January 10th: Dom Gueranger on the Fifth Day of the Epiphany Octave

"Bethlehem is not merely the birthplace of our Redeemer; it is the cradle of the Church................

Extract from Dom Guéranger's prayer for today:

"We, dear Babe of Bethlehem! - we the Gentiles, who, by our regeneration, have become the posterity of these first Christians (the Magi) - we adore thee as they did........Long ages have passed away; but there has been an unbroken procession of people and nations tending towards thee under the guidance of the Star of Faith. We have been made members of thy Church, and we adore thee with the Magi......(But) we are happier than these first born of the Church (in that)we have heard thy sacred words and teachings, we have contemplated thy sufferings and thy Cross, we have been witnesses of thy Resurrection, we have heard the whole universe, from the rising to the setting of the sun, hymning thy blessed and glorious name...................... The Church, the ever-enduring Bethlehem, the House of the Bread of Life, gives thee to us, and we are for ever feasting on thy adorabble beauty. Yea sweet Jesus, we adore thee with the Magi."

Dom Gueranger has not let a day of the Octave pass without paying tribute to Our Lady, both in his own words and by quoting works from the Fathers and Poets of the several Churches. In the next post, to redress the omission so far, of any example, we give today's selection in both English and Latin. It is 'the beautiful Sequence (Flos pudicitiae), which our own dear England used to sing in the Middle-Ages'.