A Christmas Night

This article by Olivier Clément is an autobiographical short story initially published in December 1997 in the journal *France Catholique*. It recounts an episode experienced by the author during the Second World War, when he was a young teacher involved in the French Resistance. On Christmas night, tasked with sabotaging a locomotive bound for the Italian front, Clément is surprised by a German soldier who, rather than arresting him, helps him place the explosive device before leaving while humming a Christmas carol. The preface emphasizes that this unexpected act of personal freedom likely saved his life. On a theological level, the narrative illustrates the convergence between human freedom and divine Providence: it is precisely this night, until then devoid of any religious meaning for Clément, that becomes for him his first true experience of Christmas, thus inaugurating a subsequent spiritual journey.