“Good King Wenceslas” is a Christmas Carol that celebrates generosity, sacrifice, and the power of holy imitation. Although it is adapted from a legend about Saint Wenceslaus (sometimes spelled Wenceslas), a 10th-century Bohemian duke (not a king!), the story is more fundamentally a parable of Jesus’ sacrifice and his call to Christian service and martyrdom. That’s why the song is linked to the feast of Stephen, which celebrates the deacon and first martyr of the church.

Anglican priest and author John Mason Neale wrote the hymn in 1853, drawing from a Czech poem by Václav Alois Svoboda. The tune, TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM, had previously been used in a medieval hymn to spring. Some scholars have criticized its pairing with a Christmas text. But only adult critics could be so Scrooge-like. In my experience, children adore this carol both for its bouncy tune and the story it tells.

Verse by Verse

The form of this carol is a ballad—a narrative set to verse. In fact, before he wrote this hymn, John Mason Neale published a prose account of Wenceslaus in his book, Deeds of Faith: Stories for Children from Church History.

Verse 1

Good King Wenceslas looked out, 
on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, 
deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, 
tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, 
gath’ring winter fuel.

The first verse sets the scene and the atmosphere. A good King, warm in his castle, looks out to see deep snow, a bright moon, and cruel frost. Then the King sees a poor man, in the cold outdoors, gathering wood to burn.

At first, the Feast of Stephen seems merely to be a marker of time and season. Since the Feast of Stephen is on December 26th, it makes sense that the story has a winter setting. But what unfolds in the subsequent verses is a story of service to the poor and personal sacrifice, precisely the qualities of Stephen, a deacon and the Church’s first martyr.

Verse 2

“Hither, page, and stand by me, 
if thou know’st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? 
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, 
underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence, 
by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

The second verse records a conversation between Wenceslas and his page. Wenceslas asks after the poor man, his identity, and where he lives. Evidentl,y the King is considering some act of generosity.

The page explains that the poor man lives “a good league hence,” which is to say, far away. Moreover, he lives near Saint Agnes’ fountain, a convent that should be generous to its own neighbors. In other words, the page gives the King permission to forgo any generosity because of the distance and his nearer neighbors.

Verse 3

But the King comes to a dramatic decision.

“Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, 
bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I shall see him dine, 
when we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch, forth they went, 
forth they went together;
Through the rude wind’s wild lament 
and the bitter weather.

Not only does the king decide that he will give the poor man both warmth and sustenance, he decides to do so personally. When he could send the page to go alone, this verse emphasizes that the King and the page go out together. This shows how generosity creates the conditions for social solidarity.

In the background here is the letter of James, which exhorts the wealthy to generosity and emphasizes the works of faith:

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

James 2:15-16

Verse 4

This is where the story takes an especially interesting turn. We expect the next verse to narrate the arrival of the King and the page at the house of the poor man, but instead, we find them still on their journey:

“Sire, the night is darker now, 
and the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how; 
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, good my page; 
Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage 
Freeze thy blood less coldly.

The King and the page are still on their journey (the page was right about the distance!), and now the page has grown cold. The allegorical point is that the Christian walk is not always easy to sustain. Like a cold and windy night, the way of the cross tests us and takes us beyond our limits.

The King responds that the page should follow behind him, walking in his footsteps. Taken literally, this is good advice since the King’s body will block the wind, his feet compress the snow, and his rhythm sets a pace to follow. Allegorically, Christ has already walked the way of the cross, and now we follow in his footsteps.

Verse 5

In his master’s steps he trod, 
where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod 
which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, 
wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, 
shall yourselves find blessing.

Obediently, the page follows after the king, and to his delight and ours, he discovers heat emerging from the King’s footsteps. And that’s where the story ends; the King and the page never arrive at the home of the poor man. But I think that is because the page has become the poor man. The King gives the page what he needs so that they both can do the work of generosity in the world.

Taken literally, the carol recounts the story of a King who, inspired by Stephen, takes his page on a winter journey to give to the poor. But allegorically, the King represents King Jesus, who left the warm castle of heaven to enter the cold night of our world. There, he walked the way of the cross, and now he calls his servants to that same journey. But our King is always with us, encouraging us with his word, blocking the wind with his body the church, and warming us as we continue in his way. Thus, he turns us into Stephens, bringing food to the poor and enduring to the end.

Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:9-10

On Video

The first video is a stunning 1985 recording from Winchester Cathedral under the direction of David Hill. Note how the narrator, king, and page are sung respectively by boy choir, baritone, and boy soprano. Be sure to listen to the end; the last verse breaks out into brilliant polyphonic harmonies.

The second video features the classic recording by Bing Crosby, accompanied by orchestra and choir. I especially enjoy the repeated use of a muffled bell, which sounds like a church bell in the falling snow.

Image: Illustration from sheet music of “Good King Wenceslas” in a biscuit container from 1913, preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The post Hymn Guide: Good King Wenceslas appeared first on Anglican Compass.

I seem to have been added to the email list of a women’s ordination activist. From time to time I’ll get an amateurish graphic or a passage of shallow theology speak from this guy. I don’t argue with him because I’ve learned that arguing with ideologues is a waste of time, but as far as I can remember this is what the latest mumbo jumbo consisted of something like this:

God is not male and not patriarchal

Before he was incarnate God the Son was not male and not patriarchal

The Holy Spirit is not male and not patriarchal

Therefore the church is not patriarchal and should ordain women.

I call this Gnostic Nonsense because the gnostics were those early heretics who were “spiritual but not religious”. This self indulgent sentimentality is abhorrent. It exchanges the solid, concrete, dogmatic rock of the Catholic religion for vague, saccharine, feel good spirituality. I call it “Coca Cola Catholicism”–a sweet tasting, bubbly confection with no nutritional value that doesn’t actually quench your thirst and may become addictive.

How to answer this theological sleight of hand?  Yes, yes, we all agree that God does not have a penis and xy chromosomes. But God the Son did and he was ascended into heaven so we must admit that in some mysterious way the physical realities are now part of the spiritual realm. Which leads to an interesting speculation: how and in what way and to what extent is heaven “physical”?

We know the supernatural realm is not physical like this temporal realm is physical and mortal, but we should not therefore imagine the spiritual realm as spiritual in some sort of ethereal, ghostly or ectoplasmic way. When we try to imagine the spiritual realm as “pure spirit” we end up thinking either of a bottle of gin or, as C.S.Lewis quipped as “a vast tapioca pudding in the sky.”

Lewis was right, as he speculated in The Great Divorce that the afterlife is not less physical, but more physical. Remember how the departed soul found the apples in heaven too heavy to lift and the blades of grass punctured his feet? St Therese of Lisieux had a similar insight when she said, “In heaven every grain of dust is a diamond.”

With respect to God then, we must posit that he IS in fact male. Jesus reveals God as “Our Father” so in some way there is a masculinity to God’s character–a masculinity that, of course, transcends our puny masculinity. As heaven is not less physical but MORE physical, so God’s masculinity is not less than our own, but more than our own. In fact theologians who are wiser than both me and my occasional emailer would try to explain that God’s masculinity embraces, includes and transcends both male and female-ness. That is why, by the way, Genesis says that both Adam and Eve were created in his image and that this is reflected in the male having both X and Y chromosomes and the female two X. Does this also explain why the sexual identity of men is often more complicated and often ambiguous than that of women?

Patriarchy is therefore not only written into the genetic code of the Christian religion. It is written into the genetic code of the cosmos.

Christians should thus beware of every attempt to negate the natural God-given gender differences. Women’s ordination? Nope.

The reason I stress this is not secret misogyny, but remembering Hilaire Belloc’s observation, “All arguments are theological arguments”. Women’s ordination is a product of feminism which seeks to negate the complementarity of the sexes and promote (in Phyllis Zagano’s wording) a “single nature anthropology”. In other words–no distinctions between men and women. This vague, wishy washy, beige religion is repugnant. It is lukewarm and should be spat out.

Regular readers will have seen mention of Killer Bees Honey in these pages on several occasions.  They produce what I believe may be the finest honey in North America.  The "beekeeper", Sean, is an online friend of many years' standing.

The apiary is in the the Pisgah National Forest area of North Carolina, and took a pounding from Hurricane Helene last week.  Here's Sean's after action report to his friends, shared on this blog with his permission.

Things are slowly returning to normal here. Food is coming back onto the grocery store shelves, but it’s still cash only for some. Banks are still limiting withdrawals of $1k.

As I wrote the below, I continually thought about your dealings with Katrina.

Sean

******************************************************************

Like all good horror stories involving a demonic woman, it began in the darkness of night. I awoke Friday at 0230 and watched as the metal patio furniture, sans cushions traveled S/B past the bedroom windows. My drowsy WTF reaction was mirrored by the cats WTF stare. The whole house generator had already kicked on. Ten minutes later and with a head lamp piercing the driving rain, I was in the lower bee yard placing heavier rocks on the hives. When I was done, Helene’s 55 knot gusts were pushing the hives off their foundation. Luckily, each hive had around 65 pounds of stored winter honey. I’m sure that’s what kept them from being blown over. I could not say the same for me as I had to get on my hands and knees with each blast of wind. Retreating back to the safety of the house, I could hear trees falling, some snapping in half deep in the forest around me. No bueno. All I could now do is start the coffee maker and wait for dawn. First light came with continued howling winds and rain. A sourwood tree narrowly missed the house and was laying across the pad in front of the kitchen window. Its leaf laden boughs frantically waving to me in distress with each shock of wind.Too dangerous to step outside, I went downstairs to the mechanical room to begin the quick process of charging up the battery bank.

Since then it’s been a total shit show in WNC. I celebrated my 69th birthday chainsawing my way down our mile long driveway. Two days, several naps and six bar chains later, the driveway was passable. This can’t be said for adjacent mountain roads. The 26” of rain washed out or made local roads and bridges impassable. I jumped into the Polaris Ranger once I cleared the driveway and drove the four miles to the main road. What I saw can only be described as post apocalyptic. Neighbors working chainsaws clearing roads and driveways. Head on collisions of trees into houses. Many homes were uninhabitable. Peaceful creeks and flowing water rock falls turned into churning rivers and torrential waterfalls. Bridges and damns were breached. Duke power was releasing water from lakes causing more destruction, but they had no choice; a damn failure would have been more disastrous. 

The ham radio community immediately initiated an emergency net. Numerous surrounding repeaters were connected and a call went out for volunteers, SAR and swift water rescue crews. This was the only way to communicate for four days. People from all over the world were using their HF stations to contact net control for welfare checks on loved ones or family members. Net control then used UHF and VHF frequencies to contact local ham operators. They in turn left the safety of their homes to brave dangerous conditions. Some had to abandon their cars and hike into hazardous conditions. It was heartbreaking to hear one station report back on a welfare check of an isolated elderly couple's home located deep in a holler. He radioed that all he found was a driveway at the end of which was a raging river.

I was on generator and battery b/u power for nearly five days. There was no damage to the hives and out buildings. AVL was closed to all traffic for four days. Denise was in Chicago, but I was able to pick her up when HWY 64 and the airport reopened. My immediate neighbors, a young family of five had no power. I gave them a five gallon water bladder, a daily thermos of coffee, venison and a Honda 2200 generator along with a jerry can of gas to keep the fridge and essentials powered. They came up to the house to eat and shower, but left last Wednesday to be with relatives in Raleigh. 

We now have grid power and cellular. WISP (internet) is spotty.

Intial Impact

Massive flooding and wind destruction. Total devastation. No power. No cellular. No internet. No water. Land lines were down. Everything was closed. Many towns and communities were literally swept away. Chimney Rock, Swannanoa no longer exist. Boone and half of Asheville were inundated with water. Interstates 40, 26 and HWY 64 were impassable. The geography was literally changed by the flood. I don’t know how some roads, businesses and homes can be rebuilt. Many deaths; a community near the French Broad river in Hendersonville was told to evacuate at the beginning of the storm. Some stayed. Two days later, several bodies were found hanging out of windows and trees. Five were found in a debris field a mile away. Around 250 water plants were destroyed or inundated with muddy water and won’t be operational for weeks if not months. Within 24 hours 37 private helicopters were air dropping food and water to isolated communities. FEMA was non existent.It was private citizens and small businesses helping each other. 

Presently

230 deaths and rising. Nearly 1000 still missing. I was talking to a local Sheriff’s Lt who said they’ll be pulling bodies out of debris fields through the holidays. 50% of homes in the county are still without power.  Most roads leading into town are clear. Interstate 40 at the TN border will remain closed for approximately a year during repair. 26 now has passable lanes, but will need repair. Hwy 9 leading into Chimney Rock is non existent. Hwy 19 leading into Asheville is severely damaged and unusable. All national and state parks are closed due to immense tree falls and trail damage. The Blue Ridge Parkway and all buildings along the Pkw are closed. The nearest town to us is Brevard which now has power. Prior to that, the local grocery stores were open for two days after the event, but it was cash only. I understand they closed soon thereafter because they were cleaned out. Propane is still in short supply. Gas stations which have power have no 93% and are limiting gas to ten gallons per vehicle. There isn’t any non ethanol gas. Lines for gas go for 100’s of yards. Portable generators along with chainsaws and 2 stroke fuel are sold out. Nightly looting around Asheville. The Ingles (grocery) warehouse and Walmart were looted within 24 hours of the storm. Cash only stores and gas stations are causing a run on the banks. As a result, customers are only aloud $1K cash withdrawals. Essentials such as food, water, diapers and baby formula are currently being distributed at churches and community centers by local citizens. What people need isn’t FEMA’s $750. They need food and water. It’s been eight days and some isolated communities are literally going hungry. Good Samaritans, some from out of state trying to reach those in need are being held up at gun point for supplies. There is fear among health professionals of dysentery caused by lack of clean water and unsanitary conditions. 

I read there is a loss of some 60,000 bee hives in the Southeast. There may be greater losses if beekeepers can’t get to the remaining hives and feed them sugar water. My bees are good; they keep their first 65 pounds of spring wildflower honey for the winter.

There were multiple episodes of civil unrest and violence. A dude in Brevard shot out the tires of someone else cutting into a gas line. A fist fight broke out near the local credit union. My bee out yard is near a sketchy neighborhood. Apparently, some local meth heads broke into a home thinking the owners had split. Nope. The husband comes out of the bedroom busting caps from a 357 revolver… we’re old school up here. Said meth heads retreated to their vehicle and returned fire. Husbands wife opens the bedroom window and throws down with a full mag from an AR-10. The next morning nothing was found other than broken glass and some blood. The sheriff’s dept. never responded because no one called (no phones) Like I said, old school.

For further information, I urge you to read the below link regarding Helene’s impact written by an eloquent local writer for USA Today:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/10/03/helene-asheville-north-carolina-flooding-climate-change/75490093007/

Opinion: Helene devastated my NC community. What I saw next helped me survive.

My Preps

My wife and I live in the Lake Toxaway zip code area, but not in the HOA. We have 75 acres on the apex of Walnut Cove Mountain. Our driveway is exactly one mile long. We are surrounded by 512,000 acres of the Pisgah National Forest and game lands which is adjacent to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Nantahala Wilderness. We are very isolated from the rest of the world which is fine by me. Most of my prep education came from being a LEO out of Southern California. I was an active participant in earthquakes, wildfires and riots. Until recently, I was a certified AEMT and SAR member. Presently, I am a beekeeper, a full time house bitch and part time sex slave. Titles I proudly embrace. I hunt deer, wild turkey and bear off my property. My wife, Denise is a retired CFO of a company in NYC. She is an anti gun liberal who happens to know the benefits of capitalism. Go figure.

All our preps worked out amazingly well and without issues. From the initial storm to grid up, all I missed were fresh bananas. First world problem.

Power: We are grid tied with 21 roof mounted solar panels producing 7kW midday. Energy we don’t use from the PV system is stored in a Sonnen Battery 18kW system. During grid down situations, which happens a lot up here, A 30kW, water cooled, Generac powers the entire house. Combined with a buried 1000 gallon propane tank, I can live off grid indefinitely. The Generac was utilized just three hours a day to charge the batteries until I had full sun. Afterwards, everything was powered by stored solar energy. 

Water: We are on a well and septic system. The well is powered by both the grid or generator and PV array/Sonnen system.

Food: I have three freezers filled with wild game. Most I give away to my sister’s in law who are also anti gun liberals, but will take wild meat killed with my guns. Again, go figure. Besides the wild game, we have two walk in pantries filled with supplies for immediate use. I have other food supplies for the real ZA. Bags and cans of food for the Children of Satan (cats).

Cooking: Propane stove top. Electric range. Outside propane grill with multiple tanks. 

Fuel: I have several caddies filled with 93 [octane] non ethanol gas treated with Startron. We have several vehicles including a UTV and ATV. Both with winches and other accessories to make them more functional for our mountainous property. We have not been to a gas station since Sept 26.

Security. Multiple overlapping surveillance systems one on a local server (not dependent on WiFi or cellular)

I have preps specific for such events and had the chainsaws gassed and ready. All vehicles were gassed up and garaged. Speaking of preps, it’s a bit ironic that Sept was “preparedness month” and the national prepper conference in nearby Sylva was washed away. Both emails I received two Thursdays ago saying it was definitely on was not only irresponsible, but dangerous. Stupid decisions lead to stupid results.

Fall back: A separate fully functional building with a Jotul wood stove, running water and stored cots with sleeping bags. 

Fall back #2: A sprinter 170 chassis van converted by Outside Vans in OR. It has 45 gallons of diesel fuel, 20 gallons of fresh water and 630 amp hours of lithium ion batteries with solar. The van has a Guzzle H20 which can purify more water (we have 3500 linear feet of spring fed streams on the property).

Hope everyone is well. 

Sounds like Sean and his wife had quite a time of it.  Good to know you're both safe, buddy, along with your bees!  Thanks for the great after-action report and feedback.  We'll all learn from it.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:  Take note of the "cash only" nature of business after the storm.  This happens very often when power and/or communications are knocked out.  If you haven't got an emergency cash reserve at home, this can leave you stranded, particularly if banks aren't open for any reason.

Killer Bees Honey is currently donating all profits from honey and merchandise sales to local hurricane recovery efforts.  If you'd like to support them, please do - and enjoy the honey!  They haven't yet updated their Web site to reflect that, because Web access is extremely difficult for them right now;  but that'll happen soon, I'm sure.

Peter

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… is from C.S. Lewis’s essay, “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” [1954?]:

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

I am aware of so many who read the news, spend too much time on social media and allow themselves to become upset over the terrible state of affairs in the church and the world.

If you are one who is regularly upset, worried, fretful, dismayed, angry and concerned I would remind you of several important facts about the modern world in which we live.

First. Remember that with modern means of communication we now have instant access to news from the entire globe. Not only do we have instant access, but probably someone had their cellphone out, recorded the event and put it up on Twitter. Consequently we hear about famines in Africa, revolutions in Asia, economic disaster in Europe, war in Russia, killings, murders, rapes, child abuse and just about every horror you can imagine from all over the world.

Secondly, remember that the news organizations thrive on bad news, not good news. The newspaper editors (and those who run websites) still follow the old dictum, “If it bleeds, it leads”. They focus on the horror, the gossip, the infidelity, the adultery, the crimes of humanity because that is where the big drama is.

Thirdly, if there is a religious dimension to the crime it pumps the story even bigger. If the criminal is a priest, monk, bishop or pope then the “Shock horror!!” is even bigger, more dramatic and newsworthy.

Consequently, it is easy to allow oneself to drift into a state of permanent dismay and even despair over the state of affairs.

In the face of this I would remind you to read Psalm 37. Here are the first eleven verses.

Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
² for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

³ Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
⁹ For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

¹⁰ A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.

I have been using a “shaker siphon” for 10+ years to fill up cars, boats, generators, lawn mowers, etc. The problem with fuel cans is that when they are full they become unwieldy to pour from a spout. The best method I have found is to siphon fuel from the can rather than pour it.

To use a “shaker siphon” put the copper end into the fuel can and the tube into the tank you want to fill. Then lift the copper end up and down (shaking it) in the fuel can. The entire process takes seconds. The system works best if the fuel can is higher than the tank it is filling. Afterwards a siphon is created which transfers about 3 gallon or so per minute from the fuel can into the tank. You will hear a bit of jingling from the copper end which lets you know it is working.

I can typically get almost all of the fuel out a can with a few ounces leftover. Those last few ounces are easy to pour out. Lifting the copper end out of the fuel can stops the transfer immediately. When you are done, it is best to lift the copper end above your head while the other end is still in the tank to let any fuel in the line drain into the tank.

I use the Hopkins FloTool Shaker Siphon. There are several variations of this design on Amazon and from what I can tell one is good as the next.

-- Cameron Cole

Hopkins 10801 FloTool Shaker Siphon with 6′ Anti-Static Tubing