us. All variety, all complexity, all paradox, all multiplicity cease. Our mind swims in the air of an understanding, a reality that is dark and serene and includes in itself everything. Nothing more is desired . . . you feel as if you were at last fully born.

From Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton (Dell, 1949).

Daily Reading for December 10 • Karl Barth, Pastor and Theologian, 1968

Lord, may you now let us this year once more approach the light, celebration, and joy of Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love, with which you so loved the world that you gave your only Son, so that all of us may believe in him and therefore not be lost, but may have eternal life.

What could we possibly bring and give to you? So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts! So many confused thoughts, so much coldness and defiance, so much carelessness and hatred! So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us! So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas!

What should you possibly do with such gifts? And what are you to do with such people as we all are? But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas—the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are—in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people. . . .

Be among us as we once again . . . together prepare to receive him as your gift! Make it so that we may rightly speak, hear, and pray, in proper, thankful amazement about everything that you have in mind for all of us, that you have already decided regarding all of us, and that you have already done for all of us! Amen.

“Advent: Your Gift to Receive,” in Fifty Prayers by Karl Barth (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).

Daily Reading for December 11

God’s future is not that he will be as he was and is, but that he is on the move and coming towards the world. God’s Being is in his coming, not in his becoming. If it were in his becoming, then it would also be in his passing away. But as the Coming one, through his promises and his Spirit (which precede his coming and announce it) God now already sets present and past in the light of his eschatological arrival, an arrival which means the establishment of his eternal kingdom, and his indwelling in the creation renewed for that indwelling. The coming of God means the coming of a being that no longer dies and a time that no longer passes away. What comes is eternal life and eternal time. God and time are linked in such a way that God’s being in the world has to be thought eschatologically, and the future of time has to be understood theologically. . . .

Entering into God’s coming future makes possible a new human becoming: “Arise, become light, for your light is coming, and the glory of the Lord is rising upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). The proclamation of the near—the coming—the arriving kingdom of God makes human conversion to the future possible. “Be converted, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). This unity between the divine coming and human conversion is “fulfilled time” (Mark 1:15). The First Epistle of John also links human becoming with the divine coming: “It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The writer is talking about the Christ of the parousia. The eschatology of the coming God calls to life the history of new human becoming, which is a becoming without any passing away, a becoming into lasting being in the coming presence of God. . . .

Adventus. . . is a rendering of the Greek word parousia. In secular Greek, parousia means the coming of persons, or the happening of events, and literally means presence; but the language of the prophets and apostles has brought into the word the messianic note of hope. The expectation of the parousia is an advent hope. For in the New Testament the past presence of Christ in the flesh, or the present presence of Christ in the Spirit, is never termed parousia. The word is kept exclusively for Christ’s coming presence in glory. There are not three parousias: in the flesh, in the Spirit, and in glory, as later theological tradition said, in an attempt to put the advent hope on ice. . . . To translate parousia as “coming again” or “second coming” is wrong, because that presupposes a temporary absence. . . . With the coming of God’s glory, future time ends and eternal time begins. Without a transformation of time like this, eschatology cannot be thought. This actually already emerges from the idea of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, in which death is no more.

From The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology by Jürgen Moltmann, translated by Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996).

Daily Reading for December 12 • The Third Sunday of Advent

As God wishes us to be good, because He is good, none of His judgments ought to displease us. For not to give Him thanks in all things, what else is it but to blame Him in some degree. Man’s folly too often dares to murmur against his Creator, not only in time of want, but also in time of plenty, so that, when something is not supplied, he complains, and when certain things are in abundance he is ungrateful. The lord of rich harvests thought scorn of his well-filled garners, and groaned over his abundant grape-gathering: he did not give thanks for the size of the crop, but complained of its poorness. And if the ground has been less prolific than its wont in the seed it has reared, and the vines and the olives have failed in their supply of fruit, the year is accused, the elements blamed, neither the air nor the sky is spared, whereas nothing better befits and reassures the faithful and godly disciples of Truth than the persistent and unwearied lifting of praise to God, as says the Apostle, “Rejoice alway, pray without ceasing: in all things give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in all things for you.”

But how shall we be partakers of this devotion, unless vicissitudes of fortune train our minds in constancy, so that the love directed towards God may not be puffed up in prosperity nor faint in adversity. Let that which pleases God, please us too. Let us rejoice in whatever measure of gifts He gives. Let him who has used great possessions well, use small ones also well. Plenty and scarcity may be equally for our good, and even in spiritual progress we shall not be cast down at the smallness of the results, if our minds become not dry and barren. Let that spring from the soil of our heart, which the earth gave not. To him that fails not in good will, means to give are ever supplied.

Therefore, dearly beloved, in all works of godliness let us use what each year gives us, and let not seasons of difficulty hinder our Christian benevolence. The Lord knows how to replenish the widow’s vessels, which her pious deed of hospitality has emptied: He knows how to turn water into wine: He knows how to satisfy 5,000 hungry persons with a few loaves. And He who is fed in His poor, can multiply when He takes what He increased when He gave.

From Sermon XII, “On the Fast of the Tenth Month, I” by Leo the Great, for Advent Embertide; found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.ii.v.vi.html.

Daily Reading for December 13 • Lucy (Lucia), Martyr at Syracuse, 304

Sun from the world has gone;
Cold is the night and still.
Night covers all the land;
Listen! the silence rings:
Fled is the light of dawn;
Now in each quiet room
Forests in darkness stand.
Whispers as if from wings
Then in our darkened home
Look! In her pure white gown,
Candlelight quickly shown:
Candles, her radiant crown,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.

Now must the darkness fly,
Light once again will live.
These are her tidings high,
This is the pledge she gives:
Day shall again arise
Out of the dawning skies,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.

From the St. Lucia Liturgy of the Swedish Lutheran Church, translated and quoted in Stars in a Dark World: Stories of the Saints and Holy Days of the Liturgy by Fr. John-Julian, OJN (Denver: Outskirts Press, 2009).

Daily Reading for December 14 • Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross), Mystic, 1591

I wish to speak solely of those ceremonies into which enters nothing of a suspicious nature, and of which many people make use nowadays with indiscreet devotion, attributing such efficacy and faith to these ways and manners wherein they desire to perform their devotions and prayers, that they believe that, if they fail to the very slightest extent in them, or go beyond their limits, God will not be served by them nor will He hear them. They place more reliance upon these methods and kinds of ceremony than upon the reality of their prayer, and herein they greatly offend and displease God. I refer, for example, to a Mass at which there must be so many candles, neither more nor fewer; which has to be said by the priest in such or such a way; and must be at such or such an hour, and neither sooner nor later; and must be after a certain day, neither sooner nor later; and the prayers and stations must be made at such and such times, with such or such ceremonies, and neither sooner nor later nor in any other manner; and the person who makes them must have such or such qualities or qualifications. And there are those who think that, if any of these details which they have laid down be wanting, nothing is accomplished.

And, what is worse, and indeed intolerable, is that certain persons desire to feel some effect in themselves, or to have their petitions fulfilled, or to know that the purpose of these ceremonious prayers of theirs will be accomplished. This is nothing less than to tempt God and to anger Him greatly, so much so that He sometimes gives leave to the devil to deceive them, making them feel and understand things that are far removed from the benefit of their soul, which they deserve because of the attachment that they show in their prayers, not desiring God’s will, rather than their own desires, to be done therein; and thus, because they place not their whole confidence in God, nothing goes well with them.

From chapter 43 of Ascent of Mount Carmel by John of the Cross; found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/ascent.vi.xliii.html.

Daily Reading for December 15 • John Horden, Bishop and Missionary in Canada, 1893, and Robert McDonald, Priest, 1913

The time has again come round for sending you an Annual Letter, and it is with feelings of thankfulness that I would recognize the measure of blessing which has continued to attend the work of evangelization.

Owing to hard times which prevailed during the greater part of the past year among several of the tribes, it was impossible to visit them as usual; and much had to be left undone that might otherwise have been attempted. But I hope that the Christian leaders were enabled to supply this want in some degree. Among the others, a considerable advance was made by some in an increasing knowledge of Divine truth, and I trust there has been a corresponding growth in piety. The baptismal register shows a total of 1393. The Lord’s Supper was several times administered: the communicants number 112. Confirmation has been administered by the Bishop to 133. Nine deaths occurred, all children but one, of whom I am thankful to say that he was, I trust, prepared for the event. He was unconscious for three days before his death; but he had frequently expressed his faith in Christ, and his hope that when called hence he would depart to be for ever with the Lord.

In February my brother visited the Peel River and La Pierre’s House Indians, who were encamped together about seventy miles distance, in a southwesterly direction from Fort McPherson. He found John Tchietla and William Sekut, two Christian leaders, very diligent in conducting daily morning and evening prayers and teaching. John Tchietla was keeping school daily with about forty pupils. He did not possess much capacity for teaching to read, still he rendered good service.

On the 31st March I set out on a missionary journey to the Toucon, leaving my brother at Fort McPherson to continue there till the end of April, after which to proceed to La Pierre’s House to pass the next month at that post. On the third day I arrived at La Pierre’s House, where I spent about a week. Resuming my journey, I arrived at Rampart House after six days’ travelling. There I learnt that provisions in store were scarce, that the Indians connected with that post were still suffering from want of food, and that the American traders at Fort Youcon were in similar circumstances.

In this emergency I determined to return to La Pierre’s House. A week after I arrived there, my brother joined me from Fort McPherson, and we passed the spring together. All the Indians of that post assembled there at the beginning of May; and that month was passed pleasantly, teaching them daily, morning and evening and at other times, and conducting school with an average attendance of about twenty-five pupils. All made fair progress, and at the end of that time the greater number were reading the New Testament in Tukudh.

On the 2nd June I started for Fort McPherson to meet the Bishop. I reached there on the 6th June, and was sorry to find only about a third of the Peel River Indians assembled, the rest not having yet come in from their hunting-grounds. The day following the Bishop arrived. Four days were subsequently spent there; and on Sunday, the 11th, the Bishop administered confirmation to twenty-three individuals, of whom thirteen, who were previously communicants, afterwards received the Lord’s Supper. Three of the communicants belong to La Pierre’s House. A few Esquimaux having arrived, the Bishop had them assembled, and endeavoured to teach them a little through the Hudson Bay Company’s interpreter. The next day the Bishop and myself, with two young men carrying for us, set out to cross the mountains, it being necessary to reach La Pierre’s House by the 6th June, in order to secure a passage thence in the Hudson Bay Company’s boat to Rampart House. La Pierre’s House was reached on the third day. Two days were kindly allowed for the Bishop to see the Indians and administer confirmation. That rite was administered to fifty-five individuals, of whom twenty-nine afterwards received the Lord’s Supper.

The day following we embarked in the boat for Rampart House, and in the evening of the 20th June reached that post. Only about 120 Indians were assembled of the five following tribes: the Tranjik-Kutchin, Netsi-Kutchin, Vuntet-Kutchin, Hun-Kutchin, and Truthtsyik-Kutchin. A few had left the day before through want of food. Others had been prevented from coming through a continuance of hard times. There was a great scarcity of provisions in the fort, and the Indians around were famishing. They therefore could not remain long and all despatch had to be used to allow them to depart as soon as possible to procure food for themselves. Two days after, confirmation was administered by the Bishop to twenty-nine individuals, all of whom afterwards received the Lord’s Supper. The most of the Indians took their departure the same day. I would have accompanied the Hun-Kutchin and Truthtsyik-Kutchin, but want of provisions prevented my doing so. Three days more were spent at Rampart House, when we embarked in the boat on its return to La Pierre’s House. On the 5th of July that post was reached, and three days after we arrived at Fort McPherson. As we were to pass about a month there, we were pleased to find a few Indians encamped at the place.

Two days after, a few Indians came on a visit from the fisheries up and down the river, and a good many children came to attend school. The Bishop shortly after visited a camp of Indians up Peel River, and was away for nearly a fortnight. He administered confirmation to ten individuals, and baptism to six, of whom two were adults. After his return he confirmed seventeen more, and the Lord’s Supper was administered to twenty individuals. Daily morning and evening prayers in Indian were conducted by me at the fort, and school was kept with an average attendance of twenty pupils.

On the 7th August the Peel River boats started for Fort Simpson, and at the Bishop’s invitation I accompanied him thither. We arrived there on the 1st September, and, three days after, the first synod of this diocese was held.

The return trip to Fort McPherson was accomplished in nine days. I remained there till December 5th, and then set out on a missionary journey to the western side of the Rocky Mountains. Nearly a fortnight was passed at La Pierre’s House, with the most of the Indians of that post. I proceeded as far as Rampart House with a view to spending a few days with a tribe of Indians connected with that post, but scarcity of provisions among them prevented my visiting them. It was only yesterday evening I returned to this place, where there is also scarcity at present; but it is hoped that the Indians will ere long succeed in procuring provisions.

From the annual report of Archdeacon Robert McDonald, Fort McPherson, January 27, 1877, in Church Missionary Intelligencer and Record, A Monthly Journal of Missionary Information, volume 3 (1878).

Daily Reading for December 16 • Ralph Adams Cram, 1942, and Richard Upjohn, 1878, Architects, and John LaFarge, Artist, 1910

Someone asked me recently: what is it that haunts you? I said, “I can tell you exactly; it is the sense of time slipping through my fingers like fine sand. And there is nothing I can do to slow it.” One of the Psalms prays: “O Lord, help me to see the shortness of life that I may gain wisdom of heart.” As we get older, time seems to speed up. The sense of transience haunts nearly every heart. You feel that you could suddenly arrive at your last day incredulous that that was it; it was all over.

From time immemorial it has been one of the deepest longings of the human heart to strain against the erosion of one’s life, to find a way of living and being that manages to find some stable ground within time, a place from where something eternal can be harvested from our disappearance. This is what all art strives for: the creation of a living permanence. It is what we are secretly doing when we become parents: endeavoring to maintain our continuity beyond our own ending. The harvesting of transience is what we also are attempting in choosing the form of life we live. When we arrive on earth, we are provided with no map for our life journey. Only gradually, as our identity forms and we get an inkling of who we are, do possibilities begin to emerge that call us. . . .

It is such a relief and joy to find the calling that expresses and incarnates your spirit. When you find that you are doing what you love, what you were brought here to do, it makes for a rich and contented life. You have come into rhythm with your longing. Your work and action emerge naturally; you don’t have to force yourself. Your energy is immediate. Your passion is clear and creative. A new calling can open the door into the house of vision and belonging. You feel at home in your life, heart and hearth at one.

From To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue (New York: Doubleday, 2008).

Daily Reading for December 17 • William Lloyd Garrison, 1879, and Maria Stewart, 1879, Prophetic Witness

O Sapientia
O Wisdom, Which camest forth out of the mouth of the Most High,
and reachest from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things;
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

I am a believer in that portion of the Declaration of American Independence in which it is set forth, as among self-evident truths, “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Hence, I am an Abolitionist. Hence, I cannot but regard oppression in every form—and most of all, that which turns a man into a thing—with indignation and abhorrence. Not to cherish these feelings would be recreancy to principle. They who desire me to be dumb on the subject of Slavery, unless I will open my mouth in its defence, ask me to give the lie to my professions, to degrade my manhood, and to stain my soul. I will not be a liar, a poltroon, or a hypocrite, to accommodate any party, to gratify any sect, to escape any odium or peril, to save any interest, to preserve any institution, or to promote any object. . . . I do not know how to espouse freedom and slavery together. I do not know how to worship God and Mammon at the same time. If other men choose to go upon all-fours, I choose to stand erect, as God designed every man to stand. If, practically falsifying its heaven-attested principles, this nation denounces me for refusing to imitate its example, then, adhering all the more tenaciously to those principles, I will not cease to rebuke it for its guilty inconsistency. Numerically, the contest may be an unequal one, for the time being; but the Author of liberty and the Source of justice, the adorable God, is more than multitudinous, and he will defend the right. My crime is, that I will not go with the multitude to do evil. My singularity is, that when I say that Freedom is of God, and Slavery is of the devil, I mean just what I say. . . .

The Abolitionism which I advocate is as absolute as the law of God, and as unyielding as His throne. It admits of no compromise. Every slave is a stolen man; every slaveholder is a man-stealer. By no precedent, no example, no law, no compact, no purchase, no bequest, no inheritance, no combination of circumstances, is slaveholding right or justifiable. While a slave remains in his fetters, the land must have no rest. Whatever sanctions his doom must be pronounced accursed. The law that makes him a chattel is to be trampled under foot; the compact that is formed at his expense, and cemented with his blood, is null and void; the church that consents to his enslavement is horribly atheistical; the religion that receives to its communion the enslaver is the embodiment of all criminality. Such, at least, is the verdict of my own soul, on the supposition that I am to be the slave; that my wife is to be sold from me for the vilest purposes; that my children are to be torn from my arms, and disposed of to the highest bidder, like sheep in the market. And who am I but a man? What right have I to be free, that another man cannot prove himself to possess by nature? Who or what are my wife and children, that they should not be herded with four-footed beasts, as well as others thus sacredly related? If I am white, and another is black, complexionally, what follows? . . . What if I am rich, and another is poor—strong, and he is weak—intelligent, and he is benighted—elevated, and he is depraved? “Have we not one Father? Hath not one God created us?”

From No Compromise with Slavery: An Address Delivered to the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, February 14, 1854 by William Lloyd Garrison (New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1854).

Daily Reading for December 18

O Adonai
O Lord and Ruler of the House of Israel,
Who appearedst unto Moses in a flame of fire in the bush,
and gavest unto him the Law of Sinai:
Come redeem us with a stretched-out arm.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

O Sovereign Lord! O Adonaï! come and redeem us,
not by your power, but by your humility.
Heretofore, you showed yourself to Moses your servant
in the midst of a mysterious flame;
you gave your law to your people amidst thunder and lightning;
now, on the contrary, you come not to terrify, but to save us.

Your chaste Mother having heard the emperor’s edict,
which obliges her and Joseph her spouse to repair to Bethlehem,
prepares everything needed for your divine birth.
She prepares for you, O Sun of justice!
the humble swathing-bands, wherewith to cover your nakedness,
and protect you, the Creator of the world,
from the cold of that midnight hour of your Nativity!

Thus it is that you will to deliver us from the slavery of our pride,
and show us that your divine arm is never stronger
than when we think it powerless and still.

Everything is prepared, then, dear Jesus!
Your swathing-bands are ready for your infant limbs!
Come to Bethlehem,
and redeem us from the hands of our enemies.

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 19 • The Fourth Sunday of Advent

O Radix Jesse
O Root of Jesse, Who standest for an ensign of the people,
at Whom Kings shall shut their mouths,
unto Whom the Gentiles shall pray:
Come and deliver us, and tarry not.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

At length, O Son of Jesse!
You are approaching the city of your ancestors.
The Ark of the Lord has risen, and journeys,
with the God that is in her, to the place of her rest.
“How beautiful are thy steps, O thou daughter of the Prince,”
now that you are bringing to the cities of Judah their salvation!

The angels escort you,
your faithful Joseph lavishes his love upon you,
heaven delights in you,
and our earth thrills with joy to bear thus upon itself its Creator and its Queen.
Go forward, O Mother of God and Mother of men,
who holds within yourself the divine Manna which gives us life!
Our hearts are with you, and count your steps.
Like your royal ancestor David, “we will not enter into the dwelling of our house,
nor go up into the bed whereon we lie,
nor give sleep to our eyes,
nor rest to our temples,
until we have found a place in our hearts for the Lord whom you bear,
a tabernacle for this God of Jacob.”

Come, then, O Root of Jesse! thus hidden in this Ark of purity;
you will soon appear before your people
as the standard round which all that would conquer must rally.
Then their enemies, the kings of the world, will be silenced,
and the nations will offer you their prayers.
Hasten your coming, dear Jesus!
come and conquer all our enemies, and deliver us.

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 20

O Clavis David
O Key of David, and Sceptre of the House of Israel,
Thou That openest and no man shutteth, and shuttest, and no man openeth:
Come, and loose the prisoner from the prison house,
and him that sitteth in darkness, from the shadow of death.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

O Jesus, Son of David!
heir to his throne and his power!
You are now passing over, in your way to Bethlehem,
the land that once was the kingdom of your ancestor,
but now is tributary to the Gentiles.
Scarce an inch of this ground which has not witnessed
the miracles of the justice and mercy of Jehovah, your Father,
to the people of the old Covenant, which is so soon to end.

Before long, when you have come
from beneath the virginal cloud which now hides you,
you will pass along this same road doing good,
healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity,
and yet having nowhere to lay your head.
Now, at least, your Mother’s womb affords you the sweetest rest,
and you receive from her the profoundest adoration and the tenderest love.

But, dear Jesus, it is your own blessed will
that you leave this loved abode.
You have, O eternal Light, to shine in the midst of this world’s darkness,
this prison where the captive, whom you have come to deliver,
sits in the shadow of death.
Open his prison-gates by your all-powerful key.

And who is this captive, but the human race, the slave of error and vice?
Who is this captive, but the heart of man,
which is thrall to the very passions it blushes to obey?
Oh! come and set at liberty the world you have enriched by your grace,
and the creatures whom you have made to be your own brethren.

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 21 • St. Thomas the Apostle

O Oriens
O Orient, Brightest of the Eternal Light,
and Sun of Righteousness:
Come and lighten them that sit in darkness,
and in the shadow of death.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

O Jesus, divine Sun!
You are coming to snatch us from eternal night,
blessed for ever be your infinite goodness!
But you put our faith to the test, before showing yourself in all your brightness.
You hide your rays, until the time decreed by your heavenly Father comes,
in which all your beauty will break upon the world.

You are traversing Judea; you are near Jerusalem;
the journey of Mary and Joseph is nigh its term.
Crowds of men pass or meet you on the road,
each one hurrying to his native town, there to be enrolled, as the edict commands.
Not one of all these suspects that you, O divine Orient,are so near him.
They see your Mother Mary, and they see nothing in her above the rest of women;
or if they are impressed by the majesty and incomparable modesty of this august Queen,
it is but a vague feeling of surprise at there being such dignity in one so poor as she is;
and they soon forget her again.
If the Mother is thus an object of indifference to them,
it is not to be expected that they will give even so much as a thought to her Child,
that is not yet born.

And yet this Child is yourself, O Sun of justice!
Oh! increase our faith, but increase, too, our love.
If these men loved Thee, O Redeemer of mankind,
you would give them the grace to feel your presence.
Their eyes, indeed, would not yet see you,
but their hearts, at least, would burn within them,
they would long for your coming, and would hasten it by their prayers and sighs.

Dearest Jesus! who thus traverses the world you have created,
and who forces not the homage of your creatures,
we wish to keep near you during the rest of this your journey:
we kiss the footsteps of her that carries you in her womb;
we will not leave you, until we arrive together with you at Bethlehem,
that house of bread, where, at last, our eyes will see you,
O splendour of eternal light, our Lord and our God!

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 22 • Charlotte Diggs (Lottie) Moon, Missionary in China, 1912, and Henry Budd, Priest, 1875

O Rex Gentium
O King of the Gentiles, and their Desire,
the Corner-stone, Who madest both one:
Come and save man,
whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

O King of nations!
You are approaching still nigher to Bethlehem, where you are to be born.
The journey is almost over, and your august Mother,
consoled and strengthened by the dear weight she bears,
holds an unceasing converse with you on the way.
She adores your divine Majesty; she gives thanks to your mercy;
she rejoices that she has been chosen for the sublime ministry of being Mother to God.

She longs for that happy moment when her eyes shall look upon you,
and yet she fears it.
For, how will she be able to render you those services
which are due to your infinite greatness,
she that thinks herself the last of creatures?
How will she dare to raise you up in her arms,
and press you to her heart, and feed you at her breasts?
When she reflects that the hour is now near at hand, in which, being born of her,
you will require all her care and tenderness, her heart sinks within her;
for, what human heart could bear the intense vehemence of these two affections—
the love of such a Mother for her Babe, and the love of such a creature for her God?

But you support her, O Thou the Desired of nations!
for you, too, long for that happy birth,
which is to give to the earth its Saviour,
and to men that corner-stone, which will unite them all into one family.

Dearest King! be blessed for all these wonders of your power and goodness!
Come speedily, we beseech you,
come and save us, for we are dear to you,
as creatures that have been formed by your divine hands.
Yea, come, for your creation has grown degenerate;
it is lost; death has taken possession of it:
take it again into your almighty hands, and give it a new creation;
save it; for you have not ceased to take pleasure in and love your own work.

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 23

O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,
the Desire of all Nations, and their Saviour:
Come and save us,
O Lord our God.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

O Emmanuel!
King of peace! You enter today the city of your predilection,
the city in which you have placed your temple—Jerusalem.
A few years hence the same city will give you your cross and your sepulchre:
nay, the day will come on which you will set up your judgment-seat
within sight of her walls.

But today you enter the city of David and Solomon unnoticed and unknown.
It lies on your road to Bethlehem.
Your blessed Mother and Joseph her spouse would not lose the opportunity
of visiting the temple, there to offer to the Lord their prayers and adoration.
They enter; and then, for the first time, is accomplished the prophecy of Aggeus,
that great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the first;
for this second temple has now standing within it an ark of the Covenant
more precious than was that which Moses built;
and within this ark, which is Mary,
is contained the God whose presence makes her the holiest of sanctuaries.
The Lawgiver himself is in this blessed ark,
and not merely, as in that of old, the tablet of stone on which the Law was graven.

The visit paid, our living ark descends the steps of the temple,
and sets out once more for Bethlehem, where other prophecies are to be fulfilled.
We adore you, O Emmanuel! in this your journey,
and we reverence the fidelity wherewith you fulfill
all that the prophets have written of you;
for you would give to your people the certainty of your being the Messiah,
by showing them that all the marks, whereby he was to be known,
are to be found in you.

And now, the hour is near; all is ready for your birth;
come then, and save us;
come, that you may not only be called our Emmanuel,
but our Jesus, that is, he that saves us.

From The Liturgical Year, volume 1, Advent by Abbott Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1948). Translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B., ca. 1867. Text lightly modernized.

Daily Reading for December 24 • The Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

O Virgo Virginum
O Virgin of Virgins, how shall this be?
For neither before thee was there any like thee,
nor shall there be after. —
Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?
The thing that ye behold is a divine mystery.

From The Greater Antiphons At Evensong During Eight Days Before Christmas from the Salisbury Antiphonary, edited by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, in Hymnal Noted: Parts I and II (London: Novello, 1856).

Confessing the Word to be made one with the flesh according to substance, we adore one Son and Lord Jesus Christ: we do not divide the God from the man, nor separate him into parts, as though the two natures were mutually united in him only through a sharing of dignity and authority (for that is a novelty and nothing else), neither do we give separately to the Word of God the name Christ and the same name separately to a different one born of a woman; but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own Flesh. . . .

We do not say that the Word of God dwelt in him as in a common man born of the holy Virgin, lest Christ be thought of as a God-bearing man; for although the Word tabernacled among us, it is also said that in Christ “dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”; but we understand that he became flesh, not just as he is said to dwell in the saints, but we define that that tabernacling in him was according to equality. Being made one kata physin [according to nature] and not converted into flesh, he made his indwelling in such a way, as we may say that the soul of man does in his own body.

From First Letter to Nestorius by Cyril of Alexandria, quoted in Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 1: From Its Beginnings to the Eve of the Reformation, by William C. Placher (Westminster / John Knox, 1988).

Daily Reading for December 25 • The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

In this night of reconcilement let no man be wroth or gloomy! in this night that stills all, none that threatens or disturbs! This night belongs to the sweet One; bitter or harsh be in it none! In this night that is the meek One’s, high or haughty be in it none!

In this day of pardoning let us not exact trespasses! In this day of gladnesses let us not spread sadnesses! In this day so sweet, let us not be harsh! In this day of peaceful rest, let us not be wrathful in it! In this day when God came to sinners, let not the righteous be in his mind uplifted over sinner! In this day in which there came the Lord of all unto the servants, let masters too condescend to their servants lovingly! In this day in which the Rich became poor for our sakes, let the rich man make the poor man share with him at his table.

On this day to us came forth the Gift, although we asked it not! Let us therefore bestow alms on them that cry and beg of us. This is the day that opened for us a gate on high to our prayers. Let us open also gates to supplicants that have transgressed, and of us have asked [forgiveness.]

To-day the Lord of nature was against His nature changed; let it not to us be irksome to turn our evil wills. Fixed in nature is the body; great or less it cannot become: but the will has such dominion, it can grow to any measure.

To-day Godhead sealed itself upon Manhood, that so with the Godhead’s stamp Manhood might be adorned.

From Hymn 1 of Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh by Ephraim Syrus, translated by J. B. Morris, M.A. (Oxford Library of the Fathers); found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf213.iii.v.ii.html

Daily Reading for December 26 • The First Sunday after Christmas Day

Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet, the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that he is God only without the manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed he is, but took not human nature upon him, we are strangers to salvation.

Let us then worship him as God, but believe that he also was made man. For neither is there any profit in calling him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King, when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that he might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that he might feed the hungry.

From The Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture XII, “On the Words Incarnate, and Made Man”; found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf207.ii.xvi.html.

Daily Reading for December 27 • Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

God is light, and to those who have entered into union with him he imparts of his own brightness to the extent that they have been purified. When the lamp of the soul, that is, the mind, has been kindled, then it knows that a divine fire has taken hold of it and inflamed it. How great a marvel! Man is united to God spiritually and physically, since the soul is not separated from the mind, neither the body from the soul. By being united in essence man also has three hypostases by grace. He is a single god by adoption with body and soul and the divine Spirit, of whom he has become a partaker. . . . We become the divine offspring of the Divine Spirit [John 3:8], to whom the Lord rightly said and continues to say, “Abide in Me, that you may bring forth much fruit” [John 15:4, 8]. . . .

It is evident that just as the Father abides in his own Son [John 14:10] and the Son in his Father’s bosom [John 1:18] by nature, so those who have been born anew through the divine Spirit [John 3:3, 5] and by his gift have become the brothers of Christ our God and sons of God and gods by adoption, by grace abide in God and God in them [1 John 4:12 ff.].

From Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses, translated by C. J. de Catanzaro (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1980).

Daily Reading for December 28 • The Holy Innocents

We are accustomed to a natural order of things, with seasons that follow each other in turn, with chores for each season, and beauty different to each season. We know what to do then; we know how to be summer people and how to be winter people.

But when the order is disrupted, we’re uncomfortable, confused, not sure of what to do. . . . So, too, does death sometimes surprise us, coming too soon to be believed, coming to freeze blossoms, fell saplings, remove beauty before its season. We feel this, I think, at the death of any child, for we never desire to outlive the next generation. It is out of the order of things. It is out of season.

The death of anyone our own age or younger nudges our awareness of our own end. Death by accident too is sudden, unreal, unsynchronized with our notion of the world. And when death is by choice, the impact of its suddenness, the unimaginable reasons, the implied insult of being so suddenly and cruelly left behind, is like that early killing frost, leaving petals in the ice.

With the dying of our fruitful harvest season, with the last of the fish, meat, and berries put by, with a sigh for a departing summer and yearning for a long-deserved winter rest, let us remember those too soon gone: the young, the victims of accidents, and the victims of their own sad terrors. Let us remember the losses of this year and of past years, our losses and those of others. I ask you to pray for them, rushed from us outside of the proper time and season.

And we, those left behind, whose only choice is to say farewell, unready and unarmed; we, who like those fragile birch, struggle to stand again, alive yet not as before, let us pray for one another. May we stand through another year of seasons, frost-damaged but steady and growing still. May winter bring rest as faith brings peace.

From “Meditation on Untimely Death” by Barbara Deane Price, quoted in Women’s Uncommon Prayers: Our Lives Revealed, Nurtured, Celebrated edited by Elizabeth Rankin Geitz, Marjorie A. Burke, and Ann Smith. Copyright © 2000. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. www.morehousepublishing.com

Daily Reading for December 29 • Thomas Becket, 1170

In the year of the incarnation of the Lord 1170, Henry king of the English, son of Empress Matilda, held his court in Normandy at Bur, keeping the day of the Lord's Nativity, saddened and troubled greatly because the archbishop of Canterbury did not wish to absolve the English bishops whom he had bound with the chain of excommunication. And since the above-mentioned king thus angry was in ire, four knights of his household, on account of the disturbed spirits which they saw in him, desiring to defend him, secretly, without the knowledge of the king, hurried to the sea to cross the channel to England. And when they had crossed the channel, they seized their journey with hastened course toward Canterbury.

And the father [Becket] had spent barely a month in his church, when behold, on the fifth day of Christmas the aforementioned four knights came to Canterbury, indeed vassals promised to Satan, whose names are these: William de Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, Richard Brito and Reginald fitz Urse; and the armed men in their rage came upon the aforementioned archbishop in the church. And having entered into that church, they said with great shouts, “Where, where is the traitor?” No one responded to them. And they asked again, “Where is the archbishop of Canterbury?” That one himself responded to them, “Here I am, the servant of Christ, whom you seek.” One of the murderous knights retorted to him in a spirit of fury, “You will die in a moment; it is truly impossible that you live any longer.” However the archbishop responded with no less steadiness in words as in spirit: “I am prepared to die for my God, and for the establishment of justice, and for the freedom of the church. But is you seek my head, I forbid, on behalf of Almighty God, and under anathema, that you should harm in any way anyone else, whether monk or cleric or layman, great or small, but let them be immune from penalty, as they are not involved in this.” These words of his are seen to imitate Christ speaking in the Passion: “If you seek me, let these men go.” [John 18:18] With these words, seeing the butchers with drawn swords, he bowed his head in the manner of praying, offering these words: “To God and the Blessed Mary, and to the holy patrons of this church, and to the Blessed Denis, I commend my very self and the cause of my church.” Then in all these tortures the martyr, of unconquered soul and admirable steadfastness, did not utter a word or cry, did not bring forth a groan, nor lay bare his arm or his garment to the one striking him, but offered his bowed head to their swords, holding fast until it was accomplished.

Thereupon the aforementioned knights, fearing a multitude of both sexes rushing on them from all sides, and lest he be delivered by the prayer he had begun, sped their villainy. And when one of them reaching out brandished his sword at the head of the archbishop, he nearly cut off the arm of a certain cleric, who was called Edward Grim, and likewise wounded the anointed of the Lord in the head. Truly that cleric stretched out his arm over the head of the father, so that he might receive the blows or rather divert the blow of the one striking. He stood thus far just on behalf of justice, patient as a lamb, innocent without a murmur, without complaint, and offered himself as a complete offering to the Lord. And lest any of the deadly vassals be able to argue later that he was blameless, the second and third cruelly smashed their swords against the top of the head of the steadfast athlete, crushed it, and threw down to the ground the victim of the Holy Spirit. Truly the fourth, raving with furious cruelty all the more, cut off the tonsured crown of the dying man already prostrate, scattered the top of the head and, inserting the sharp point into the head, poured forth the brain with blood over the stone pavement. Thereupon in the beginning of the seventh year of his exile, the aforementioned martyr Thomas, for the law of his God, and for the justice of his church, which had completely perished in the English church, struggled all the way unto death, and did not fear the words of the impious, but founded on the rock which is Christ, for the name of Christ, in the church of Christ, by the swords of the wicked, on the fifth day of Christmas, that is on the day after the feast of the Innocents, he himself lay down innocent. Then all ran away, leaving him behind, so that what was written might be fulfilled: “I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” [Matt. 26:31]

Truly the knights who had perpetrated that profane deed made their way back through the stable of the martyr and removed his horses, which they divided among themselves just as it pleased them. Those wicked ones, suddenly aware of their deed and despairing of pardon, did not dare to return to the court of the king whence they had come; but they withdrew to the western parts of England all the way to Knaresborough, an estate of Hugh de Moreville’s, and there remained for awhile until they were considered vile by compatriots of that province. Truly everyone avoided their company, nor did anyone wish to eat or drink with them. They ate and drank alone, and they were banished to the scraps of food with their dogs. And when they had tasted from that dish, even the dogs no longer wished to eat anything from there. Behold the manifest and worthy vengeance of God, that those who defied the anointed of the Lord were despised even by their dogs.

Meanwhile, the king, who held his court at Bur as we have said above, came to Argentan. Where, when he had heard that the archbishop of Canterbury was slain so cruelly in the church of Canterbury, he grieved violently, even more than it is possible to say. His life was miserable beyond words. Truly he did not wish to eat anything for three days, nor to speak with anyone, but conducted his lonely life behind closed doors for five weeks, until Rotrod archbishop of Rouen and the bishops of the Normans came to him to console him.

From The Chronicle of Benedict of Peterborough: The Murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 29 December 1170; found at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1170benedict-becket.html

Daily Reading for December 30 • Frances Joseph Gaudet, Educator and Prison Reformer, 1934

In many churches in New Orleans I see some face I have met in prison, some one with whom I have pleaded, some one whose pledge I have taken. My work has not stopped here. I have gone to the judge and pleaded for leniency. Some have had their sentences set aside, some have been kept from going to the State Prison, having their time spent in the city where they are better treated, and where their friends can come to see them. Then these visits to the prison cause the deputies to treat the prisoners better, for the fear of being reported to higher officials has great force. I have had this to do more than once.

Wardens and jailers become callous through seeing so much misery, and are apt to consider a man guilty because he is a prisoner, and being guilty, in their opinion, he loses all claim to kind treatment. This is the tendency, although there are many noble exceptions. I tell them that a man does not lose his humanity because he is a prisoner, that he still has rights which the deputies should respect.

With the assistance of the Prison Reform Association, I was able to reduce the number of inmates I found in the Parish Prison in New Orleans, when I began this work. There is a chronic class of prisoners, white and colored, who are out one week and in the next. Some deem this class hopeless, but I believe there is some good in all, and as long as there is life there is hope. . . .

I have yet to speak of the worst thing of all. Little boys of all sizes were placed in the yard with men who had committed almost every crime on the calendar, and they were kept with these men four or five weeks before they were tried. If guilty they were sent to the Boys’ House of Refuge. If innocent, they were of course, released; but in either event they are sure to have overheard many things in this school of crime furnished by the city that would have been best unheard. I registered a vow, God being my helper, to bring about a better condition of affairs to save these helpless children, by building a home for them, and to have them committed to my care.

Now a word about the criminals. The Negro has few friends when prosperous, he has still fewer when in trouble. When I began pleading with the judges to deal as leniently with the black man as with the white, they were astonished at the interest I took in these friendless ones and seemed to be of the opinion that they were my relatives or friends, or that I was being paid a salary or receiving compensation from some source. They were greatly amazed when I told them I did not expect any reward here on earth but was simply doing what I thought would please my Maker. I supported myself by sewing and when I lost a whole day to assist some one to get his freedom I must sew part of the night to make up lost time. The prisoners themselves very often forgot to thank me when they got out. They soon forget that they owed their liberty to my efforts, and that they promised to pay at least my carfare for securing them counsel and finding their friends. But this did not stop me. I believed I was pleasing God and that He will bless me for whatever I am permitted to do for suffering humanity. I recall one day some years ago, when I had been out the whole day trying to get favorable evidence to keep a woman from the State Prison, I found myself two miles from home, footsore and hungry, without a nickel in my purse to pay carfare. I had to walk home and naturally my thoughts were gloomy. I asked myself the question, “How long can I go on in this way without financial aid?” which I was ashamed to ask. I felt I must give up the work. . . .

Just then a man stopped in front of me, and grasping my hand, shook it, saying, “Excuse me, Mrs. Joseph, but I must speak to you; I suppose you have forgotten me.”

“Yes,” I replied.

“A year ago,” he said, “I was in prison and you begged me to lead a better life. I promised you that I would. I am now converted to Christ and am glad you made me promise. I hope you will continue your visits to the prison as there are many like myself who need to be advised. Then again, the deputies treat them better when you are around.”

I told him I was glad I had helped him. As I passed on, I said to myself, “I can’t give up this work; I must continue, help or no help.'” The judges were kind, treating me with every courtesy. The Mayor, the district attorney, the sheriff, the captain, the deputies, the newspapers, all were kind and patient, ever willing to give me a hearing. I have a few critics among my own race, who have tried to discourage me by saying it is not a woman’s place to visit prisons and courts; but, as St. Paul says, “None of these things move me,” for I love my people. I am trying to lift fallen humanity, to raise the moral standard higher, and above all, to please God.

From He Leadeth Me by Frances Joseph-Gaudet (New Orleans: Louisiana Printing Co., 1913).

Daily Reading for December 31 • Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Bishop in the Niger Territories, 1891

The person who made the crucial conjunction between the religion of the settlers and the mass of the African people was a Yoruba recaptive, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the foremost churchman of nineteenth-century Africa and a pioneer of the cause in his native Nigeria. . . . Born around 1806, the year before the abolition of the slave trade, Crowther came from the Yoruba town of Oshogun, where he was captured by invading Yoruba Muslim forces who sold him as a slave to a Portuguese slave ship in Lagos. By a series of remarkable coincidences he was eventually rescued, in April 1822, by the British Naval Squadron and brought to Freetown, where he came under missionary instruction. . . .

Crowther’s leadership was momentous for African Christianity: his translation of the Yoruba Bible was the first such translation into an African language. In addition to Yoruba, Crowther wrote in the Igbo, Hausa, and Nupe languages. On his visit to London in 1851 at the instigation of Henry Venn, Crowther had interviews with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and such was the effect of his meetings that he was able to move a reluctant British government to intervene in Nigeria against the continuing slave trade. British policy at this time was set by Lord John Russell’s government, and it was against further expansion in Africa. . . . Against the background of such official reluctance Crowther was commissioned to lead the missionary expansion beyond Sierra Leone. Ordained in London in 1843, he was authorized to resume the Niger Mission and, in effect, to become the leader of the outreach to Nigeria. . . .

Few events have changed the religious picture of Africa as significantly as the Niger Mission. With Sierra Leone as the launching stage, the Anglicans, Presbyterians, and in the 1890s the Roman Catholics all entered the delta because Crowther’s heroic exploits had demonstrated that it could be done. . . . Thousands of Africans began to enter the church, and although numerical expansion even in those days was impressive, in retrospect such expansion was only a trickle compared with the massive influx in the second half of the twentieth century, at the rate of 6 million annually, or 16,500 every twenty-four hours.

From Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa by Lamin O. Sanneh (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999).