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Commemorating
† The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ †

Comments of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira :

It is Christmas Eve and the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ must be the object of our meditation. I suggest that we try to discern the state of spirit of Our Lady on Christmas Night.

She was already bearing Our Lord within her. She carried Him as in a Tabernacle and had the greatest possible intimacy with him, a profound relationship of soul. Certainly Our Lord had full use of His reason inside the maternal womb. He was able to think from the first instant of His Being, as soon as the Incarnation took place. Not only was He capable of thinking, but also of willing. Therefore, an intense interaction of souls was established between Him and Our Lady that grew continually until the moment of His Birth.

Before the Incarnation, Our Lady had a great union of soul with God and, therefore, a union with the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. But after the Incarnation, she began to have a different kind of union – the union of the God-Man with His Mother. Knowing this, we cannot think that Our Lady had no knowledge whatsoever of her Son until His birth and only entered into contact with Him then for the first time. She already had a very intimate and ardent union of soul with Him. So, what did Christmas represent for Our Lady?

It is obvious that the moment when Our Lord left the maternal cloister – without damaging her virginity in any way – must have been a very elevated one. That moment when Our Lady brought Christ forth into the world must have been one of an extraordinary manifestation of her jubilance and love for Him, as well as an extraordinary union of soul with Him.

Simultaneously, the act of His birth - which included the participation of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity - was commemorated by all the Angels in Heaven with canticles of joy. The Birth of Our Lord is surely one of the greatest feasts in Heaven and one of the most glorious moments in all History. Thus, we can see how momentous and important this act was for her.

I believe, however, that there was something more that Our Lady would have experienced. She had not yet seen the face of Our Lord. The physical reality is a symbol and expression of the spiritual reality. In the features of the Holy Face of Our Lord, one would be able to perfectly distinguish His flawless soul. His body would be the expression of His soul, united with the Second Person of the Trinity.

Thus contemplating His gaze, His Holy Face and His body, Our Lady acquired a new knowledge of Her Son that increased her understanding of His mentality. She could love Him and be united with Him in this new way, which certainly inspired the adoration she offered Him on Christmas Night.

The human gaze is the most expressive sign of a person’s mentality, but it is not the only one. The mentality is also expressed by the neck, shoulders, hands, feet – above all, by the ensemble. If we consider this, then we can imagine Our Lady contemplating those psychological and supernatural manifestations of Him and, in view of this, profoundly adoring Him.

The iconography of the Renaissance completely deformed one aspect of Our Lord. It presented the Child Jesus as a foolish babe in order to give an idea of His purity. The artists of that period often presented Him as an inexpressive infant without showing any sign of His divine mentality. I cannot think that such a thing is true. On the contrary, I believe that everything we admire in Our Lord as a man – His goodness, balance, distinction, affability and strength, and especially His transcendence – was already manifest in the face and body of the Divine Infant.

All those perfections that made Him a Man superior to all others were expressed for the first time at Christmas and were the object of the adoration of Our Lady and also of St. Joseph, who was there with her and shared that act of adoration as her spouse and the father of the Child Jesus.

We can picture the tenderness, respect, veneration and adoration of St. Joseph as he looked at that Child whom he knew was a Son of the Holy Ghost and Our Lady, but who was legally his Son. It was as his Son that He became the Son of David and fulfilled the prophecies of the Scriptures. Gazing at that Child, he was considering that the Infant was His God and the God of all mankind and, notwithstanding, He was his Son, as the Son of his spouse. We can imagine the act of adoration of St. Joseph when he saw the sanctity of the Divine Infant expressed in His Person and illuminating the entire Cave!

This idea of how His sanctity was expressed in His Person – in His face and body – manifesting the Hypostatic Union of God and Man, this is what we can contemplate on Christmas Night.

There are many holy cards representing the Manger scene with a Christ Child with a foolish face and rays of light emanating from the straw of the Manger. I believe that they are wrong – the light was not coming from the straw, but from the most Holy Face and the Person of the Christ Child.

Perhaps this could be a subject for our meditation on this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Let us ask Our Lady and St. Joseph to help us understand this mystery and give us a truly recollected and pious Christmas.

Α Ω


29 posted on 12/25/2011 5:59:10 PM PST by Robert Drobot (Fiat voluntas tua)
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CALENDAR of the SAINTS

Anno Dómini 25 December 2011

"....and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. ~ ~ Apocalypse

Α Ω

Saint Adjutor and Thirty-Five Companion Martyrs

One of a group of thirty-five, martyred in northwestern Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Bishop Saint Auxentius of Mopsuetia

Officer in the personal guard of the Emperor Augustus Licinus. Dismissed from his post for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan god Bacchus. Priest and Bishop of Mopsuestia, Cilicia. He gave refuge to anyone exiled by emperor Constantine the Great.

Α Ω

Saint Basilian of Laodicea, Martyr

Martyred at Laodicea, Syria. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Bodagisil of Aquitaine

Frankish courtier.Convert. Founder and first abbot of an abbey on the banks of the River Meuse. Praised by Saint Venantius Fortunatus and Saint Gregory of Tours.

Α Ω

Saint Desiderius of Fontenelle

Benedictine son of Saint Waningus. He probably resided at Fecamp, the abbey founded by his courtier father, who became a monk. Desideratus’ relics are enshrined in Ghent, Belgium.

Bishop Saint Flannan of Killaloe

Son of an Irish chieftain named Turdough. Intellectual and spiritual student of the monk Saint Molua. Despite family opposition, he became a monk. Missionary monk throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Hebrides. First bishop of Killaloe, consecrated by Pope John IV. Recited the entire Psalter daily. His preaching was so persuasive that his own father gave up power to become a monk.

Α Ω

Bishop Saint Gatianus of Tours

Spiritual student of Saint Dionysius of Paris. Saint Gatianus brought Christianity to Tours, France in the 4th century, founded the diocese and served as the its first bishop. However, his good work faded after his death. When Saint Martin arrived in Tours, he found that there were no Catholics, but local history speeks volumes about Saint; bringing and explaining the Gospel to the people. Saint Martin found Saint Gatianus’ burial site; always venerating his predecessor.

Α Ω

Saint Mawnan of Cornwal

Listed on various calendars in the British Isles. A town in Cornwall is named for him.

Α Ω

Saint Moses of Africa, Martyr

Martyred A.D. 250 in pagan Africa.

Α Ω

Saint Nemesia Valle

Α Ω


Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast originated in Spain. When the feast of the Annunciation ( 25 March ) was transferred to 18 December because of the prohibition of feasts during the Lenten period. It remained on this date after the Annunciation was again celebrated on its original date. It impressed on the faithful the sentiments of the Blessed Virgin as the time of His Most Holy Birth approached.

Α Ω

Saint Paul My, Martyr

A pagan convert to Catholicism. Saint Paul My assisted the in successfully bring the Word of God to Vietnam. Saint Paul My was strangled to death A.D. 1838 while refusing to deny Jesus Christ as the One True God.

Α Ω

Saint Peter Truat, Martyr

A Catechist; Saint Peter Truat was martyred A.D. 1838 while refusing to deny Jesus Christ as the One True God.

Α Ω

Saint Philip of Ratzeburg

Α Ω

Saint Quartus and Thirty-Five Companion Martyrs

One of a group of thirty-five, martyred in northwestern Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Quintus, Martyr

Martyred A.D. 255 in Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω


Saint Rufus, Martyr

Rufus and Zosimus were citizens of Antioch (or perhaps Philippi) who were brought to Rome with Saint Ignatius of Antioch during the reign of Emperor Trajan. They were condemned to death for their Christianity and thrown to wild beasts in the arena two days before the martyrdom of Ignatius.

Saint Samthann of Clonbroney

Spiritual student of Saint Cognat at Ernaide. Saint Samthann was the foundress of the convent of Clonbroney, ( Cluain-Bronach) Abbey inounty Longford County Longford, a house that refused large donations for fear of losing the simplicity of their lives. . She was revered for her patronage of culture and spiritual perfection in the monastic traditions.

Α Ω

Saint Simplicius, Martyr

Martyred A.D. 255 in Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Theotimus of Laodicea, Martyr

Martyred at Laodicea, Syria. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Victor and Thirty-Five Companion, Martyrs

One of a group of thirty-five, martyred in northwestern Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Victorinus and Thirty-Five Companion, Martyrs

One of a group of thirty-five, martyred in northwestern Africa. No other information has survived.


Α Ω

Saint Victurus and Thirty-Five Companion, Martyrs

One of a group of thirty-five, martyred in northwestern Africa. No other information has survived.

Α Ω

Saint Winebald of Heidenheim

Winebald + Benedictine abbot and missionary. The brother of Sts. Willibald and Walburga, he was born in Wessex, England, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land with his brother and father. When their father died at Lucca, the brothers proceeded to Rome. Winebald remained in the Eternal City while his brother went on to the Holy Land. Winebald studied in Rome for seven years, went back to England, but then returned to Rome determined to enter the religious life. At the invitation of Saint Boniface, he gathered together a group of English missionaries and went to Germany in 739. Winebald was ordained, labored in Thuringia and Bavaria, and then joined Wilibald in his missionary enterprise in Eichstatt, Frisia, Holland. With his brother, he founded the monastery of Heidenheim, Germany, where he served as abbot with his sister as abbess. He struggled against the local pagans and strove to make the monastery one of the leading ecclesiastical centers in Germany.

Α Ω


30 posted on 12/25/2011 8:10:18 PM PST by Robert Drobot (Fiat voluntas tua)
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