Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-12-23
CHRISTMAS MEDTTATIONS.
BY Rrv LELAND H. TRAcY, Vicar 81. Clements
Church. .-..... -:

. .
.TEis mia il sci tpr nc faI, and rising again 81
MANY, 81 Luke > 81. III. .".*
One has but 10 visit the great galleries Of the world
Of art learn Of The early magnetism Of the Nativ
ity. Rirh and holy were The memories of this sacred
season which were depicted in the canvases Of
Raphael and Fra Angelica and MuT,illO These ar
fists were more than artists. They were Christian
apoogiss, seeking by means of vision hours and the
canvas 10 confirm the faith They made the his
tories of St Matthew and ST. Luke transparent to
prince and to peasant alike, and left witness TO
the Gospels which has outlasted contemporary
dogma Caleb Robinson critical as he was, exclaim-
ed when he stood in, raptures before the Sstine Ma
donna, This is the very soul Of God"
So in the Gospels we find numerous exquisite
miniatures which predicted the monarchy Christ
occupies. The groups which gathered at the
cradle were typical of the countless myriads which
have since gathered there. The beautiful reticence
of Mary, the pacific submission OF Joseph, the
strange appearance and disappearance Of the actors
in the divine drama Of the mystery of mysteries the
fight into Egypt the uncommon years in Nazareth
all these have been tempered by wall OF secrecy
lest we be carried away by an excess of splendor.
No sincere seeker misses his way to bethlehem.
Even the stars aided the Wise Men in their pilgrim
age The angel chorus the awe of the primitive
shepherds the rapture of the Virgin the domestic
grace Of the shrine where lay the All Holy Infant,
the protecting care Of 1t. Joseph, the piOus ascrp
tiOns Of Simeon and Of Anna-these are parts of
consistent portrayal which charms us at this
hour. :=.: r. ...:..." .s....~
The exact extent of the Incarnation is always
hard TO determine, but that Jesus was indeed the
everlasting Son Of the Father was clear to His first
worshippers as we'll as TO those who came later. The
likely to stagger before its significance, is the
life Jesus lived the death He died, the triumph
sin and the grave He achieved The marvellous faith
OF the shepherds and the soons was seconded by the
more virile sentiments of st. Peter and his memoir
able confession, and by ST Paul in his mission to
the Roman Empire
The beginning of a movement must always be of
chief moment Whatever happens after that will:
inevitably be traced to it. We are not bound to
Christmas by rigid DEGREES and articles, but by the
couplings of an indissoluble love. Freedom of var
led interpretations does not paralyze the love that
ceners in the Nativity. The body of Christ's living
church has infinite graces and gifts for the exercise
of this love Some learned to know Him in the
pOetical, others in the logical, still others in the
ethical and the spiritual phases of His endless ma
jesty. Let it be so. The one fact that matters is
this, that we have in the Nativity unity which all
should realze-this, that we love Him and that We
rejoice in Him. A single word runs through the
circuit Of our being He sent for the rise and
fall of many for the elevation of the multtudes in
virtue and goodness. This is the irreducible value
of the Nativity Here we have standardized every
major conception we have of God as Father, man as
brother perfectibility as the goal of life With our
thought centered on these malveS, let us keep this
Holy Feast. III. r.