Dec. 24 - "O Holy Night" - Wk 3 Day 1 - "Seek to understand Jesus better"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Hopefully, all of us have a Manger set up in our homes. My husband and I have a small set with wooden figures. I set it out so that the manger with hay waits all through Advent for the coming of the Holy Family. At some distance I place Mary (Jesus within her), Joseph next to Mary – journeying with donkey.

Further away are sheep and shepherd and further still the 3 Wise Men. Today I placed Mary and Joseph in the shelter of the Manger and tonight after Mass, I will place Baby Jesus, born anew, into the stable. O Holy Night!

We have yet to finish our journey, however of 33 Days toward our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. It is Day 1 of our final week, and St. Louis de Montfort describes Wk 3 in “True Devotion”:

1. During the third week they should seek to understand Jesus Christ better. They may read and meditate on what we have already said about Him. They may say the prayer of St. Augustine which they will find at the beginning of the second part of this book. Again with St. Augustine, they may pray repeatedly, “Lord, that I may know you,” or “Lord, that I may see.” As during the previous week, they should recite the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, adding every day the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.

God willing, I will post the Prayer of St. Augustine tomorrow, as it is a beautiful prayer for Christmas Day, but today, let us pray fervently the prayers St. Louis has listed and add this one which is so appropriate not only today but every day:

“O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of your power, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your mysteries. Rule over every adverse power, in your Spirit, for the glory of the Father. Amen.”
– Prayer of Fr. Olier, S.S. (1608-1657)

 

[hazcompat]

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop
Truth has arisen from the earth, and justice looked down from heaven

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

He has become our justice, our sanctification, our redemption, so that, as it is written: Let him who glories glory in the Lord.

Truth, then, has arisen from the earth: Christ who said, I am the Truth, was born of a virgin. And justice looked down from heaven: because believing in this new-born child, man is justified not by himself but by God.

Truth has arisen from the earth: because the Word was made flesh. And justice looked down from heaven: because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

Truth has arisen from the earth: flesh from Mary. And justice looked down from heaven: for man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.

Justified by faith, let us be at peace with God: for justice and peace have embraced one another. Through our Lord Jesus Christ: for Truth has arisen from the earth. Through whom we have access to that grace in which we stand, and our boast is in our hope of God’s glory. He does not say: “of our glory,” but of God’s glory: for justice has not proceeded from us but has looked down from heaven. Therefore he who glories, let him glory, not in himself, but in the Lord.

For this reason, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the message of the angelic voices was: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

For how could there be peace on earth unless Truth has arisen from the earth, that is, unless Christ, were born of our flesh? And he is our peace who made the two into one: that we might be men of good will, sweetly linked by the bond of unity.

Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves, but in the Lord. That is why Scripture says: He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head. For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become the son of God?

Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Thanks so much for your faithful following of St. Louis De Montfort’s words from “True Devotion” and your replies showing similarities in different saints who likewise proclaim God’s Truth to the Church!

St. Augustine’s prayer which St. Louis speaks of in his recommendations for this week of “seeking to understand Jesus better” is a prayer, I hope to post tomorrow, God willing.

Perhaps the words of St. Augustine that are most familiar to most people are: “Late have I loved Thee…” and also: "Where was I when I was not with you?

At least those are words that have often come to my mind at different times. Tonight on this Christmas Eve, however, I cannot think about more than that little stable at Bethlehem with Joseph and Mary gazing on the Face of the Incarnate Son of God, a tiny newborn Baby born of the Virgin Mary.

How humble and full of love He is!