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"In the cradle before us lies the new-born Infant wrapped in swaddling-clothes and laid in the manger. Let us contemplate Him for a few moments and see what lessons He teaches us.

1. He teaches us the unspeakable force of divine charity. How was it possible for the Eternal Word, the co-equal Son of God, to leave the bosom of His Father to clothe Himself with the flesh of sinful man? It seems an almost extravagant act of love, one unworthy of the dignity of God. Yet love puts everything aside except the burning desire to promote the welfare of the loved. The Son of God forgot all else in His divine compassion for us. How dearly He must love us ! How great should be our confidence in His love!

2. He teaches us never to judge by appearances. If we had been told that God had come to dwell on earth, would not the stable of Bethlehem have been the last place where we should have sought Him. In how many a humble cottage there may still be found saints more dear to God than even those who have a world wide repute for their holiness and virtue !

3. He teaches us the true dignity of self-abasement. God could not do anything unworthy of Himself when clad in human flesh. It therefore was no disparagement to the divine honor that He should thus infinitely condescend. Nay, it proved that the greatest possible likeness to God is attained by the most complete humiliation of self. How little I have learned to practice this lesson ! "

Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

“O King of the nations and desired of them, and the Corner-stone that maketh both one, come and save man, whom Thou didst form of dust.”

1. Never was there a king who had such a claim to sovereignty as Christ Our Lord. He is King by divine appointment and His own right. He is King by the consentient voice of His subjects, and by the right of conquest. He is King by reason of His having purchased us with His own blood. What unnumbered claims He has on me ! and besides all the rest, does He not deserve to reign supreme by reason of His having won me by His love ?

2. Christ was desired by all nations, long before they knew Him Whom they desired. The heathen world felt a craving want, which it could not define, but which was the desire for the Savior Who should free them from the bondage of sin. So now men of good-will outside the Church feel something of the same strange longing. Nothing will satisfy it save submission to their King by union with His mystical body, the Church of God. Oh, how happy am I, whose desires are fulfilled in that I am no alien, but a servant of that King Whom to serve is my own desire !

3. Christ is the Corner-stone that maketh both one ; the King of peace, Whose work it is to unite together those who love Him in the unity of mutual love of one another for His sake. Thus He desires that I should be united to those around me, that there should be no dissension or disunion. Do I in this fulfill the pleasure of my King ? "

Meditations for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891 Digitized by google

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)

Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests

Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls themselves.

Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they shepherded on earth. Amen.

Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more

"My Lord and My God".

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rocky Mount NC

"Thomas, now returned to Jerusalem, was the only one who refused to believe so many witnesses. "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails," he said, "and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side. I will not believe." Therefore, the eighth days after Easter, the Apostles, and this time Thomas with them, being gathered together in the upper chamber for prayer, and the doors being closed, Jesus stood suddenly in the midst of them, and turning to Thomas, He said, "Put in thy finger hither, and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand, and put it into My side, and be not faithless, but believing." The Apostle, now convinced, fell on his knees, exclaiming, in faith and repentance, "My Lord and my God!" Then, in tones of reproof, Jesus answered him, "Because thou hast see Me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed."

This, then, is the last link in the chain of evidence which attests the resurrection of our Lord, and it was, as St. Gregory remarks, for the confirmation of our faith that God permitted such marvelous unbelief. Could those who might refuse to believe the Apostles possibly refuse to accept the testimony of St. Thomas? Therefore Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, died upon the cross to expiate our sins and truly rose from the dead by His own power; therefore the Christian faith is divine and absolutely certain: therefore the Catholic Church, which brings to us this faith, is the mother of our souls and harbor of salvation.

Let us have more faith than Thomas, let us believe without seeing, the truth affirmed by the Gospel, by the holy Apostles and martyrs; let us believe, love, and adore our risen Lord.

"He who believes shall be saved: he who believes not shall be condemned."

Source: The Light of the Cross in the Twentieth Century, by the Paulist Father Volume 3, 1905

"Who is there who does not desire to meet Jesus Christ, when He comes again, with joy and not with trembling? To insure this three things are necessary.

1. We must have friends among those who will come again with Him. Just as few die a happy death unless they have some advocates in heaven, so few indeed will meet Our Lord with joy unless they have some who will welcome them as having befriended them for Christ’s sake. Unless we have been men of supernatural charity, we shall stand defenseless on that day. Alas ! how faint and feeble my charity has been ! how little I have done to procure friends who will plead for me on that day !

2. We must also have had the thought of Jesus often present to our minds in life, if His coming is to be a joyful one to us. He must be no stranger to us. He must have been our guide, our friend, our master, our companion. We must have walked with God on earth, if we are to walk with Him in the celestial paradise. The more familiar has been our friendship with Him, the greater will be our happiness in meeting Him again.

3. We must also have carried our cross willingly after Him on earth, if we are to meet Him with a well-grounded confidence of a great reward in the kingdom which He has won for His elect. O how overflowing will be the delight of those who have lived mortified and self-denying lives for His sake ! What a trifle will all their sufferings then appear in comparison with their abounding joy when the archangel’s trumpet sounds ! "

Meditations for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)

Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests

Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls themselves.

Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they shepherded on earth. Amen.

Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more

"1. Ever since Our Lord’s Ascension into heaven, His servants have watched for His return, crying out: “Come, O Lord Jesus, come quickly ! ” In the days of the apostles, in the early ages of the Church, in medieval times, men believed that His coming was close at hand. In these later days, it is true, the expectancy is not so immediate as it once was ; but the very fact that we think the world has still centuries to run may be an indication that the end is not far away. Can I from my heart offer the prayer that His coming may not be long delayed ?

2. Men sometimes tell us that when six thousand years have passed, the world will have run its course, and Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. It may be so ; but rash indeed is he who ventures thus to fix the time, for it is Our Lord Himself Who tells us: “ Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, nor the angels of God, but the Father only.” One of the essential characteristics of that day will be its suddenness. Hence learn the importance of being always ready, and then you will be always safe.

3. We may not live till the second coming of Christ surprises the world ; but we shall live until the day which is the call for us to judgment. That day is not far off ; it may be very near, and the chance is that it will either come unexpectedly, or else will be preceded by a time which will be but a poor time for preparation. I must be prepared now, I must always be prepared for the moment when I hear the voice of God summoning me, and then the sooner that time comes the better for me. "

Meditations for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)

Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests

Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls themselves.

Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they shepherded on earth. Amen.

Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more

"The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of malice shall not touch them: in the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, but they are at peace." (Communion Antiphon, Vigil of All Souls)

"Pour forth abundantly upon us of Thy mercy, O Lord our God, and grant us grace to follow in the joy of their holy testifying, all they blessed servants the ever of whose glorious and solemn Commemoration we are keeping. ( Collect)

Pope Pius Sixtus IV in 1484 established November 1, the feast of all Saints, as a holy day of obligation and gave it both a Vigil (known today as "All Hallows' Eve" or "Hallowe'en") and an eight-day period or octave to celebrate the feast.  By 1955, however, the octave of All Saints was removed, and the current missal does not have a vigil Mass for the feast." Father Vierling

"The great feasts of All Saints and All Souls, preceded by vigil and fast, bring their annual blessings to us, and make the month of November the most unearthly, unworldly month of all the year to those who dwell, during its too brief thirty days, with the radiant inhabitants of heaven and with purgatory's blessed dead.  It is a time for quiet thought, for many memories, for many hopes, and God alone knows many fervent prayers; a time when hearts "through all the faithful past go sorrowing," and, through all the lonely future, look forward to a day when the reapers shall come with rejoicing, bring their sheaves with them, and when God, the loving Father, shall gather His dear children, reunited forever, into an eternal home.

Look upwards and behold them, they who stand there now already, a multitude whom no man can number,assembled triumphant before the great white throne. What do those radiant faces tell you, as they gaze in ecstasy upon the face of Him Who bears continually the glorious scars that proclaim Him King of kings and Lord of lords forever? Over and over again, they say that these saints whose day we celebrate came, like
their Leader, out of a sore conflict, and that they were possessed by a passionate love of the unseen.

"Salt of nations! Twelve foundations!
Twelve apostles - see them all!
Trumps of thunder, and the wonder
Of the Gentiles, holy Paul -
Loving Peter, and still sweeter,
Friend of Jesus, blessed John.
Full of gladness - no more sadness
Clouds the face Christ shines upon!

High procession! great confession!
Hear the loud triumphal tones!
Martyrs bleeding - Stephen leading
With this crown of precious stones.
Warriors glorious and victorious,
Tried companions of the Lord,
Fall before Him and adore Him.
He, the Lamb, is their reward.

It is the old lesson which Venerable Bede teaches, that lesson steeped in the life-blood of the Kind of Martyrs, and which deserves repeating every year, as these festivals return: "Dearly beloved brethren! This day we keep with one great cry of joy, a feast in memory of all God's holy children; His children, Whose presence is a gladness in heaven; His children,  prayers are a blessing to earth; His children, whose victories are the crown of Holy Church; His chose, whose testifying is the more glorious in honor, as the agony in which it was given was the sterner in intensity. For, as the dreader grew the battle, so the grander grew the fighters; and the triumph of martyrdom waxed the more incisive by the multiplicity of suffering; and the heavier the torment, the heavier the prize."

What cowards we are, we lesser men who nevertheless have the saints' seven sacraments, the saints' Mother Church, the saints' hope set before us, yet who shiver and shrink at the sound of suffering, and run away from pain!  I know not what stuff we are made of, in these mean, pleasure-loving days. Is it not better to suffer now than to suffer hereafter? Pere de Ravignan says that God in His goodness mingles purgatory with every day of our lives, and so we should accept and clasp to our breasts the crosses He offers us. Fenelon declares that it is a blessing to have our purgatory in this world, but that we by our cowardice endure two instead of one. "Our resistance," he says, :"makes earthly trials so ineffectual, that all has to be begun again after death. We should be in this life like souls in purgatory, supple and at peace in God's hand, yielding ourselves up to destruction in the avenging fire of love. Happy those who suffer thus."

Happy? Yes, my God! Teach us this happiness, this deep delight of pain. Teach us two lessons, - to fight, and to suffer, for Thee and under Thy red-cross flag!  Blessed who suffer - blessed who mourn - blessed who wounded and bleeding, still face untiring the tireless foe! We are sinners; and we must, here or hereafter, do penance for our sins. We are called to be saints; and like the saints we  must war unflinching in the tremendous warfare, if we would win the saints' reward and follow the mighty army into heaven.

"Cut, scourge, purge, burn here," prayed the penitent Augustine, "yea, burn here so as by fire, and spare there!" Yet not only for the cleansing and the penance do we fling ourselves, O God! into the red fire of earth's purgatory but because pain purges out the dross, and brightens the gold, and brings us closer to Thee. Strike and spare not, O God! and, even though we cry out otherwise, heed not, till every fiber of our being is one with Thee!
 
Sometimes, gazing steadily upward at the Blessed, radiant in their rapture which sin mar no more, a light flashes over the soul for a moment, and dazzles it; and it seems to comprehend, for that moment, that pain is heaven! For what is heaven but union with God/ and odes not he who clings closest to the Sacred Heart find union with God among the thorns, and does he not behold, in that darkness which makes earthly things invisible, the vision of Christ's face?

Cowards that we are, to shrink from pain or from insult; to fear this world's disgrace, or failure as worldly men count failure; when the question is of God's will, God's honor, God's eternal cause! We are soldiers in His army by the ineffaceable character of our Baptism. If we have been cowards, deserters, traitors, a hundred times, then the keener ought to be our soldierly longing to endure and encounter all in order that we may retrieve our honor, and far more, our Lord's honor! But if He has kept us from open treason, who shall tell with what loyal love we ought to follow after Him, down into the very valley of the agony and up the heights of Calvary, upward, with all the saints, to Heaven!"

The Inner Life of the Soul, Short Spiritual Messages for the Ecclesiastical Year by Susan L. Emery, 1903

Book also available at Barnes and Nobles

"Consider (...)2ndly, the eminent dignity to which the apostles were raised by our Lord: they were made his disciples, his individual companions, his familiar friends and confidants - yea, his brethren too, John xx. 17; they were made under him the chief priests of the New Testament, the first bishops and pastors of his church, the prime ministers of his kingdom, the stewards and dispensers of all his mysteries; his ambassadors to men; his vicegerents upon earth; the doctors and teachers of the whole world; and next after him, who is the chief corner-stone, the twelve foundations of his church, Eph. ii. 20 - yea, the twelve foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem, Apoc. xxi. 14. Reflect also on the distinguishing graces, and the excellency of power which our Lord conferred upon them, suitable to their great office and callings; such as the power of consecrating and of offering in sacrifice his sacred body and blood; of remitting sins; and of opening or shutting heaven's gates to men; the commission of feeding his flock, and of ruling and directing his church, with the promise of the Holy Ghost to assist them therein; the authority of publishing throughout the whole world his new law, the law of grace; and the covenant of salvation through him, & c.: besides the gifts of tongues, and prophecy, and other eminent graces of the Holy Ghost; and a power of working all kind of miracles, yea, even greater than those of Christ himself, St. John xiv. 12. Christians, bless your Saviour on the festivals of the apostles, for all these great things he has done for them, and through them for his church in general, and in some degree for every one of you in particular. For as they were, under Christ, the fathers and founders of the Christian religion, so from them, and through their ministry, the faith, the word, the sacraments, the graces of Christ, and all spiritual goods and treasures are derived down to your souls by the channel of their successors in the church of Christ."

Source: Meditations for Every Day in the Year, by Bishop Challoner

"Mary was born in order to be the Mother of Jesus. : "Of whom was born Jesus." This is the principle of all her privileges, the summing up of all her praises. (...) It is as the Mother of the Redeemer of mankind that she will be the refuge and advocate of sinners. She is the aurora which precedes and ushers in the morning sun. (...) Certain it is that if men had known the blessings which Mary's nativity drew upon them, there would have been throughout the whole world a repetition of that which occurred among the Jews at their having been preserved from death through the meditation of Ester. "A new light seemed to rise, you, honor, dancing in all peoples...wonderful rejoicing." (Est. viii. 16,17).

You also, O Priests, were born for a sublime destiny! Accomplish it faithfully, and you shall be the cause of an unspeakable joy for heaven and earth. To give Jesus to the world, and with Jesus to give it all blessings, such is your vocation, and such was the vocation of Mary. This is the reason why the holy Virgin has such a warm affection for good priests and lavishes upon them such truly maternal cares.

Source: September 8, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin  p444. Meditations for the Use of the Secular Clergy, from the French of Father Chaignon, S.J. Volume 2. 1907

I.  The  order  of  its  fulfillment.
II.  The  mode  of  its  fulfillment.
III.  Its  final  accomplishment.


"  He  said :  It  is  consummated :  and  bowing  His  head.  He  gave  up  the ghost." — St.  John  xix.  30.

I.  He  said:  It  is  consummated.  St.  Thomas  says,  that  Jesus Christ  hung  upon  the  Cross  between  heaven  and  earth,  in  order to  shew  His  quality  of  Priest  and  Mediator  between  God  and man ;  and  St.  Augustine  says  that  He  then  completed  that Sacrifice  of  reconciliation,  in  which  He  was  one  with  God,  to Whom  it  was  offered, — one  with  men,  for  whom  it  was  offered,— and  Himself  at  once  both  the  offerer  and  the  offered.  He Himself  announced  that  "  all  was  consummated,"  for  it  became Him  alone,  to  Whom  were  present  both  past  and  future,  to declare  it.  All  the  prophecies,  all  the  figures  contained  in  the sacred  Scriptures,  were  "consummated,"  as  He  had  already promised  :  "all  things  shall  be  accomplished  which  were  written "(St.  Luke  xviii.  31);  and  abundant  price  had  been  offered,  efficacious means  had  been  merited,  to  "consummate"  all  transgression,  and to  put  an  end  to  every  sin :  "that  transgression  may  be  finished, and  sin  may  have  an  end  "  (Dan.  ix.  24).  By  "one  oblation  He perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified"  (Heb.  x.  14).  He, therefore,  being  thus  "consummated,  became  to  all  that  obey Him,  the  cause  of  eternal  salvation"  (Heb.  v.  9).  Let  us  then meditate  on  the  admirable  order  with  which  Jesus  fulfilled  " the days  of  His  flesh,"  and  let  us  pray  to  Him  by  His  most  holy death,  that,  at  the  hour  of  our  death,  we  may  be  found  to  have "fulfilled  the  Divine  law"  (Rom.  ii.  27),  and  to  "have  finished" well  "the  course"  of  our  Priesthood  (2  Tim.  iv.  7).

2.  And  bowing  His  head.  The  manner  in  which  Christ  willed to  die,  was  to  bow  His  adorable  head,  in  token  of  perfect  obedience to  the  command  of  His  Father,  to  Whom  He  became "  obedient  unto  death,  even  to  the  death  of  the  Cross  "  (Phil.  ii.  8). He  proclaimed  to  the  world,  that,  as  He  had  fulfilled  His  Father's will  through  life,  so  also  He  rendered  Him  obedience  in  His  death  : "That  the  world  may  know  that  I  love  the  Father,  and  as  the Father  hath  given  Me  commandment,  so  do  I "  (St.  John  xiv.  31). Thus  was  it  the  fire  of  love, — that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  hypostatic Love  of  the  Father  and  the  Son, — "Who  immolated  the  Divine  holocaust :  " Who  by  the  Holy  Ghost  offered  Himself  unspotted  to God"  (Heb.  ix.  14).  in  bowing  His  Head,  Jesus  declared  to earth,  that  His  Sacrifice  had  had  the  desired  effect ;  that  is  to  say, "  into  the  face  of  man,"  once  dead  in  sin,  "  was  breathed  the breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul "  (Gen.  ii.  7).  To the  sinner,  once  an  enemy,  was  given  the  kiss  of  reconciliation and  of  peace;  when  the  Savior  turned  His  Face  to  him,  as though  to  give  him  the  kiss  of  peace  (says  St.  Bonaventure).  O great  High  Priest,  who  can  thank  Thee  for  all  these  inventions  of Thy  mercy  !  When  shall  I  begin  to  love  Thee  with  the  fervor which  befits  one  who  is  Thy minister,  and  who  is  acquainted  with these  august  mysteries  ?  Bow  down  Thy  head  to  me,  and  breathe into  me  Thy  love.

3.  He  gave  up  the  ghost.  The  Eternal  Word,  Who  had  united His  Soul  to  His  Body,  and  assumed  both,  alone  had  power  to  separate them,  and  so  to  fulfill  the  supreme  act  of  Priesthood  (says  St. John  Damascene).  Therefore  He  "  gave  up  "  His  "  spirit "  into the  hands  of  His  Father,  to  shew  that  He  had  that  power  of which  He  had  formerly  spoken  to  His  enemies  (St  John  x.  18). Then  He  immolated  the  Victim,  and  offered  the  Sacrifice  decreed from  all  eternity,  promised  from  the  beginning shadowed  by  innumerable  types,  predicted  by  so  many  prophets, begun  in  Mary's  womb,  and  continued  throughout  His  whole  life. Then  was  homage  and  thanksgiving,  worthy  of  the  Divine  Majesty, rendered  to  God ;  and  pardon,  and  every  other  grace,  obtained for  all  mankind.  Christ  died  and  subjected  Himself  to  the  punishment of  sin,  in  order  to  free  us  from  the  fear  of  death,  which held  men  in  slavery  all  their  life ;  to  teach  us  to  die  to  sin,  as  He died  to  the  penalty  of  sin ;  and  to  fill  us  with  all  good  things.  Let us  then,  on  this  day,  honor  His  death,  which  has  been  the  means of  salvation  both  to  our  soul  and  body.  Our  Savior's  single death  (says  St  Augustine)  saved  us  from  the  double  death  which was  our  due.  With  the  same  holy  Father,  let  us  bless  God  for having  given  us  so  holy  a  Priest, — "a  Victim  taken  from  among  ourselves, yet  without  sin,  to  cleanse  us  from  our  sins  ;  so  that  the flesh  of  our  Sacrifice  is  the  Body  of  our  Priest  Let  us  thank  our Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Who  has  loved  us  so  greatly,  Who  has given  Himself  for  us,  as  if  for  each  one  of  us  alone  (Gal.  ii. 20).  Let  us  thank  Him  that,  through  the  merits  of  His  death. He  has  engrafted  us  into  His  Priesthood,  to  continue  the  offering of  this  same  Sacrifice.  Let  us  pray  to  Him  that  we  may  die mystically  with  Him,  in  order  that  we  may  live  in  Him  in  this life,  and  after  the  death  of  our  body  may  dwell  with  Him  for ever.

"Into Thy hands I commend my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth." Ps. xxx.6

"O great High Priest, who wast made the death of death and the sting of hell, redeem our soul from the hand of hell." From Ps. XlVIII. 16.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 By Angelo Agostino Scotti (abp. of Thessalonica.)

Prayer for Priests (Fr. Lasance)

My God, I believe in the sublime dignity of the priesthood-a dignity which St. Denis calls divine; a dignity which surpasses that of kings and angels, as St. Ambrose says. O My God! Thy priests are the leaders of Thy people, the guardians of Thy Church, the light of the world, (Matt. v. 14), the dispensers of the sacraments, the vicars of Jesus Christ, and His coadjutors in the work of salvation (1 Cor. III. 9). Grant, then, O Lord, to me and to all the faithful to have the same respect and submission toward the person, words, and counsels of Thy ministers as toward Thine own, since Thou Thyself didst say to them: “He that heareth you Heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me"

I ask of Thee, my God, for all the priests in the world and specially for those who have done any good to my soul, by seeking to sanctify it, the grace of loving Thee much and making Thee to be loved by others, so that by their piety, their virtues, and the ardor of their zeal they may merit a place with Thy apostles and most faithful servants.

Divine Spirit! Influence all their thoughts, words, and deeds; take complete possession of their minds and hearts, so that they may live in Thee and Thou in them. Jesus, meek and gentle Lamb of God, let their lives resemble the life Thou Thyself didst lead upon earth!

Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, do thou by thy intercession sanctify the souls of all our priests and second their efforts in the work of saving souls; shield them, and defend them as thine own. Pray for them that the peace of God may be always with them, and that they may attain to the everlasting blessedness of heaven. Amen.

Blessed Sacrament Prayer Book

There went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus the governor of Syria, and all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said unto them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will ( Lk . 2:1-14).

The message of Christmas is the sweetest story ever told — “a Child is born”; and that Child is God, born of Mary ever virgin, a maiden espoused to a man named Joseph, the humble carpenter of Nazareth.
The message of birth is always an occasion for joy, but what greater joy could there be than the message of the birth of God amongst men. For joy of this birth the angels sang, echoing over the hills of Bethlehem, a Gloria in Excelsis Deo , and the message: ‘Tor this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.” In the Introit of the third Christmas Mass we read: “A Child is born to us, and a son is given to us.” The Christ Child is born for our salvation. He is the Son of God! He is given to us —what a gift at Christmas!

Recently I spoke to a little six-year-old school child whom I saw standing outside the school building shortly after 9 o’clock. She was in great fear lest if she entered the school — for she was late — she would incur severe penalties from her teacher. I offered to take her into the classroom to plead her cause, for she was in tears. But she refused to let me do so and decided to return home again to her parents. I imagine there was nothing so terrible at that particular moment for that little girl than to face her teacher. And so it is with ourselves and the great God of heaven and earth. Our troubles at Christmas time in a war-ridden world are more tumultuous to us than the raging seas, but I wonder if God does not see another side. You may say, what could be more grave than the suicidal act of war — brother killing brother. Does God ridicule our ills as picayune? No! But God
can see the ultimate end of it all — that good will triumph after the world has been scourged at the pillar of suffering and has crucified its own pride and sensuality. For we are but children to God; yes, children of a larger growth, and what matters it all if we are purged of our selfishness, our waywardness, our sinfulness here, so long as we gain the victory over our lower impulses and win life eternal?

Could nature talk to us on a beautiful night as the stars twinkle in the heavens and bombers block out momentarily the light of the moon, she would say to us, that which is small in you, you are magnifying, and that which is great in you, you are minimizing. Your destiny lies beyond the stars, beyond the moon, beyond the earth. Your short span of earthly existence is so unimportant as compared with your eternal destiny that you are foolish to
take anything serious in life except the saving of your immortal soul. If the oxen in the cave of Bethlehem could only speak they would tell us that we would find Christ in a humble cave of the hillside and not in the inn of the world. If nature against whose starry background the bombers fly and upon whose bosom of the sea the ships and submarines sport in war, if the very skies through which the jets speed their way could but utter a word, they would all sing, “Glory to God” and “Oh, how foolish are the sons of men who war in frenzied hate.”

Ah, but the skies do speak, the stars speak! Yes, and the oceans speak! They tell us of God: of His power, His might, His beauty, His omnipotence! For those who have faith the handwriting of God is seen in everything He has written, be it carved in the rocks, the brooks, the sky, or the sea! “I see His blood upon the rose . . . His face in every flower,” said Joseph Plunkett.

Look into the face of a child this Christmas, and you will see there the hope of the future world. All your cares will have ceased a thousand times over when that child reaches maturity. Look into the face of the Child in the crib, the virgin Mother, and Joseph, and you will find the message of Christmas. Lift up your heart, as the priest at Mass reads: “A Child is born,” and sing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will.”

PRAYER Babe of Bethlehem, help me to minimize my worldly ills by placing them all at Your feet and help me to magnify in true perspective the Church’s teaching that nothing counts so much as a good life. Help me to be humble by placing all success at Your feet, that I may know true greatness consists in acknowledging that all I have is Yours, and You are mine, and I am the littlest child of God.