St Helena prays at Bethlehem on the feast of Epiphany to the three kings: ‘Like me, you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way. For you the primordial discipline of the heavens was relaxed and a new defiant light blazed amid the disconcerted stars.
‘How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, where the shepherds had run barefoot! How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts!
’… Yet you came, and we’re not turned away. You too found room before the manger. Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and out carefully by, for they were brought with love. In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too.
‘You are my especial patrons, and patrons of all late-comers, of all who are confused with knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents.’ — From Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Helena’. (via Maggie)
