New Year’s Dawn
“Vive le Roi!”
I.
O joy! O joy! The air is filled
With light and sweetest song!
And angel shapes
With breath of grapes
Into the chamber throng.
Upon a throne they bear
An infant small and fair.
Stir up the fire,—the tapers trim;
Sing Faith and Hope, and Love, a hymn
Unto the new-born Year!
The baby Year,—the spotless Year,
The blesséd new-born Year!
II.
Leave to the dead their voiceless dead,
To coffin and inter;
Our feet are by the Present led,
Our aims are all with her.
And if our Past, a bitter dream,
Too wretched was to last,
Thro’ all we honor and esteem,
With heaven above and God supreme,
We shall redeem, we shall redeem,
That vision of the Past!
III.
Faith holds the New Year on her breast,
Hope carols it to sleep:
Love watches over all, and why
Should we, repining, weep?
The last year’s woe is ’neath the snow,
Its gifts are with the Giver,
Joy! joy! and bless the bright New Year,
And make it bless’d forever!
The Children’s New Year
Shout, lads! from out your happy hearts,
Sing, maidens! till ye tire;
The little new-born Year hath crept
Close to your blazing fire;
He spreads his tiny, rosy arms,
He basks in genial light,—
Oh! read his mission in his charms,
And read it, dears, aright.
That dimpled form, that lovely face,
Where blushes gather in,—
Oh! were they made to bear the trace
Of cruel wrong and sin?
Were such fair shoulders made to bow
’Neath Guilt, or Scandal given?
Shall Vice pollute that stainless brow?
Ah! no,—forbid it, Heaven!
But take the darling to your knee,
(The guileless babe, and sweet),—
Let holy thoughts his nectar be,
Pure words and deeds, his meat.
Let gentlest Charity enfold
Each little naked limb;
And let his crown be Virtue’s gold,
Which never can grow dim!
And nobly will his manhood yield
Your well-deserved reward:
For, like a strong and shining shield,
His arm, before the Lord,
Will guard ye from the awful fate
Attending evil men;
And, safe in Heaven’s high estate,
Will only leave ye then!
Shout, lads! from out your happy hearts
Sing, maidens! till ye tire;
The New Year is your guest of guests
Beside the Yule-tide fire.
“Thrice welcome be!” (cry out, content,)—
“Thrice welcome to our hearth!—
O God! we thank Thee, who hast sent
This New Year to our earth!”
A New Year’s Greeting
Beloved Friend, upon the fair New Year
As on the linen white
The Precious Blood is shining, oh! revere
Those drops with deep delight;
And may the Name of Jesus consecrate
Each thought and word and work that on it wait!
(Taken from A Collection of Poems by Eleanor C. Donnelly)
“Our new-born King and Saviour is eight days old to-day; the Star, that guides the Magi, is advancing towards Bethlehem, and, five days hence, will be standing over the Stable where our Jesus is being nursed by His mother. To-day, the Son of Man is to be circumcised; this first sacrifice of His innocent Flesh must honour the eighth day of His mortal life. To-day, also, a Name is to be given Him—the Name will be Jesus, and it means Saviour. So that, Mysteries abound on this day: let us not pass one of them over, but honour them with all possible devotion and love.
“But this Day is not exclusively devoted to the Circumcision of Jesus. The mystery of this Circumcision forms part of that other great mystery, the Incarnation and Infancy of our Saviour—a mystery on which the Church fixes her heart, not only during this Octave, but during the whole forty days of Christmas-Tide. Then, as regards our Lord’s receiving the Name of Jesus, a special Feast, which we shall soon be keeping, is set apart in honour of it. There is another object, that shares the love and devotion of the Faithful, on this great Solemnity. This object is Mary, the Mother of God. The Church celebrates, to-day, the august prerogative of this divine Maternity, which was conferred on a mere creature, and which made her the co-operatrix with Jesus in the great work of man’s salvation.
“The holy Church of Rome used formerly to say two Masses on the first of January; one was for the Octave of Christmas Day, the other was in honour of Mary. She now unites the two intentions in one Sacrifice, in the same manner as, in the rest of this Day’s Office, she unites together the acts of her adoration of the Son, and the expressions of her admiration for, and confidence in, the Mother.
“. . .It is to-day that we . . . must pour forth all the love of our hearts for the Virgin-Mother, and rejoice with her in the exceeding happiness she feels at having given birth to her and our Lord. During Advent, we contemplated her as pregnant with the world’s salvation; we proclaimed the glory of that Ark of the New Covenant, whose chaste womb was the earthly paradise, chosen by the King of Ages for His dwelling-place. Now, she has brought Him forth, the Infant-God; she adores Him, Him Who is her Son. She has the right to call Him, her Child; and He, God as He is, calls her in strictest truth, His Mother.
“Let us not be surprised, therefore, at the enthusiasm and profound respect, wherewith the Church extols the Blessed Virgin, and her prerogatives. Let us, on the contrary, be convinced, that all the praise the Church can give her, and all the devotion she can ever bear towards her, are far below what is due to her as Mother of the Incarnate God. No mortal will ever be able to describe, or even comprehend, how great a glory accrues to her from this sublime dignity. . . .
“. . .A Mother of God!—It is the mystery, whose fulfillment the world, without knowing it, was awaiting for four thousand years. It is the work, which, in God’s eyes, was incomparably greater than that of the creation of a million new worlds, for such a creation would cost Him nothing; He has but to speak, and all whatsoever He wills is made. But, that a creature should become Mother of God, He has had, not only to suspend the laws of nature by making a Virgin Mother, but also to put Himself in a state of dependence upon the happy creature He chose for His Mother. He had to give her rights over Himself, and contract the obligation of certain duties towards her. He had to make Her His Mother, and Himself her Son.
“It follows all this, that the blessings of the Incarnation, for which we are indebted to the love wherewith the Divine Word loved us, may and ought to be referred, though in an inferior degree, to Mary herself. If she be the Mother of God, it is because she consented to it, for God vouchsafed, not only to ask her consent, but, moreover, to make the coming of His Son into the world depend upon her giving it. As this His Son, the Eternal Word, spoke His FIAT over chaos, and the answer to His word was creation; so did Mary use the same word FIAT:—let it be done unto me, she said. God heard her word, and, immediately, the Son of God descended into her virginal womb. After God, then, it is to Mary, His ever Blessed Mother, that we are indebted for our Emmanuel.”
—Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger
Happy feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and Octave of Christmas Day!
May the Christ Child and His Holy Mother bless you this Christmas and always!
