My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
of the Lord through whom all things have been made
and who has been made in the midst of all things;
who is the Revealer of his Father,
the Creator of his Mother;
who is the Son of God through his Father without a mother,
the Son of man through his Mother, without a father.
He is great as the day of the angels is great,
and small as the day of men,
The Word of God before all time,
the Word made flesh at a suitable time.
Maker of the sun,
he is made under the sun.
Disposer of all ages in the bosom of the Father,
he consecrates this day in the womb of his Mother.
In him he remains,
from her he goes forth.
Creator of Heaven and earth,
he was born on earth under Heaven.
Unspeakably wise,
he is wise speechless.
Filling the world,
he lies in a manger.
Ruler of the stars,
he nurses at his Mother’s bosom.
He is both great in the nature of God and small in the form of a servant,
but not in a way that his greatness is not diminished by his smallness,
nor his smallness overwhelmed by his greatness.
Thus the food of wisdom was not taken away from the angels,
and we were to taste how sweet is the Lord.
St. Augustine of Hippo, 354 – 430, A Christmas Sermon
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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
prayer & verse 
What a powerful prayer by Augustine. It caps off my Christmas Eve preparation and helps set the stage for tomorrow’s celebration. Eric, thank you for this ministry of researching and carefully selecting prayers and art from the ages. I am blessed by it.
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