Brian Hamilton-Vise

I know that what I am asking is impossible. But in our time, as in every time, the impossible is the least that one can demand. —James Baldwin

Midnight Meditation

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary, as of old on earth he stood, Lord of lords in human vesture, in the Body and the Blood he will give to all the faithful his own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way, as the Light of Light descendeth from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.

At his feet the six-winged seraph; cherubim with sleepless eye, veil their faces to the Presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry, “Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, Lord Most High!”

(The liturgy of St James, fifth century. Trans. Gerald Moultrie [1829–1885], 1864)

25 December 2006 | Comments (0)
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Brian Hamilton-Vise is a Ph.D. student in moral theology at the University of Notre Dame, where his research is in the history of Christian political and economic thought. His side interests are in the development of negative theology and in recent political theory. Email him at bdhamilton@gmail.com.

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