Open wide your door to the one who comes.
Open your soul,
throw open the depths of your heart
to see the riches of simplicity,
the treasures of peace,
the sweetness of grace.
Open your heart
and run to meet the Sun of eternal light
that illuminates all souls.
from Saint Ambrose.
The bright star above is Regulus. Latin geeks might recognize the root of the name, king in English. Other ancient cultures associated the star with royal leadership. The star or sign in the sky in Matthew’s Gospel might have been an association of two planets, Venus and Jupiter, with the distant star.
Astronomy lesson aside, blessings to all readers this Christmas. Let us all be open to the light of simplicity, peace, and grace.
image credit: By Scott AnttilaAnttler – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2027958
Catholic Sensibility 