"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined."
Is 9:1
"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were stricken with fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For this day in the city of David there is born to you a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men of good will."
Lk 2:9-14
“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”
“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by
link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my
own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”
Scrooge trembled more and more.
“Or would you know,” pursued the Ghost, “the weight and length of the
strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this,
seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a
ponderous chain!..."
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
Business!'
cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business;
charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.
The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive
ocean of my business!”
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
“We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him. We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now. We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case."
John Henry Newman
"The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:5
"They will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them. They want it all out of gold, bathed in light, costly and of little weight; pleasant to see, hanging from a woman’s beautiful throat.
In the end, the only real tragedy is not to be a saint."
Léon Bloy
...à vous tous et à tous mes amis de la Cène de l'Agneau de Dieu, le sang
de l'alliance nouvelle et éternelle qui a été répandu pour vous et pour
la multitude.
