O
Oriens,
splendor
lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni,
et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
 |
| The Tester Above the Shinre of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral. Designed by Sir Ninian Comper |
O
Jesus, divine Sun! thou art coming to snatch us from eternal night:
blessed for ever be thy infinite goodness! But thou puttest our faith
to the test, before showing thyself in all thy brightness. Thou
hidest thy rays, until the time decreed by thy heavenly Father comes,
in which all thy beauty will break upon the world. Thou art
traversing Judea; thou art near Jerusalem; the journey of Mary and
Joseph is nigh its term. Crowds of men pass or meet thee on the road,
each one hurrying to his native town, there to be enrolled, as the
Edict commands. Not one of all these suspects that thou, O divine
Orient! art so near him. They see thy Mother Mary, and they see
nothing in her above the rest of women; or if they are impressed by
the majesty and incomparable modesty of this august Queen, it is but
a vague feeling of surprise at there being such dignity in one so
poor as she is; and they soon forget her again. If the Mother is thus
an object of indifference to them, it is not to be expected that they
will give even so much as a thought to her Child, that is not yet
born. And yet this Child is thyself, O Sun of Justice! Oh! increase
our Faith, but increase, too, our Love. If these men loved thee, O
Redeemer of mankind, thou wouldst give them the grace to feel thy
presence; their eyes, indeed, would not yet see thee, but their
hearts, at least, would burn within them, they would long for thy
coming, and would hasten it by their prayers and sighs. Dearest
Jesus! who thus traversest the world thou hast created, and who
forcest not the homage of thy creatures, we wish to keep near thee
during the rest of this thy journey: we kiss the footsteps of Her
that carries thee in her womb; we will not leave thee, until we
arrive together with thee at Bethlehem, that House of Bread, where,
at last, our eyes will see thee, O splendour of eternal light, our
Lord and our God!
