Tomorrow will be St. Thomas' Day. It's the shortest day of the whole year. We'll be gathering for the Eucharist at 7 a.m. and remembering this Apostle whom Christ called from the darkness of doubt to the light of faith.
Additionally, in the Great O's, tomorrow is "O Dayspring!" It's purely an historical accident (in the Julian calendar used when the Antiphons were first composed, December 13 was the darkest day of the year), but now the Church prays that particular antiphon that calls out to Christ as the true Sun precisely on what is for us the darkest day of the year.
Also, I cannot let a St. Thomas' Day go by without my favorite solstice poem - by Robert Frost
Whose wood these are I think I know,
His house in the village though
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farm house near,
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's been some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Sigh. All we had today was rain. Not nearly so plesant as the snow-fall Frost describes.
4 comments:
Fr. Weeden,
Just curious, how many of your folks come to a 7 am Eucharist?
And about your latest post about LSB Evening Prayer - our folks last night joined the choir with the stanzas and did quite well.
Dear Pastor Erickson,
For these festivals that fall during midweek we have five or so faithful souls who usually show up; sometimes as many as 8. Poor St. Thomas netted but two. I fear he suffers from the impending glut of services that await us for the joy of our Lord's Nativity! Nevertheless, where two or three are gathered, there is our Lord in the midst, and where our Lord, there thousands upon thousands and ten thousands times ten thousands. So how many did we join in worship today? The numbers stagger us!
Amen to that. I appreciate very much your insightful blogging. I wish I could have been there to join your parishionerss and the whole company of heaven.
Michael,
Thanks for the kind words. I wish you had been there too - serving at the Lord's altar. May He grant you and yours the most joyous feast of the Nativity!
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