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Beside the Manger
Based on a Christmas meditation by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Once again, O Lord, the Feast of Thy Holy Nativity approaches. Christendom is present to venerate Thee in the manger, under the twinkling Star of Bethlehem and the refulgent light of Mary’s maternal eyes. Saint Joseph is at Thy side, so absorbed in contemplating Thee, that he does not even notice the animals which surround Thee, or the choirs of angels that part the clouds and sing visibly on high. Soon the approaching footsteps of the Three Wise Men will be heard as they bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Over the centuries others will come to venerate Thy cradle. These will come from India, Nubia, Macedonia, Rome, Carthage and Spain. Thou shalt be adored by Gauls, Francs, Germans, Angles, Saxons and Normans. These pilgrims and crusaders will come from the West to kiss the soil of the grotto where Thou art born. However, thy cradle will also be found all over the earth. It will be venerated in the great Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals and mosques, which, having been conquered from the Moors, are consecrated to the worship of the true Faith. Immense multitudes will gather around Thee bearing gifts: gold, silver, incense and above all the piety and sincerity of their hearts.
As the west begins to expand, the benefits of Thy Redemption will surge forth abundantly throughout the New World. Incas, Aztecs, Tupis, Guaranis, blacks from Angola and the Cape, dark Hindus, slender Chinese and small, agile and pensive Japanese will come to the knowledge of Truth. All will gather around Thy cradle and adore Thee. The star of Bethlehem will shine over the whole world.
The angelic promise will be heard by all peoples. Throughout the earth, men of goodwill will find the priceless treasure of Thy peace.
A part of this great confluence of men, races and nations will gather around Thee, O Lord, during the turbulent dawn of the twenty-first century. This will be Thy only consolation and the sole hope that will remain.
We will be numbered among this part. On bended knee, we will gaze at Thee. Look at us with compassion, O Lord. We are present and want to speak with Thee.
And who are we? We are those who bend not our knees, not even a single knee before Baal. We are those who have Thy Law etched in the bronze of our souls. We are those who do not allow the doctrines of this century to engrave their errors upon this bronze made sacred by the Redemption.
We are those who love the immaculate purity of orthodoxy as the most precious of all treasures. We are those who refuse any pact with heresy, its pomps or works. We are those who show mercy to the repentant sinner. We beg Thee to show us Thy mercy, in spite of our unworthiness and unfaithfulness. Nevertheless, we will not endure insolent impiety, or vice that rears its proud head and scorns virtue.
We are those who pity all men, but particularly the blessed who suffer persecution for love of Thy Church; those who are oppressed all over the earth because they hunger and thirst for virtue; those who are abandoned, mocked, betrayed and vilified because they remain faithful to Thy Law; those who suffer without contemporary authors exalting the beauty of their sufferings; the Christian mother who prays alone in front of the manger, abandoned by her own children, who in their orgies profane the day of Thy Nativity; the austere and strong husband, who is misunderstood and scorned because he is faithful to Thee; the faithful wife who bears the hardships of spiritual loneliness and heartbreak, while he who should be the pillar of the home, the other half of her soul, is dragged into adultery through corrupt customs; the pious son or daughter who, while the family household engages in revelry, feels more than ever the coldness of a family life that has been destroyed by selfishness, worldliness and the thirst for pleasure; the student vilified by his classmates because he remains faithful to Thee; the teacher detested by his students because he disavows their errors; the parish priest or bishop who feels the dark wall of misunderstanding or indifference rising around him because he refuses to cross his arms while the deposit of doctrine that was entrusted to him is weakened and diluted; and the honest man who prefers to be poor rather than steal.
Lord, these souls are dispersed, isolated and unknown to each other. They approach Thee today to present their gift and offer their prayers.
However, their gift is so splendid, that if they could give Thee the sun, stars, sea with all its wealth and earth with all its splendor, it would never equal this gift.
They offer themselves to Thee with total fidelity. They do so when they prefer orthodoxy to the applause of Pharisees, honesty of life over money and purity to popularity. They do so when they remain faithful to Thy Law even at the loss of their positions and glory.
Thus, they prove that they love Thee above all things with a firm, spiritual and true love. Certainly, this is not the loose, irrational affection that the world understands as love. Their love is not based on the senses. It is not full of nebulous affections, hidden condescension towards oneself and accommodating excuses. Rather, they practice true love, illuminated by Faith, reasoned, serious, chaste, upright and persevering. In a word, they are imbued with love of God.
They compose a prayer to Thee. A prayer for that which is most precious to them: Thy Holy and Immaculate Church. It is a prayer for the pastors and flock, but above all for the Pastor of Pastors, the Holy Father. They pray that Thy Church, which groans as a captive in the dungeons of their anti-Christian civilization, finally triumph against sin. They pray that Peter’s Barque forms a new civilization for Thy greatest glory.
They also pray for the saints: that they become holier, for the good: that they multiply. They pray for sinners: that they repent; for the impious: that they convert; and that the impenitent who are impervious to Thy grace and noxious to souls, be dispersed, humiliated and annihilated with Thy punishment. They beseech Thee for the immediate deliverance of the souls in Purgatory.
They pray also for themselves. They beseech Thee to make them more demanding in orthodoxy, more severe in purity, more faithful in adversity, more upright in humiliations, more energetic in combat, more terrible toward the impious and more compassionate with those who, ashamed of their sins, publicly praise these virtues and make a serious effort to acquire them.
Finally, they pray for Thy grace, without which no one perseveres in virtue or is saved. They ask that it be given more abundantly in proportion to their miseries and infidelities.
