Neville Braybrooke penned “The Christmas Alphabet” for our pages in December 1991. A not completely alphabetical excerpt:

“C” is for Chesterton the schoolboy, whose poem about a wild-eyed savage ended with a line that was to summarize his future attitude to spiritual

matters: “The savage prays to the presence within him that has prompted the heart to pray.” …

“E” is for the evangelists Matthew and Luke and the amazing narrative economy with which they compress the events of the Nativity and Epiphany into less than 1,000 words. …

“M” is for Milton, whose reference to the Three Kings as “the star-led Wizards” indicated by his spelling that they were Wise Men as well as Magi….

“Q” is for the perennial question asked by every author—“Why do I write?”—and answered in our century by Sylvia Plath, aged fifteen: “ ‘Because there is a voice within me that will not be still.” …

“S” is for the Star of the Sea, one of the most beautiful titles bestowed on the Virgin Mary and brought about by a happy slip when a medieval copyist transcribed stilla maris (drop of the sea) as Stella Maris. …

For all twenty-six entries, see the full poem here.