Advent Meditation~By St. Alphonsus de Liguori (December 22)

[Dawn Marie]

THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH

THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

Discourse by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

December 22, 2014

Discourse 23

 

The Birth Of Jesus Christ

 

Part 1 of 2

 

Evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum . . . quia natus est vobis hodie Salvator.

 

“I bring you good tidings of great joy, . . . for this day is born to you a Saviour.”---- St. Luke ii. 10, 11.

 

 

“I bring you good tidings of great joy.” 

Thus said the angels to the shepherds, and thus do I say to you, O devout souls!, on this night, I bring you tidings of great joy. And what tidings could be greater joy to a nation of poor exiles, condemned to death, than for them to be told that their Saviour had come, not only to deliver them from death, but also to obtain for them permission to return to their country? And this is what I announce to you this night:  “A Saviour is born to you.”  Jesus Christ is born, and He is born for you, to deliver you from everlasting death, and to open to you Heaven, which is our country, and from which we had been banished in punishment for our sins.

 

But in order that you should show your gratitude from this time forth, by loving your new-born Redeemer, allow me to set Him before your eyes; let me show you where He was born, and where He may be found on this night, that you may go to Him and thank Him for so great a favor, and a for His great love. Let us ask for light from Jesus and Mary.

 

Octavius Augustus, the Emperor of Rome, wishing to know the strength of his empire, decreed that there be a general numbering of all his subjects, and for this purpose he ordered all the governors of the provinces---- and, among the rest, Cyrinus, governor of Judea---- to make everyone come to enroll himself, and at the same time pay a certain tribute as a sign of vassalage:  “There went out a decree . . that the whole world should be enrolled.”  As soon as this decree was promulgated, Joseph obeys immediately; he does not even wait till his holy Spouse should be delivered, though She was near Her time. I say he obeyed immediately, and set out on his journey with Mary, then pregnant with the Divine Word, to go and enroll himself in the city of Bethlehem:  “to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.”  The journey was a long one---- for, according to some authors, it was ninety leagues, that is to say, four days---- long and difficult, for they had to traverse mountains and steep paths, through the wind, the rain and the cold.

 

When a king makes his first entry into a city of his kingdom, what honors are not prepared for him! What preparations are not made, and triumphal arches erected! 

Do thou then, O happy Bethlehem!, prepare thyself to receive thy King with honor, for the prophet Micheas has told thee that He is coming to thee, and that He is Lord not only of all Judea, but of the whole world. And know, says the prophet, thou, out of all the cities of the earth, art the fortunate one that has been chosen by the King of Heaven for His birthplace, that He may afterwards reign, not indeed in Judea, but in the hearts of men who live in Judea and in all the rest of the world:  “And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Judea; out of thee shall He come forth that is to be Ruler of Israel.”  But behold, these two illustrious pilgrims, Joseph and Mary, who bears within Her womb the Saviour of the world, are about to enter into Bethlehem.