Truly a trustworthy word and deserving of every welcome, O Lord, is your almighty Word, which in so deep a silence made its way down from the Father’s royal throne into the mangers of animals and meanwhile speaks to us better by its silence. Let him who has ears to hear, hear what this loving and mysterious silence of the eternal Word speaks to us. For, unless hearing deceives me, among the other things which he speaks, he speaks peace for the holy people upon whom reverence for him and his example impose a religious silence. And most rightly was it imposed. For what recommends the discipline of silence with such weight and such authority, what checks the evil of restless tongues and the storms of words, as the Word of God silent in our midst? I would gladly be dumb and be brought low, and be silent even from good things, that I might be able the more attentively and diligently to apply my ear to the secret utterances and sacred meaning of this divine silence, learning in silence in the school of the Word.
Guerric of Igny
