Star_birth_in_Messier_83_(captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope)
I’ve gathered some images, sacred and sublime, to scroll through as you listen to “O Holy Night“, one of my favorite Christmas carols.
I love this song, not only for the haunting melody and beautiful lyrics, but also because night has always seemed holy to me.
When I walk out beneath the stars on a cold or balmy night, I’m awestruck by such beauty and mystery and magnificence. I feel humbled and incredibly grateful, as if witnessing the hand of the divine writ large across the sky.
The images below are my gift to you. They reflect what this season is all about for me, a sense of the sacred and sublime–scenes of the birth of Christ and families celebrating Christmas.
Photos of spectacular sunsets and winter wonderlands–nature in all her glory.
And finally, images of an infinite universe stretching out and wrapping about the earth as if we were a holy gift just waiting to be unwrapped.
Enjoy!
Walters – The Adoration of the Shepherds
Peter Paul Rubens – The Adoration of the Magi
Paul Gauguin – Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen)
Attributed to Carel Fabritius
Heilige_Familie_und_Hirten_im_Stal
From Christmas throughout Christendom – The Christmas Tree
Viggo Johansen – A Christmas Story
Waiting for Father Christmas – Theodor Hildebrandt
Glorious Sunset
A White Christmas
Blackbirds flock at Nightfall
Frosty Trees in Winter Wonderland
Cosmic Skies over Bali
Northern Lights over Greenland
Stars trailing through the night
Earth Rises in the Night
Hubble_Directly_Observes_Planet_Orbiting_Fomalhaut
Night Mist as seen by Hubble
Cartwheel Galaxy
Orion as seen by Hubble
The Milky Way Galaxy
Our home Earth wrapped up in the Milky Way Galaxy
(First posted in 2012)
I’ve gathered some images, sacred and sublime, to scroll through as you listen to 
