Merry Christmas

The lights are on the tree, the carols are on the radio, and the waiting will soon be over.  The dark coats will rustle in the pews, and eyes will flash in the candle-light, and we will come down from the lonely frosted heights of our lives, or out of their raucous thoroughfares, to kneel in the stable’s shelter.  

Soon He will be be born whose very presence already announces: ‘In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world.’

Wishing readers a very merry Christmas, and all the best for the New Year.

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An unlettered shepherd explains himself to Our Lady:

The Shepherd’s Carol (1945)

We stood on the hills, Lady,

Our day’s work done,

Watching the frosted meadows

That winter had won.

The evening was calm, Lady,

The air so still.

Silence more lovely than music

Folded the hill.

There was a star, Lady,

Shone in the night,

Larger than Venus it was

And bright, so bright.

Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady,

It seemed to us then

Telling of God being born

In the world of men.

And so we have come, Lady,

Our day’s work done.

Our love, our hopes, ourselves

We give to your son.  

Clive Sansom (1910–1981).

 Set to music by Bob Chilcott (b. 1955):