Sine Tuo Numine

Last Friday, our Madrigal Choir took its annual tour of our town. We sang at schools, restaurants, etc., but my personal favorite was our second to last stop: The local hospital.

For those of you who don't know, my aunt entered the hospital for the last time a week ago last year. She came home on Christmas Eve and died on New Year's of lung cancer at the age of forty-six. My mom spent the two weeks before Christmas with her every day, so singing in the hospital for the families of the patients had special meaning for me: Last year, this was us.

Usually throughout the day we sang our more upbeat songs: Christmas carols and songs about spindles. :) However, as we stood in the cafeteria, for whatever reason our Madrigal queen chose for us to sing our prayer (which is in Latin).

O blessed spirit,
Fill the center of the hearts of Your faithful.
Without Your grace,
there is nothing in man,
nothing is innocent.

As I stood there singing that piece in my gorgeous dress with the two-foot sleeves, it hit me so suddenly: Without Him, there is nothing. Nothing!! Everything will fade in time, but He will remain. No matter our circumstances. No matter what's going on in our life, even that will fade. It may be that He chooses to take us home to end it -- but He is there. Always. Infinite. I almost cried as I was singing those lines, realizing He is everything. The world can crash, and He will still hold me.

Sine tuo numine, nihil est in homine.

Without His grace, there is nothing in us. We will shatter, we will break, but He remains. Next time you feel weak, next time you feel hopeless, thank Him for his omnipresence. Thank Him for His grace, and ask Him to wrap you in His strong arms and carry you through any difficult season and hold your hand through the joyous times.

I love Christmas. But I know there are so many people who celebrate the gifts, and the tree, and the food, and God is left out of the picture. Please, this Christmas season, make it an effort to reach those people. Without God, and without the Baby in a manger -- there is nothing in us.