O Lord Jesus Christ . . . . be merciful and forgive me, Your unworthy servant, if somehow I have sinned this day as a human, or rather as an inhuman. Forgive my voluntary and involuntary sins, the ones I committed in knowledge or in ignorance, the ones that have been done out of evil influences and carelessness and my great indolence and negligence. Forgive me, O Lord, if I have taken an oath by Your holy name or if I have violated my oath; if I have sworn in my mind or if I have somehow irritated You; if I have stolen or if I have lied; if a friend came to me and I ignored him or if I have distressed and embittered my brother . . . . if I looked upon vain beauty and my mind was attracted by it; if I was overly talkative about improper things or if I busied myself with faults of my brother and condemned him while overlooking my own innumerable faults; if I have neglected my prayer of if I have brought to mind any other evil thing. Forgive me, O God, your useless servant, all these and whatever other things I have done and do not remember. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for You are good and You love mankind, so that I, the prodigal one, may go to bed and fall asleep glorifying You, together with the Father and Your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
St. Ephrem the Syrian c. 306-378, Syrian hymn writer and theologian
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. ___________________
Question
Thinking though today, what is something you did or didn’t do that you could ask forgiveness for?
The Nativity, Federico Barocci 1597, wikimedia commons
O food and bread of angels, the angels are filled by you, are satisfied by you, but not to the point of satiety. They live by you; they have wisdom by you. By you they are blessed.
Where are you for my sake? In a mean lodging, in a manger. For whom? He who rules the stars sucks at the breast. He who speaks in the bosom of the Father is silent in the Mother’s lap. But he will speak when he reaches a suitable age, and will fulfill for us the Gospel. For our sakes he will suffer, for us he will die. As an example of our reward, he will rise again. He will ascend into Heaven before the eyes of his disciples, and will come from Heaven to judge the world.
Behold him lying in the manger; he is reduced to tininess, yet he has not lost anything of himself. He has accepted what was not his, but he remains what he was. Look, we have the infant Christ; let us grow with him.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
____________________________
How is it that Jesus could be fully God even as he was a tiny baby? How is Jesus’ birth the beginning of the Gospel fulfillment?
There is no other God, and there never was another, nor will there be any after him except God the Father, without beginning. From him is all beginning. He upholds all things. And his Son Jesus Christ whom together with the Father we testify to have always existed. Before the beginning of the world he was spiritually present with the Father. Begotten in an indescribable manner before all beginning. By him all things visible and invisible were made. He was made man, and having overcome death was received into heaven to the Father: And the Father has bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God. In him we believe, and we await his coming who before long shall judge the quick and dead. He will render to everyone according to his deeds, and has poured out abundantly on us the gift of the Holy Spirit, even the pledge of immortality, who makes those that believe and obey to be the sons of God the Father and joint-heirs with Christ. Him we confess and adore — one God in the Trinity of the sacred name.
St. Patrick, c.389-461, missionary and bishop in Ireland
But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.
prayer & verse 
