This Christmas, pray as the Saints did with these Christmas prayers!
Let Your Goodness Appear To Us | St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Let your goodness Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imagine your majesty, power, and wonder, nor is it fitting for us to even try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest gift, the gift of your eternal love. Caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries. Amen.
– St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Christmas: A Means And A Pledge Of Peace | St. Ephraim
The feast day of your birth resembles You, Lord
– St. Ephraim the Syrian
Because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated
from generation to generation.
Kings and emperors may pass away,
And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse.
But your festival
will be remembered until the end of time.
Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At Your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,
Since you came from heaven to earth on that day
You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt.
You gave us so many gifts on the day of your birth:
A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick;
Spiritual light for the blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit.
In the frost when the earth is barren,
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil,
The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb
God Who Came Down From Heaven | St. Alphonsus
O amiable Infant, though I see you in this cavern, lying on straw poor and despised, yet faith teaches me that you are my God, who came down from heaven for my salvation.
I acknowledge you as my Lord and Savior, but I have nothing to offer you. I have no gold of love, because I have loved creatures; I have loved my own desires, but I have not loved you, O amiable infinite one! I have not the incense of prayer, because I have lived in a miserable state of forgetfulness of you. I have no myrrh of mortification, for I have often displeased your infinite goodness so that I would not be deprived of my miserable pleasures.
What then can I offer you? I offer you my heart, filthy and poor as it is, please accept it and change it. You came into the world for this purpose, to wash the hearts of humanity from their sins by your blood, and thus change them from sinners into saints. Therefore, give me this gold, this incense, and this myrrh. Give me the gold of your holy love; give me the incense, the spirit of holy prayer, give me the desire and strength to mortify myself in everything that displeases you. I am resolved to obey you and to love you, but you know my weakness. Give me the grace to be faithful to you!
Most holy virgin, you who welcomed the Magi with affection, welcome me also, who has come to visit your Son and to offer myself to him. O my Mother, I have great confidence in your intercession. Recommend me to Jesus. I trust to you my soul and my will; bind it forever to the love of Jesus. Amen.
– St. Alphonsus Liguori
O Sweet Child Of Bethelehem | Pope John XXIII
O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
– Pope John XXIII
grant that we may share with all our hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men and women this peace
for which they sometimes seek so desperately
and which you alone can give to them.
Help them to know one another better,
and to live as brothers and sisters,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity.
Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness.
Join them all together in your love.
And give us your heavenly peace. Amen.
Let The Just Rejoice | St. Augustine
Let the just rejoice,
– St. Augustine
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.
O Come, Redeemer Of The Earth | St. Ambrose
O Come, Redeemer of the earth, and manifest thy virgin-birth. Let every age in wonder fall: such birth befits the God of all. Begotten of no human will but of the Spirit, Thou art still the Word of God in flesh arrayed, the promised fruit to man displayed. The Virgin’s womb that burden gained, its virgin honor still unstained. The banners there of virtue glow; God in his temple dwells below. Proceeding from His chamber free that royal home of purity a giant in twofold substance one, rejoicing now His course to run. O equal to the Father, Thou! gird on Thy fleshly mantle now; the weakness of our mortal state with deathless might invigorate. Thy cradle here shall glitter bright, and darkness breathe a newer light where endless faith shall shine serene and twilight never intervene. – St. Ambrose All praise, eternal Son, to Thee, whose advent sets Thy people free, whom, with the Father, we adore, and Holy Ghost, for evermore. Amen.
– St. Ambrose
Never Abandon The Little King | St. Francis
May your soul, like a mystical bee, never abandon the little King and may everything within it be for Him.
– St. Francis de Sales
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