Occasionally in books of art reproductions you will come across a large picture of a nose, or waving hand, or something similar; and perhaps you will be taken aback by the peculiar choice of subject until you glance at the caption: ‘Detail from somebody or other's Adoration of the Magi'. And then if you turn back a few pages you will find the full picture of the Adoration of the Magi and be able to spend several exciting minutes identifying which particular nose has been magnified on the later page. For the first time you will understand why the nose is pointed in the direction it is, why it is painted such a peculiar colour: for you will see it in its context.

A theological article on hope is like that nose. Since it is to be theological it cannot be about hope, it must be about God.

We hear the words of the Mother of God and we think how much the generations have fulfilled them. Over the centuries, increasingly, men have recalled the wonder that is Mary and have held her blessed. What is that glory in her soul that causes us to halt and gaze in awe and love? Rosa mystica, the mystic rose, is before us and therein is a whole world of mystery, a life, a deep-set complex of relations. Look into the heart of a rose, of a rosebud, you will see an interweaving, interscrolled patterning of petals and from it you will breathe a scent as of all heaven. So, in the Spirit, is Mary, containing the divine mysteries and breathing the very ‘odour of Christ Jesus. ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.'

They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who is seated on the throne will diffuse his glory on them. No longer will they thirst or hunger. No longer will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb before the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to the springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Apoc. vii, 14-17.)

Already, to us who are yet in via, there belongs some share in this apocalyptic vision. Already there is diffused upon us some measure of God's glory, in that grace which is the seed of glory. And so we need not wait until angelic trumpets herald the parousia; already God is accomplishing in us these very wonders that St John saw in heaven.

It is to Pope St Pius X that the modern liturgical movement owes its greatest debt, and it is from his motu proprio of 1903, issued within three months of his election as pope, that all subsequent initiatives derive their authority. His immediate concern was the reform of sacred music, but he stated unequivocally the principles of any true liturgical advance, namely the need to ‘maintain and promote the dignity of the house of God, in which the solemn mysteries of religion are celebrated, and in which the Christian people gather to receive the grace of the sacraments, to assist at the holy sacrifice of the altar, to adore the most august sacrament of the body of the Lord, and to unite themselves with the prayer of the Church in the public and solemn celebration of the liturgical offices'.

It is very useful for us, dearly beloved, to remind ourselves of the deeds performed by the Saviour of mankind, provided that we undertake to imitate in action what we venerate in faith. There are lessons to be learned as well as wonders of grace to be admired in the unfolding of the sacred mysteries of Christ, and while we acknowledge him in a spirit of faith we should also be following him in the pattern of our behaviour. Even the small beginnings from which the Son of God started, when he was born of his virgin mother, can instruct us how to make progress in piety. Both human littleness and divine greatness are there to be perceived by upright minds, combined in one and the same person.