Quote of the day, 25 December: St. John of the Cross

When the interval of waiting
For His birth its course had run,
Straight from out His bridal chamber
Came the Bridegroom, God the Son.
 
Once on earth, with arms extended
He embrac’d His heavenly Bride,
And the gracious Mother laid Him
In the manger, at her side.
 
All around that helpless baby
Animals were standing by;
Men sang songs of glad rejoicing;
Angels join’d their songs on high,
 
Celebrating the betrothal
‘Twixt the Bridegroom and the Bride,
While the Almighty, in the manger,
As an infant, wept and cried.
 
So the Bride those tears as jewels
Brought to the betrothal-rite,
And the Maid was lost in wonder
As she saw so rare a sight.
 
Man was full of joy and gladness;
God was shedding tears as man.
Ne’er was such a strange mutation
Since the ages first began.

Saint John of the Cross

Romance IX, Of the birth of Christ

John of the Cross, St; de Santa Teresa, S; Peers, E 1934–1935, The complete works of Saint John of the Cross, doctor of the Church, translated from the Spanish by Peers, E, Burns Oates & Washbourne, London.