" The child must receive all things as gifts, because on his own he can do nothing. Yet the child is also himself a gift of incomparable beauty, a grace that takes the breath away. We come to Jesus then with the poverty and the dignity of children, and He meets us, on the feast of Christmas, in the same way. What cheer for the heart! The gears of the world grind on, the smokestacks belch, and politicians
speak, scientists distill medicines and poisons, producers produce, and consumers consume, but the true world is here, at the side of the Christ child, in stillness and joy. "

― Anthony Esolen , Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church