The Tradition of the Christmas Crib

Following a beautiful and firmly-rooted tradition, many families set up their crib immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as if to relive with Mary those days full of trepidation that preceded the birth of Jesus. Putting up the crib at home can be a simple but effective way of present­ing faith, to pass it on to one’s children. The crib helps us contemplate the mystery of God’s love that was revealed in the poverty and simplicity of the Bethlehem Grotto. Saint Francis of Assisi was so taken by the mystery of the Incarnation that he wanted to present it anew at Greccio in the living nativity scene, thus beginning an old, popular tra­dition that still retains its value for evangelization today. Indeed, the crib can help us understand the secret of the true Christmas because it speaks of the humility and merciful goodness of Christ, who “though he was rich he made himself poor” for us (2 Cor 8: 9). His poverty enriches those who embrace it and Christmas brings joy and peace to those who, like the shepherds in Bethlehem, accept the Angel’s words: “Let this be a sign to you: in a manger you will find an infant wrapped in swad­dling clothes” (Lk 2: 12). This is still the sign for us too, men and women of the third millennium. There is no other Christmas.

Pope Benedict XVI

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The Lord has shown His great mercy. Enkindle in your hearts ardent desires and burning wishes for Our Lord to come to you in the virtue of His charity, love of the Father, and of every human being. Say with the Royal Prophet, “I opened my mouth and panted.” And your Savior will respond, “Surely I come quickly; you shall see Me very soon.”

Your eyes at the midnight Mass will gaze upon the elevated Host and your lips will utter, “My Lord and my God.” A few minutes more and the little Infant will have come to you. His Immaculate Mother did not hold Him more truly in her arms that first Christmas midnight than you will have Him, Heart to heart. Then all the love of that Infant Redeemer will be poured out upon you. It’s a thirst of the heart of every creature that desires to be loved, and the love which can alone satisfy that craving is the Divine Love.

Let your heart delight in the love your God has for you, personally, individually. No soul ever in ardent fervor desires to unite herself to our Lord in Holy Communion, as our Lord desires to unite Him­self to her. So Holy Communion is a delight to your Infant Savior; because He loves you, oh, how immea­surably! He tells you in His Heart to heart interview that He has become a little Infant so that you may love Him with a human love without fear. He wants you to confide in Him, approach to Him with a con­viction that His Great Majesty is annihilated that you may no longer see in Him but a little Child, with a body and soul just as you have. And the mystery of love is this: that He unites His Body to your body and your soul to His Soul, so that yours may be a member of His very own.

This Christmas Holy Communion will unite you to our Lord, it is my prayer, more intimately than ever before in all your lives so that even the smallest of your actions may by this union be animated with divine Life – and all for the honor of the Father and the salvation of souls. May you participate in His life of charity, and may a divine light illumine you to see the depths and heights of the charity of a God made Man to redeem that which was lost. You participate in the spirit and the immense charity of Christ so as to be born this Christmas to a new life of charity – for “he that abides in charity, abides in God.”

+St. Katherine Drexel

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It is a great thing to realize that in order to be saints we have only to be what God made us to be, and to do what God made us to do. If we are clever, then to be clever; if we are not clever, then not to be clever; if we are successful, then to be successful; if not successful, then not to succeed; if in good health, then to be healthy; if sickly, then to be sickly; and so on. Perfect simplicity with regard to ourselves; perfect contentment with everything that comes our way; perfect peace of mind in utter self-forgetfulness.

This becomes easier the more we realize the utter greatness and goodness and allness of God. Then we realize our own utter insignificance and worthlessness and nothingness; a mere squeak of a mouse in the infin­ity of God. If we see the whole, we shall easily despise the trifles; if we lose ourselves in God, how puny the rest appears!

This is the cure for making too much of little things whether they go right, or whether they go wrong, which is the cause of all our loss of peace of mind. This is the real test of sanctity, that simplicity of trust in God, which is the perfection of human nature. In the end, when life is done and all is over, such a soul is found more precious than one that has shone in many deeds.

Therefore:

First make a great deal of God, forgetting, if we can, at times everything else in His presence. Secondly, make nothing at all of ourselves, whether we are clever or whether we are not, whether we are loved or whether we are not, whether we succeed or whether we do not, whether we get what we desire or do not.

In the midst of all we can rejoice: (a) that we are what He has made us; (b) that those things happen which He wants to happen, (c) that if all the world were to collapse and the very heavens were to fall, there would be still the great, living, loving God.

So, if we want to be saints:

(1) Sit still often in the presence of God, lost in acts of faith, and love, and hope, in acts of praise, and adoration, and thanksgiving.

(2) When the thought of ourselves with our own petty worries creeps in, sit still again in His presence, with acts of humility, and contrition, and oblation, telling Him how small we are, how sorry we are for ourselves, how we would like to be and do better.

(3) When the human heart is hungry, as at times it must be, come again to the feet of God, and fill it with acts of longing for Him and His love and His glory, rather than with the little husks of self-satisfaction; fill it with acts of rejoicing in Him and in His tremendous almighti­ness, such that nothing in the world really matters any­thing at all.

PRAY LIKE THIS, and we shall lay the foundation on which sanctity is built.

LIVE LIKE THIS, and sanctity will build itself.

DIE LIKE THIS, and we shall die “good and faithful servants.”

+Archbishop Alban Goodier, S.J.

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One Minute Meditation

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THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

• Jesus is taken before the High Priest where He is falsely accused, buffeted and insulted.
• The Jewish leaders take Jesus before Pilate, for only he can impose the death penalty.
• The robber, Barabbas, is preferred to Jesus.
• Pilate can “find no cause in Him”, yet to appease the Jews, he orders Jesus to be scourged.
• The scourge is made of leather thongs to which are attached small sharp bones.
• Jesus is bound to a pillar and cruelly scourged until His whole body is covered with deep wounds.
• The Lamb of God offers His suffering for the sins of mankind.
• Jesus suffers so much in His sacred flesh to satisfy, especially, for sins of the flesh.
• The prophesy of Isiah is fulfilled: “He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins.”
• Father, by the merits of Jesus in this painful scourging, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

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THE CROWNING WITH THORNS

• Pilate asks, “Are You a king?” Jesus answers: “I am a King, but My kingdom is not of this world.”
• In the praetorium, the soldiers place an old purple robe on Jesus in mockery of His claim to be a king.
• They fashion a crown out of thorns, and forcefully press it down upon His head.
• In His bound hands they place a reed, as a sceptre, in mockery of His kingship.
• Kneeling before Him in derision, they spit on Him, and cry out: “Hail, King of the Jews!”
• Taking the reed from His hand they strike Him on the head, driving the thorns more deeply into His scalp.
• Pilate brings Jesus before the people, hoping His pitiful sight will soften them: “Behold the man!”
• Their response: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
• Our Blessed Lord submitted to this terrible humiliation to make reparation for our pride.
• Father, by the merits of this painful humiliation, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

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The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery:   THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS

• One condemned to death by crucifixion is forced to carry the cross to the place of execution.
• The suffering of Jesus is intense as the cross is laid on His bruised and wounded back and shoulders.
• Weak and exhausted from loss of blood, lack of food and rest, Jesus falls three times under the cross.
• Jesus meets His afflicted Mother causing untold anguish in the Hearts of Son and Mother.
• The countenance of Jesus is disfigured with blood and sweat, with dust and spittle.
• Veronica wipes His face, leaving on her towel the image of His countenance.
• Fearing that Jesus might die on the way, the soldiers force Simeon of Cyrene to carry the cross behind Jesus.
• Jesus speaks to weeping women; “Weep not for Me, but for yourselves and your children.”
• “If anyone is to be My disciple, let him take up his cross and follow Me.”
• Father, by the merits of this painful journey to Calvary, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

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Jesus, Man of Sorrows, those drops of Blood that flow down Your Face, those deep gashes caused by the thorns that cir­cle Your holy head, make You dearer to me than if Your forehead shone with pre­cious stones. Such signs remind me of the Divine love that burns in Your Heart for me. I love the noble, sorrowful maj­esty of Your holy Face. You reject the crown of gold and the rich robes of royal state, and accept instead a crown of thorns and the purple rags of mockery and scorn.

You consent to be a mock-king, a king of fools, only to be the real King of my soul. My thorn-crowned King,  I adore You as my very God.  I subject myself entirely to Your Divine Kingship of love. I would rather be a fool in the eyes of men for Your sake and have You reign over me, than be king of the world and be the slave of the prince of darkness.  I adore You as the Conqueror of hearts, whose Kingdom is not of this world, but of heav­en.

Fr. Lawrence Lovasik

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THE CRUCIFIXION

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