Winter Resignations

Winter Landscape  Caspar David Friedrich

Winter: A Dirge

by Robert Burns

The wintry west extends his blast,
And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
And pass the heartless day.

“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”
The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me more dear
Than all the pride of May:
The tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul,
My griefs it seems to join;
The leafless trees my fancy please,
Their fate resembles mine!

Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme
These woes of mine fulfil,
Here firm I rest; they must be best,
Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want—O do Thou grant
This one request of mine!—
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
Assist me to resign.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

The Nativity
Bernardino Jacopi Butinone

The Crucifiction  Matthias Grunewald

Resurrection of Christ
and Women at the Tomb
Fra Angelico          

Revelation 22:20

“Surely I am coming quickly."

Amen. 


      




Even so, 
come, Lord Jesus! 

The Last Judgement  Rogier Van der Weyden

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

The Madonna
Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato

John 1:14 and 16-17

And the Word became flesh 

and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

The Resurrection  Carl Heinrich Bloch

full of grace and truth. 

And of His fullness we have all received, 

and grace for grace. 

For the law was given 
through Moses,

but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Tenth Day of Christmas

Paradise  Jan Brueghel the Younger

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

He was in the beginning with God. 

All things were made through Him, 

and without Him nothing was made 
that was made.

Nativity Scene of Hope
Rembrandt van Rijn

In Him was life, 

and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Ninth Day of Christmas

Crucifiction Triptych  Joos Van Gent 

The Nativity  Robert Campin

Nativity
Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given; 

And the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called 

Wonderful, 

Counselor, 

Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace.

The Eighth Day of Christmas

Presentation on the Temple  Lorenzo Lotto

Luke 2:21

And when eight days were completed 

for the circumcision of the Child,

His name was called JESUS, 

the name given by the angel 

before He was conceived in the womb.

The Seventh Day of Christmas

Nativity  Lorenzo the Elder Costa

Matthew 1:22-25

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled 

which was spoken by the Lord 

Dream of St. Joseph  Francisco de Goya

through the prophet, saying: 

“Behold, 
the virgin shall be with child, 

and bear a Son, 

and they shall call His name Immanuel,” 

which is translated, “God with us.” 

Then Joseph, 
being aroused from sleep, 

did as the angel of the Lord commanded him 

and took to him his wife,

and did not know her 
till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

And he called His name JESUS.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

The Dream of St. Joseph  Jacques Stella

Matthew 1:20-21

But while he thought about these things, 

behold, an angel of the Lord 

Joseph's Dream  Gaetano Gandolfi

appeared to him in a dream, saying, 

“Joseph, son of David, 
do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, 

for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 

And she will bring forth a Son, 

and you shall call His name JESUS, 

for He will save His people from their sins.” 

The Fifth Day of Christmas

The Anxiety of Saint Joseph  James Tissot

Matthew 1:18-19

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: 

After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, 

before they came together, 

she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 

Then Joseph her husband, 

being a just man,

and not wanting to make her a public example, 

was minded to put her away secretly.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Shepherds  Joachim Wtewaar

Luke 2:17-20

Song of the Angels
William-Adolphe Bougereau

Now when they had seen Him, 

they made widely known 

the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 

And all those who heard it 

Nativity
Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen

marveled at those things 
which were told them 
by the shepherds. 

But Mary kept all these things 
and pondered them in her heart. 

Then the shepherds returned, 

glorifying and praising God 

for all the things 
that they had heard and seen, 

as it was told them.

The First Day of Christmas

The Number ing at Bethlehem   Pieter Bruegel the Elder 

St. Joseph Seeks Lodging  James Tissot

Luke 2 1-6 

And it came to pass in those days 

that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus 

that all the world should be registered. 

This census first took place 
while Quirinius was governing Syria. 

So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth,

 into Judea, to the city of David, 
which is called Bethlehem, 

Nativity  Lorenzo Lotto

because he was of the house 
and lineage of David, 

to be registered with Mary, 
his betrothed wife, who was with child. 

So it was, that while they were there, 

the days were completed for her to be delivered. 

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, 

and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, 

and laid Him in a manger, 

because there was no room for them in the inn.

Thanksgiving Eve

Old Woman in Prayer  Nicolaes Maes

Thanksgiving Exhortations  

from Deuteronomy 8:7-18

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land,
a land of brooks of water, 

of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 

a land of wheat and barley,
of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive oil and honey;  

a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity,

in which you will lack nothing; 

a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

When you have eaten and are full, 

then you shall bless the LORD your God 

for the good land which He has given you. 

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God 

by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes
 which I command you today, 

lest—when you have eaten and are full,
and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 

and when your herds and your flocks multiply, 

and your silver and your gold are multiplied, 

and all that you have is multiplied; 

when your heart is lifted up, 

and you forget the LORD your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 

from the house of bondage; 

who led you through that great and terrible wilderness,

in which were fiery serpents and scorpions
and thirsty land where there was no water; 

who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 

who fed you in the wilderness with manna, 

which your fathers did not know, 

that He might humble you and that He might test you, 

to do you good in the end— 

then you say in your heart, 

‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’  

 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, 

for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, 

that He may establish His covenant
which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Divine Intervention

The Crossing of the Red Sea  Bernadino Luini

Miriam's Song

      from Exodus 15:21

Sing to the LORD,
             for he is highly exalted.
     Both horse and driver
                  he has hurled into the sea.

Wordplay

The Newborn Lamb  William Bouguereau

The Lamb: Songs of Innocence
           by William Blake
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!