Reminiscences of Bethlehem [pp. 477-487]

T8&~4.] REMIKisc~Kc~s OF liET1ILEHEM~ 477
REMINISCENCES OF BETHLEflEM.
When thou wert born, 0 beaming star!
Three holy angels flew to earth;
The three kings from the East afar
Brought gold and jewels of great worth;
Three eagles on win~ light as air
Bore the news East and West and North.
o jewel fafr, 0 jewel rare,
So glad was heaven to greet thy birth!
-From a Sicilian "Canzune," translatcd by f A. Symond~
No one can read the beautiful office of Advent without
feeling something of the ardent longing with which the church
- looks forward to the festival of the Nativity. The solemn anti phons, in particular, called the Great 0's, sung during the eight
days previous, are like deep sighs from her yearning, waiting
heart. She calls to the coming Messias by all those significant
titles which the prophets used as they gazed into the future with
longing eyes: 0 Sapientia! 0 Adonai! 0 Radix Jesse! 0
Oriens, Dayspring, Brightness of everlasting Light! come and
give light - to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death. She sings again and again: Drop down, ye heavens,
from above, and let the skies pour down the Righteous One!
Oh! that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come
down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.
The oft-repeated Apcri~tar tcrra et ~erminet Salvatorem seems to
announce the glad tidings to the inanimate world. Some of the
church-bells even, like the melodious chime at Rheims, change
their song as the Nativity draws near and sprinkle the air with
tlie sweet 1Qora~, cwii, dcszipcr. A cry of admiration and wonder
goes ~ip to Mary: ~uia q~em (cr/i capere;~on poPrant tliO g)~e;iiio coittit/isti-Him whom the heavens could not contain thou
b~arest, 0 Virgin of virgins! in thy bosom.
During this season of expectation the church fasts and prays,
and gives herself up to holy rigors, especially in the hidden
recesses of t\'e cloister. The Cistercians, for instance, redouble
t}ieir austerities during Advent, and in cold and hunger await
t1~e coming of Christ in memory of Mary's awaiting in the cold
cave of Bethlehem. But on Christmas night a fire is kindled on
their hearth in token of joy, the only night in ali the year, and
the monks gather around it with a holier flame kindled in their