Dear Friend of Clear Creek Abbey,
According to a prominent thinker of the twentieth century, Simone Weil (she was not a Catholic Christian, but moving close the Church at the time of her premature death), “The beautiful is the experimental proof that the incarnation is possible.” If this soul not yet received into the fold of Christ could make such a bold assertion, 
how much more should the Catholic faithful find in the beauty of creation the traces of God? With the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity the supernatural sense of wonder grows even greater, as the “proof” becomes tangible. Here is what the preface for Christmas in the Roman Missal tells us:
For by the mystery of the Word made flesh the light of thy glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind: so that while we acknowledge him as God seen by men, we may be drawn by him to the love of things unseen.
Indeed, by beauty—especially the supernatural beauty of Christmas—God draws the faithful away from the distressing spectacle of so much ugliness around us to the glorious brightness that surrounded the angels and amazed the shepherds on the Night of Christmas.
On behalf of all the monks of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey I extend to each and every one of you our very best wishes for a Merry and Blessed Christmas, and for a grace-filled New Year of God’s Divine Providence and Merciful Love showered upon the world.
br. Philip Anderson, abbot
