When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
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Where is a dark place in your world where Jesus needs to enter anew?
Come closer to me, closer still, O Power of the Holy Trinity. Enter into my consciousness more deeply
than thoughts and emblems of the world can. In the same way as a wise mother, when she conceives, prepares and embellishes a cradle for her child, so prepare and embellish my mind for that which will be begotten from You, O Beauty and Purity.
Many evil thoughts lurk like serpents around the cradle of Your Son. And many wicked desires emerge from my heart and seek the cradle of Your Prince, to poison Him with their arrows.
Defend the cradle of my mind, and teach my soul how to give birth and care for an infant.
Shroud in deep darkness
the journey of all malevolent visitors coming to see my newborn son. And raise aloft a most radiant star
over the way of the Wise Men from the East, men who are truly wise,
because they are coming to visit my most precious child with three gifts— faith, hope, and love.
Come closer to me, still closer, my majestic Lord.
Nikolai Velimirovich 1881-1956 Serbian Orthodox monastic Prayers by the Lake, source, edited __________________________________
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.
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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?
Open unto me, light for my darkness Open unto me, courage for my fear Open unto me, hope for my despair Open unto me, peace for my turmoil Open unto me, joy for my sorrow Open unto me, strength for my weakness Open unto me, wisdom for my confusion Open unto me, forgiveness for my sins Open unto me, tenderness for my toughness Open unto me, love for my hates Open unto me, Thy Self for myself Lord, Lord, open unto me!
Howard Thurman, 1899-1981, American author, educator and civil rights leader
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
prayer & verse 
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