An Old Testament passage that was a favorite of our monastery’s founder, Father Aelred Wall (1917 – 1984), was this one, from the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon:
“For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was half spent, your all-powerful word leaped down from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of a land that was doomed” (Book of Wisdom, chapter 18, verses 14 and 15).
Though written three or four centuries before the birth of Christ, the divinely inspired Bible text encapsulates so well the coming of God’s Word, Jesus Christ, into time and space, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethehem.
It is no surprise that Father Aelred used the verse from the Book of Wisdom for one or more of his Christmas cards in his years here as Prior (1964 – 1973).
The sky above our canyon continues to proclaim the glory of God, as we prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Epiphany, when wise men from the east recognized the King of Glory.
Blessed continuation of the annual Christmas Season. Be assured of the prayers of the monks of Christ in the Desert.
