CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
We have, in the last post, already conveyed the Christmas greetings of the Grand Prior, who is recovering well from his illness in Edinburgh, and who holds all those who participate in the life of the Conventual Church, and the readers of this blog, especially in his prayers at this Holy Season.
We could not now do better than to pass on (in common, it seems, with most traditional English language blogs, but it is possible some of our international readership may not have seen it elsewhere) the Holy Father's Christmas broadcast to the people of these islands, given in the BBC's Radio 4 "Thought for the Day." This is a development which would have been unthinkable only a short while ago, and an extraordinary testimony to the humility and faithfulness with which Pope Benedict exercises his sacred office.
In it he presents the Christmas message in all its theological clarity and joy, and ends, as we must too, with a prayer for the sick and those who suffer, the elderly and the dying - Our Lords the Poor and the Sick. May God grant them the joys of his eternal Salvation, brought by the Child in the manger.
Click the link here to hear the Pope's message on the BBC or here to watch the video on the Vatican YouTube channel.
Hodie scietis, quia veniet Dominus,
et salvabit nos: et mane videbitis gloriam eius.