December 23rd
Liturgy of the Word
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24
Luke 1:57-66
O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver
desire of the nations,
Saviour of all people.
Come and set us free, Lord our God.
O Emmanuel
O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.
Malcolm Guite
Listen to Malcolm Guite read his sonnet: