John Donne on Christmas

Here is an excerpt from a Christmas sermon by John Donne. It brings together the whole of Christ's story, which should always be the content of our worship. (You can read more of Donne's Christmas sermons here: http://www.msgr.ca/msgr-2/Light%20in%20Darkness%20Donne.htm)


The whole life of Christ was a continual passion. Others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born. For to his tenderness then, the straws were almost as sharp as the crown of thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as his cross at the last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. (John Donne, St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Christmas Day, 1626)