dl2y+@andrew.cmu.edu (Donna Marie Lewis) (12/19/90)
Well, I'll be gone until mid-January. Have a blessed Advent and
a most blessed Christmas.
Here's a poem I found.
The Nativity of Christ
by
St. Robert Southwell
Behold the father is the daughter's son,
The bird that built the nest is hatched therein,
The old of years an hour hath not outrun,
Eternal life to live doth now begin,
The Word is dumb,the mirth of heaven doth weep,
Might feeble is, and force doth faintly creep.
O dying souls, behold your living spring;
O dazzled eyes, behold your sun of grace;
Dull ears, attends what word this Word doth bring;
Up, heavy hearts, with joy your joy embrace.
From death, from dark, from deafness, from despair:
This life, this light, His Word, this joy repairs.
Gift better than Himself God doth not know;
Gift better than his God no man can see.
This gift doth here the Giver given bestow;
Gift to this Gift let each receiver be.
God is my Gift, Himself he freely gave me;
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.
Man altered was by sin from man to beast;
Beast's food is hay, hay is all mortal flesh.
Now God is flesh and lies in manger pressed.
As hay, the brutest sinner to refresh.
O happy field wherein this fodder grew,
Whose taste doth from beasts to men renew.
- Donna Marie Lewis
Cor ad cor loquitur - " Heart speaks to heart "
Gaudete semper - " Rejoice always "