Christmas Eve Meditation

[Shin]

THE HEART OF THE INFANT JESUS COMING TO SAVE US

"In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt: and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord." Exodus 16:16

"Tomorrow the iniquity of the earth shall be done away, and the Saviour of the world shall rule over us." Versicle at Mass and Office

1st Prelude. -- Represent to yourself the arrival of Mary and Joseph at the stable, after they have vainly sought room in the inn.
2nd Prelude. -- Pray that you may never drive your sweet Infant Jesus from your heart.

1st Point. -- Already the Church has commenced her Christmas office. Now she implores her dear Lord to come in His Divinity, crying out, "Thou that sitteth upon the cherubim, appear;" and now she implores the advent of His adorable Humanity, exclaiming, "He is as a bridegroom coming out of His bride-chamber." Yes; Mary is the mystic bride-chamber, and the one true bride, and He comes forth fro her to run His course. Alas! that the end of that course should be blood and death! Alas! that the children of the bridechamber should conspire to slay the Bridegroom, in all the beauty of His love and manhood! O sweet Jesus, how many and how mystical are the treasures of Thy Church's words and office: "Today ye shall know that the Lord will come, and tomorrow ye shall see His glroy"! O sweet Jesus how happy shall we be if we truly know that Thou hast come! If we know it with a saving knowledge in the day of life, we shall, indeed, see Thy glory in the day of eternity.

2nd Point. -- Let us take care lest we murmur at sweet Jesus, when He brings us out of the land of Egypt. The road through the wilderness is not a pleasant one, and there are many things in the Egypt we have left which seem attractive.

We cannot expect, as pilgrims to Canaan, to have every comfort and convenience on the road. When Moses uttered these words to the children of Israel, it was to tell them of the manna, the heavenly bread, which on the next day was sent to them. And Jesus comes now, also, to let us see His glory. To-morrow He will give us the living bread. To-morrow He will feed us with His flesh and blood, of which the manna rained from heaven was but a feeble type. He knows how much our spiritual life will need this sustenance. Oh, let us never loathe this holy Bread, as the children of Israel loathed the manna, and asked for other food than that which God had given them !

3rd Point. -- To-morrow sweet Jesus will come. Oh, how blessedly near is His advent ! To-day we are decking our houses for His divine visit ; let us not forget to deck our hearts. Let us sweep out every imperfection, every imperfect disposition, every wandering thought, with the besom of penance, and adorn ourselves with the fair bright flowers of contrition and love. To-morrow our Infant King will come. Are we prepared to receive Him? Have we all the love ready for Him we should like to offer Him ? If we have not, let us ask our mother Mary to give us a share of hers. Bethlehem would never have seen Jesus, had Mary not brought
Him there. Her love was the fullest atonement any creature could make for the world's coldness. Oh! if we obtain but one little spark of that love, we shall be rich ; and if we ask, Mary will not refuse us.

Aspiration. — Sweet Infant Jesus, come — come quickly.

Form your resolution. Examen.

[Shin]

Enter into the sanctuary, the divine interior of the holy Infant Jesus, and learn to form yours according to it. All divine, noble, humble, simple, generous, recollected, and detached from the world. His every thought and intention are solely directed to His Father s glory. There you will find no idle thoughts and projects no vanities or selfseeking no suspicious thoughts contrary to charity.

Prayers

ADORABLE interior of the Infant Jesus! I revere You from my heart. How do You confound our pride and human wisdom! Ah, teach me, divine Jesus, after Your example, to despise the world, and not to seek the eyes of others in my devotion. You, O my God!  humbly conceal the treasures of grace and wisdom contained in Your divine mind, taking on Yourself the appearance of weakness, ignorance, and incapacity. Oh, heal my pride; remove my blindness and ignorance of interior things dissipate my darkness destroy my worldly notions and render my thoughts, views, desires, and sentiments like to Yours. Amen.

O BLESSED parents of the Infant Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if we came to solicit you to obtain for us worldly prosperity, joys, honors, and comforts, our sighs could never reach the cradle of a God, poor, humble even to annihilation, forgotten, suffering, weak, and lying in a manger; but these are not our desires or petitions. No; we humbly and earnestly implore you to beg for us, at the crib of your Infant Son, that, like Him. and as His true and faithful followers, we may love to live in true humility dis engagement from creatures contempt of the world and its vanities constant recollection of the holy presence of God fervor and fidelity in all our duties and in the practice of the tenderest charity to all persons. May we never blush at the humility of the crib, nor at the poverty and simplicity of Bethlehem. May we ever rejoice at our happy lot as true spouses of Jesus Christ: ever in tender charity look with a compassionate eye on those who live but for this world, and continually pray that all may come to bless, to praise, and to love the Saviour Who comes to redeem them.

Infant Jesus, poor and simple, grant our petition!
Infant Jesus, humble and obedient, grant our petition!
Infant Jesus, silent and recollected, grant our petition!
Infant Jesus, inflamed with love for us, grant our petition!
Holy Mother of the Infant Jesus, pray for us!
Blessed St. Joseph, pray for us!
All ye saints, devoted to the Holy Infancy of Jesus, pray for us!

O BLESSED Heart of the Infant Jesus! I adore and love you as the center of all hearts, and humbly entreat you to give me grace henceforth to rest and repose in you, as in my true home. May you be my oratory, in which, and through which, I shall offer to the Eternal Father all my requests, that He may receive them more propitiously  May you be my school, wherein I may learn that celestial science so different from worldly wisdom those pure principles which lead to the interior life. In fine, may you, O Sacred Heart! be my treasury, and may I find abundant riches in your poverty, love, suffering, and fidelity. Amen.

[Shin]

'He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt in us (and we saw the glory of him, glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and verity.'

John 1:10-14

[odhiambo]

I love the beginning of Saint John's Gospel!

[CyrilSebastian]

                I like the mention of adorning with "the fair bright flowers of contrition and love".

[susanna]

...for through the mystery of the Word made flesh, the new light of Thy glory hath shown upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge God in visible form. we may through Him be drawn to the love of things invisible.

from the Preface of the Nativity