Gloria in Excelsis Deo! A Child Is Born Unto Us, Christ the King

Christmas joy is now upon us.

The Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, the very Word through Whom all things were made, became Incarnate in the Virginal and Immaculate Womb of His Most Blessed Mother, Who is the Singular Vessel of Devotion, exactly nine months before Christmas Day. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ lowered Himself to become one of us without losing His Divine Nature because He, in perfect obedience to His Co-Equal, Co-Eternal God the Father, loves us, His rational creatures, with an infinite love and wanted to free the human race from the tyranny of the adversary so that we could become sharers in the glories of Heaven through no merits of our own but solely by His Redemptive Act on of the wood of the Holy Cross that is perpetuated in an unbloody manner in every true offering of Holy Mass.

Our Lord denied Himself nothing of human experience except, of course, for sin.

He spent nine months as a totally dependent Child in His Most Blessed Mother’s Womb.

He was born miraculously of His Most Blessed Mother in poverty and anonymity and placed in the wood a manger from which the barn animals ate to signify that He die on the wood of the Holy Cross in atonement for our sins. That Holy Cross is the manger from which we are fed with His own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in Holy Communion.

The Infant Jesus was at the mercy of His Most Blessed Mother and His foster-father, our Good Saint Joseph, as His life was threatened by Herod the Great and was taken by His parents to Egypt, where He spent seven years before being taken to Nazareth, where He spent the next twenty-three years of His Hidden Life working at manual labor as He submitted Himself in obedience to His Most Blessed Mother, who, though full of grace from the moment of her Immaculate Conception, was nevertheless His inferior in the Order of Grace but his superior in the Order of Creation, and to Saint Joseph as His diligent protector, chaste spouse of His Most Blessed Mother, and head of the Holy Family. It is from Saint Joseph that the Child Jesus learned to use His hands to work with the wood of the trees that He, as God, had created. In other words, Our Lord had to learn as man to do those things that He had ordained as God to be done, once again showing forth His humility in world full of proud men who would rather die than to abase themselves.

Fallen men waited for four thousand years from the time of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden for this happy day to occur. It was, however, in God's Holy Providence that most of those alive at the time that the Word Incarnate issued forth from His Most Blessed Mother's Virginal and Immaculate Womb in piercing cold at Midnight on Christmas Day did not know that their Divine Redeemer, God Incarnate in the very Flesh, had been born to save them from their sins. 

Sadly, most men alive today treat this most joyful day as though the Nativity of the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity made Man was merely an occasion for some kind of ritualistic gift-giving that has nothing to do with truly honoring the Newborn Babe Who was born to pay back the debt of their sins as He suffered His ignominious death on the wood of the Holy Cross. There is little thought given to the fact that it was God's ineffable love for His rational creatures to send His Co-Equal and Co-Eternal Divine Son to suffer and to die for their own sins, and there is even less thought of the fact that men must quit their sins and make reparation for them by cooperating with the graces won for us all by Our Divine Redeemer Who was born for us on this happy day.

Sadder still is the fact that so many men alive today do not pay any heed to the inestimabile privileges bestowed upon the very Mother of God as she brought forth her only Son, Who had been begotten of the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, at the Annuciation, and thus do not understand the joyful circumstances in which the Nativity of her Divine Son occurred so miraculously. There is thus little contemplation given to the glories of this day on which a Saviour was born for us.

Indeed, even so many Catholics alive today permit themselves any time to spend in contemplation of the mysteries of Christmas, agitated as they are by the events of a world that still looks for a redeemer in all of the wrong places. 

It is good, therefore, for us to on this day, which is full of such sublime and inexpressible joy, to consider Venerable Mary of Agreda's description of the circumstances in which the Baby Jesus was born for us that she learned from the very Mother of God herself, the Queen of Heaven: Our Lady:

The palace which the supreme King of kings and Lord of lords had chosen for entertaining his eternal and incarnate Son in this world was a most poor and insignificant hut or cave, to which most holy Mary and St. Joseph went after they had been denied all hospitality and the most ordinary kindness by their fellow men, as I have described in the previous chapter. This place was held in such contempt that although the town of Bethlehem was full of strangers in need of night shelter none would demean or degrade himself so far as to make use of it for a lodging, for there was no one who deemed it suitable or desirable for such a purpose except the Teachers of humility and poverty, Christ our Savior and his most pure Mother. For this reason the wisdom of the eternal Father had reserved it for Them, consecrating it in all its bareness, loneliness and poverty as the first temple of light, and as the house of the true Sun of justice (Mal. 4:2), who for the upright of heart was to be born from the most resplendent aurora Mary in the midst of the darkness of night (symbolic of the night of sin) which filled the entire world (Ps. 111:4).  (New English Edition of the The Mystical City of God, The Book Four: The Incarnation, Chapter Ten.)

The conditions described above can be applied to our sins, can it not?

That is, are our souls truly fit to be the dwelling place for Our King of Kings when we receive Him in Holy Communion? Yet it is His Holy Will that, despite our lukewarmness and worldliness, He deigns to enter into the poor, pitiable dwelling that we offer unto Him. The God Who entered the world in humility condescends to come us humbly under the appearances of bread and wine. How are we prepared to receive Him? Is there truly place in the "inn" of our hearts for Him?

The Venerable Mary of Agreda then described the gratitude of Our Lady and Saint Joseph for finding a dwelling place that was of such poor and humble estate as this was but the will of the very God Who came to be born in poverty and anonymity:

469. Most holy Mary and St. Joseph entered the lodging thus provided for them, and by the effulgence of the ten thousand Angels of their guard they could easily ascertain its poverty and loneliness, which they esteemed as favors and welcomed with tears of consolation and joy. Without delay the two holy travelers fell on their knees and praised the Lord, giving Him thanks for this benefit which they knew had been provided by his wisdom for his own hidden designs. Regarding this mystery the heavenly Princess Mary had a better insight, for as soon as She sanctified the interior of the cave by her sacred footsteps She felt a fullness of joy which entirely elevated and vivified Her. She besought the Lord to bless with a liberal hand all the inhabitants of the neighboring city, because by rejecting Her they had given occasion for the vast favors which She awaited in this neglected cavern. It was formed entirely of the bare and coarse rocks, without any natural beauty or artificial adornment, a place intended merely for the shelter of animals, yet the eternal Father had selected it for the shelter and dwelling place of his own Son.

We must always be content and grateful no matter are our temporal circumstances. What matters to God is that we accept His Holy Will with equanimity and gratitude, finding in its acceptance and peaceful acceptance endless opportunities to imitate the virtues exhibited by Our Lady and her Most Chaste Spouse, our Good Saint Joseph, the just and quiet man of the House of David who is the Patron of the Universal Church and the Protector of the Faithful. 

Consider how Our Lady set about cleaning the cave with her own royal hands so that her Divine Son could be born and placed in His royal throne, namely, the Crib, made of the very wood with which He would later make a living as a humble carpenter and on which He would be crucified to effect our Redemption:

470. The angelic spirits, who like a celestial militia guarded their Queen and Lady, formed themselves into cohorts in the manner of court guards in a royal palace. They showed themselves in their visible forms also to St. Joseph, for on this occasion it was appropriate for him to enjoy such a favor, on the one hand in order to assuage his sorrow by allowing him to behold this poor lodging thus beautified and adorned by their celestial presence, and on the other in order to enliven and encourage him for the events which the Lord intended to bring about during that night and in this forsaken place. The great Queen and Empress, who was already informed of the mystery to be transacted here, set about cleaning with her own hands the cave which was so soon to serve as a royal throne and sacred mercy seat, for neither did She want to miss this occasion for exercising her humility, nor would She deprive her onlybegotten Son of the worship and reverence implied by this preparation and cleansing of his temple. (New English Edition of the The Mystical City of God, The Book Four: The Incarnation, Chapter Ten.)

Do we truly examine our consciences when preparing to go to Confession? Do we set about the hard work of cleaning out the nooks and crannies of sins that we may have forgotten or treated too lightly? If so, Our Lady's example provides us with the impetus to remember that spiritual sloth is culpable to our condemnation. Our Lady took great care to prepare the cave in Bethlehem just as her Divine Son would take great care thirty-three years later after His Resurrection to neatly fold up His burial shroud, a detail that was recounted as follows by Saint John the Evangelist in his Gospel:

And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre; and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

She ran, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them: They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulchre. And they both ran together, and that other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he went not in.

Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen cloths lying. And the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped into one place.

Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw, and believed. (John 20: 1-8)

Such is the care that we must take to save our souls as nothing we accomplish or fail to accomplish in this passing, mortal vale of tears matters. To save one's soul by the graces made possible for us by the shedding of the Most Precious Blood of the Child born for this this day as He died for us on the wood of the Holy Cross thirty-three years later is the only accomplishment that should matter to us, and to do this we need the help of Our Lady, who cleaned the stable in Bethlehem, and her Most Chaste Spouse, who desires us to rely upon his paternal intercession on a daily basis without fail:

471. St. Joseph, mindful of the majesty of his heavenly Spouse (which it seemed to him She was forgetting in her ardent longing for humiliation), besought Her not to deprive him of this work which he considered as his alone, and he hastened to set about cleaning the floor and the corners of the cave, although the humble Queen continued to assist him therein. Since the holy Angels were in human visible form, they were (according to our mode of speaking) abashed at such eagerness for humiliation, and they speedily emulated with each other to join in this work; or rather, in order to say it more succinctly, in the shortest time possible they had cleansed and set in order that cave, filling it with holy fragrance. St. Joseph started a fire with the material which he had brought for that purpose. Since it was very cold they sat at the fire in order to get warm. They partook of the food which they had brought, and they ate this, their frugal supper, with incomparable joy of their souls. The Queen of heaven was so absorbed and taken up with the thought of the impending mystery of her divine delivery that She would not have partaken of food if She had not been urged thereto by obedience to her spouse. (New English Edition of the The Mystical City of God, The Book Four: The Incarnation, Chapter Ten.)

Thus it is that we must do our daily duties and be satisfied with the lot in life that we, sinners who have so much for which to make reparation, experience according to the wonderful Providence of God, saying like Saint Francis himself, who is responsible for providing us with the example of the Nativity scene, "Deo gratias" no matter the material circumstances in which we find ourselves, and no matter the state of the world, victim of its own iniquities.

On the first Christmas Day, though, the world was at peace. Caesar Augustus reigned over the Roman Empire, and a peace extant in the world at that time had been ordained by God from all eternity to signify the fact that the Prince of Peace Himself to Whom the rugged shepherds of the field came to adore after angels from on high announced them the great news that a Saviour had been born for them and that there was to be peace to men of good will.

The shepherds went with haste to adore the Good Shepherd, and they the first men outside of the Holy Family (and Saint Elizabeth and her son, Saint John the Baptist) to venerate His Most Blessed Mother. Public Marian devotion began with those shepherds who had been called from their posts to worship Infant Christ the King for us.

We must make haste to Holy Mass, if at all possible in this time of apostasy and betrayal, to adore the Newborn Christ the King and to venerate Our Lady and the silent and just man of the House of David, Saint Joseph.

Everyone is thus invited this very day to turn away from the anti-Incarnational, religiously indifferentist delusions of Modernity and to rush to be in the company of Our Lady and Saint Joseph to adore the Word Who was Made Flesh in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb by the power of the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, at the Annunciation and is now born for us. The little Babe, God Incarnate, was placed in the wood of the manger, a feeding trough from which barn animals were fed. That same God Incarnate would be affixed to the wood of the Holy Cross thirty-three years later to win back for us on that Tree of Life what had been lost for us with Adam stretched forth his hand to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and partook of its forbidden fruit, eternal life with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This day of holy rejoicing means nothing if we are not willing to spurn spurious ideas and activities in order to remind ourselves and others that every moment of our existence is to be lived according to the truths of the Catholic Faith without any exception whatsoever, that we are called to bear a visible, tangible witness in prayer, word, thought and deed to the little Babe and the Deposit of Faith that He has entrusted exclusively to His Catholic Church.

Everyone is invited to turn away from his past sins and mistaken judgments to adore the One Who is Omniscient, the One Who came to bestow upon us His ineffable Mercy through absolutely no merits of our own. No matter their station in the eyes of men, whether high or low, all men on the face of the earth is called to adore the Child Who spent nine months of the tabernacle of His Blessed Mother's Virginal and Immaculate Womb and Who comes to them hidden under the appearance of bread and wine in the Most Blessed Sacrament, beckoning us with His Most Sacred Heart, formed out of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, to adore Him in His Real Presence in the tabernacle. We are called to become like unto little children in having an innocent wonder at the events of this day, events that made possible our salvation and that are meant to define every aspect of our lives.

We are never to lose that child-like innocence and wonder in adoring how Omnipotence and Omniscience lowered Himself to become Man in all things but sin in order to take upon Himself the guilt of us all. This day, Christmas Day, gives us true joy. Sinful men have had a Saviour born for them. Men who lived in the midst of darkness have had their darkness pierced by the Light of Lights, preceded by the very Star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Kings of the East to render their own acts of adoration to the Child and homage to His Most Blessed Mother. Yes, Kings of nations, men who ruled others, prostrated themselves before the King of Kings and paid honor to His Mother, foreshadowing what is expected of the rulers of all nations at all times until the end of time. And I've got news for the Americanists out there in cyberspace: the United States of America is not an exception to this, thank you.

Pope Leo XIII, writing in an encyclical letter, Exeunte Iam Anno, issued 120 years ago this very day, Christmas Day, put the matter this way:

Now the whole essence of a Christian life is to reject the corruption of the world and to oppose constantly any indulgence in it; this is taught in the words and deeds, the laws and institutions, the life and death of Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of faith." Hence, however strongly We are deterred by the evil disposition of nature and character, it is our duty to run to the "fight proposed to Us," fortified and armed with the same desire and the same arms as He who, "having joy set before him, endured the cross." Wherefore let men understand this specially, that it is most contrary to Christian duty to follow, in worldly fashion, pleasures of every kind, to be afraid of the hardships attending a virtuous life, and to deny nothing to self that soothes and delights the senses. "They that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences" -- so that it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffering, and who hold not ease and pleasure in contempt belong not to Christ. By the infinite goodness of God man lived again to the hope of an immortal life, from which he had been cut off, but he cannot attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very footsteps of Christ and conform his mind to Christ's by the meditation of Christ's example. Therefore this is not a counsel but a duty, and it is the duty, not of those only who desire a more perfect life, but clearly of every man "always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus." How otherwise could the natural law, commanding man to live virtuously, be kept? For by holy baptism the sin which we contracted at birth is destroyed, but the evil and tortuous roots of sin, which sin has engrafted, and by no means removed. This part of man which is without reason -- although it cannot beat those who fight manfully by Christ's grace -- nevertheless struggles with reason for supremacy, clouds the whole soul and tyrannically bends the will from virtue with such power that we cannot escape vice or do our duty except by a daily struggle. "This holy synod teaches that in the baptized there remains concupiscence or an inclination to evil, which, being left to be fought against, cannot hurt those who do not consent to it, and manfully fight against it by the grace of Jesus Christ; for he is not crowned who does not strive lawfully." There is in this struggle a degree of strength to which only a very perfect virtue, belonging to those who, by putting to flight evil passions, has gained so high a place as to seem almost to live a heavenly life on earth. Granted; grant that few attain such excellence; even the philosophy of the ancients taught that every man should restrain his evil desires, and still more and with greater care those who from daily contact with the world have the greater temptations -- unless it be foolishly thought that where the danger is greater watchfulness is less needed, or that they who are more grievously ill need fewer medicines.

But the toil which is borne in this conflict is compensated by great blessings, beyond and above heavenly and eternal rewards, particularly in this way, that by calming the passions nature is largely restored to its pristine dignity. For man has been born under this law, that the mind should rule the body, that the appetites should be restrained by sound sense and reason; and hence it follows that putting a curb upon our masterful passions is the noblest and greatest freedom. Moreover, in the present state of society it is difficult to see what man could be expected to do without such a disposition. Will he be inclined to do well who has been accustomed to guide his actions by self-love alone? No man can be high-souled, kind, merciful, or restrained, who has not learnt selfconquest and a contempt for this world when opposed to virtue. And yet it must be said that it seems to have been pre-determined by the counsel of God that there should be no salvation to men without strife and pain. Truly, though God has given to man pardon for sin, He gave it under the condition that His only begotten Son should pay the due penalty; and although Jesus Christ might have satisfied divine justice in other ways, nevertheless He preferred to satisfy by the utmost suffering and the sacrifice of His life. Thus he has imposed upon His followers this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path; therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own salvation or that of others. Thus it becomes necessary for every one to guard manfully against the allurements of luxury, and since on every side there is so much ostentation in the enjoyment of wealth, the soul must be fortified against the dangerous snares of riches lest straining after what are called the good things of life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should lose "the treasure in heaven which faileth not." Finally, this is matter of deep grief, that free-thought and evil example have so evil an influence in enervating the soul, that many are now almost ashamed of the name of Christian -- a shame which is the sign either of abandoned wickedness or the extreme of cowardice; each detestable and each of the highest injury to man. For what salvation remains for such men, or on what hope can they rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they openly and constantly refuse to mold their lives on the precepts of the gospel? It is the common complaint that the age is barren of brave men. Bring back a Christian code of life, and thereby the minds of men will regain their firmness and constancy. But man's power by itself is not equal to the responsibility of so many duties. As We must ask God for daily bread for the sustenance of the body, so must We pray to Him for strength of soul for its nourishment in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of life, which We have said is a perpetual battle, brings with it the necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and wisely said by St. Augustine, pious prayer flies over the world's barriers and calls down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to conquer the emotions of lust, and the snares of the devil, lest we should be led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the words, "pray that ye enter not into temptation." How much more is this necessary, if we wish to labor for the salvation of others? Christ our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, the source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what he taught in word: "He passed the whole night in the prayer of God," and when nigh to the sacrifice of his life, "He prayed the longer."

The frailty of nature would be much less fearful, and the moral character would grow weak and enervated with much less ease if that divine precept were not so much disregarded and treated almost with disdain. For God is easily appeased, and desires to aid men, having promised openly to give His grace in abundance to those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost insists with most loving words: "I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you." And that we should have no fear in doing this with confidence and familiarity, he softens His words, comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so much as the love of his children. "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?" And this will not seem excessive to one who considers it, if the efficaciousness of prayer seemed so great to St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the power of God; for as God created all things by His word, so man by prayer obtains what he wills. For nothing has so great a power as prayer, because in it there are certain qualities with which it pleases God to be moved. For in prayer we separate ourselves from things of earth, and filled with the thought of God alone, we become aware of our human weakness; for the same reason we rest in the embrace of our Father, we seek a refuge in the power of our Creator. We approach the Author of all good, as though we wish Him to gaze upon our weak souls, our failing strength, our poverty; and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, Who alone can give help to the weak and consolation to the infirm and miserable. With such a condition of mind, thinking but little of ourselves, as is fitting, God is greatly inclined to mercy, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace. Let, then, the habit of prayer be sacred to all; let soul and voice join together in prayer, and let our whole daily life agree together, so that, by keeping the laws of God, the course of our days may seem a continual ascent to Him.

The virtue of which we speak, like the others, is produced and nourished by divine faith; for God is the Author of all true blessings that are to be desired for themselves, as we owe to Him our knowledge of His infinite goodness, and our knowledge of the merits of our Redeemer. But, again, nothing is more fitted for the nourishment of divine faith than the pious habit of prayer, and the need of it at this time is seen by its weakness in most, and its absence in many men. For that virtue is especially the source whereby not only private lives may be amended, but also from which a final judgment may be looked for in those matters which in the daily conflict of men do not permit states to live in peace and security. If the multitude is frenzied with a thirst for excessive liberty, if the inhuman lust of the rich never is satisfied, and if to these be added those evils of the same kind to which We have referred fully above, it will be found that nothing can heal them more completely or fully than Christian faith.

Here it is fitting We should exhort you whom God has made His helpers by giving the divine power to dispense His Sacraments, to turn to meditation and prayer. If the reformation of private and public morals is needed, it scarcely requires to be said that in both respects the clergy ought to set the highest example. Let them therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus Christ, "the light of the world, that the soul of the priest should shine like a light illuminating the whole world. The light of learning, and that in no small degree is needed in the priest, because it is his duty, to fill others with wisdom, to destroy errors, to be a guide to the many in the steep and slippery paths of life. Learning ought to be accompanied by innocence of life, because in the reformation of man example is far better than precept. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works." The meaning of the divine word is that the perfection of virtue in priests should be such that they should be like a mirror to the rest of men. "There is nothing which induces others more effectively to piety and the worship of God, than the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry: for, since they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere, others look on them as though on a mirror, to take examples from them." Therefore if all men must watchfully heed against the allurements of sin, and against seeking too eagerly fleeting pleasures, it is clear how much more faithful and steadfast ought priests to be. The sacredness of their dignity, moreover -- as well as the fact that it is not sufficient to restrain their passions -- demands in them the habit of stringent selfrestraint, and also a guard over the powers of the soul, particularly the intellect and will, which hold the supreme place in man. "Thou who hast the mind to leave all (says St. Bernard), remember to reckon thyself among what thou wouldst abandon-nay, deny thyself first and before everything." Not before the soul is unshackled and free from every desire, will men have a generous zeal for the salvation of others, without which they cannot properly secure their own everlasting welfare. "There will be one thing only sought (says St. Bernard) by His subjects, one glory, one pleasure -- to make ready for the Lord a perfect people. For this they will give everything with much exertion of mind and body, with toil and suffering, with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness." The frequent meditation upon the things of heaven wonderfully nourishes and strengthens virtue of this kind, and makes it always fearless of the greatest difficulties for the good of others. The more pains they take to meditate well, the more clearly will they understand the greatness and holiness of the priestly office. They will understand how sad it is that so many men, redeemed by Jesus Christ, are running headlong to eternal ruin; and by meditation upon God they will be themselves encouraged, and will more effectually excite others to the love of God. Such, then, is the surest method for the salvation of all; and in this men must take heed not to be terrified by difficulties, and not to despair of cure by reason of the long continuance of the evil. The impartial and unchangeable justice of God metes out reward for good deeds and punishment for sin. But since the life of peoples and nations, as such, does not outlast their world, they necessarily receive the rewards due to their deeds on this earth. Indeed it is no new thing that prosperity should come to a wrong-doing state; and this by the just counsel of God, Who from time to time rewards good actions with prosperity, for no people is altogether without merit, and this Augustine considered was the case with the Roman people. The law, nevertheless, is clear that for public prosperity it is to the interest of all that virtue-and justice especially, which is the mother of all virtues -- should be practiced, "Justice exalteth a nation; but sin maketh nations miserable."[20] It is not Our purpose here to consider how far evil deeds may prosper, not whether empires, when flourishing and managing matters to their own liking, do nevertheless carry about with them, as it were shut up in their bowels, the seed of ruin and wretchedness. We wish this one thing to be understood, of which history has innumerable examples, that injustice is always punished, and with greater severity the longer it has been continued. We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle Paul, "For all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." By the hidden dispensation of divine providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church; which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of danger in dull security and insensibility. "Nothing is equal to the Church;" (says St. John Chrysostom,) "how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered." Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And, if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do.

This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity and order-that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbor, with temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888.)

Words to ponder this Christmas Day, are they not?

Our Lord did not become Incarnate in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb for no purpose. He was not born in anonymity in Bethlehem to remain hidden from public view and out of the public mind and public discourse until His Second Coming on the Last Day. He did undergo His fearful Passion and Death on Good Friday to see men pass by His Sacrifice of Himself to the Father in Spirit and in Truth to atone for human sins (the one andonly Holocaust, by the way) as it is re-presented in unbloody manner on altars of Sacrifice at the hands of true bishops and true priests in future ages just as men passed by His bloody Sacrifice and jeered Him as they did so, too busy to take notice that their own salvation was being wrought for them on that Gibbet. Our Lord did not establish His Holy Catholic Church on the Rock of Saint Peter, the first Pope, to see her, His Mystical Bride, be put on a level of equality with false religions, each of which is from the devil, in the modern pluralist state. Our Lord was born us this day to change our lives and that of the nations in which they live.

The Kingship of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was hidden from men in Bethlehem, where He was adored by His Blessed Mother and His foster-father and the shepherds, to whom the angels had announced the tidings of peace to men of good will:

For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us. (Lk. 2: 11-15.)

The shepherds acted on the word of the angels who had spoken to them. They adored the King of Kings. We have the very Word of the Word Himself, the Word Who was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us. We, however, are slow to offer our acts of adoration, prompt to make excuses as to why we can't speak about Our Lord and His true Faith publicly, why it is "inopportune" to exhort others to pray the Holy Rosary that His Most Blessed Mother gave to Saint Dominic de Guzman, embarrassed, truth be told, to rise above the naturalism of Judeo-Masonry that is one of the devil's greatest triumphs, albeit temporary, in this modern world in order to speak boldly as Catholics seeking the true good of each man and of each nation: conversion to the Catholic Faith.

Dom Prosper Gueranger wrote in The Liturgical Year of the spirit that we must maintain as we approach Christmas in the hours leading up to Midnight Mass before we begin to enter into this great Christmas season of joy:

We will begin by telling them that in the early ages of the Church every great Feast was prepared for by long Vigils; during which the people deprived themselves of their usual rest, and spent the hours in the Church, fervently joining in the Psalms and Lessons which made up the Office which we now call Matins. The Night was divided into three parts called Nocturns. At dawn of day they resumed their chants in an Office which was even more solemn than Matins: it was one of praise, and from this its characteristic, was called by the name of Lauds. This Service, which occupied a very considerable portion of the night, is still kept up, though at a time less trying to nature; Matins and Lauds are publicly recited every day in Cathedral and Monastic Churches, and privately by everyone in Holy Orders. They are by far the longest portion of the Divine Office. The want of the old spirit of devoted appreciation of the Liturgy has made the Laity indifferent to being present at the celebration of Matins, and this even in countries where Protestantism has not rendered their presence almost an impossibility. Thus, there are very few places where the people assist at Matins, excepting four times in the year; namely, on the three last days of Holy Week, and on Christmas Night. It is only on the last named that the Office is said at the same hour as anciently; for with regard to Tenebræ, they are recited on the afternoons respectively preceding each of the three days.

The Office of Christmas Night has always been said or sung with extraordinary solemnity. Firstly, it was so just, that the moments immediately preceding the Hour when the Holy Mother gave birth to her Jesus, should be spent in the most fervent prayers and watchings! But, secondly, the Church is not satisfied to-night with saying her Matins---she does so every night, and the faithful may come and assist at them as often as they wish:---she follows them by the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that so she may the better solemnize the Divine Birth; and she begins her Mass at Midnight, for it was at that silent hour that the Virgin-Mother gave us the Blessed Fruit of her Womb. We cannot be surprised that the faithful, in many parts of Christendom, used to spend the whole Night in the Church.

In Rome, for many centuries---at least from the seventh to the eleventh two Matins were sung, the first in the Basilica of St Mary Major. They commenced immediately after sunset. There was no Invitatory. As soon as they were ended, the Pope celebrated the first or midnight Mass. No sooner was it finished, than the people accompanied him to the Church of St Anastasia, and there he sang the second Mass, or, as it was called, of the Aurora. Again the Pontiff and people formed a procession---this time it was to St Peter's---and having entered the Basilica, the second Matins were begun. They had an Invitatory, and were followed by Lauds. The other Hours having been sung, the Pope said the third and last Mass, at the hour of Terce, which is our 9 o'clock. We are indebted for these details to Amalarius, and to the ancient Liturgist of the thirteenth century published under the name of Alcuin. We also find them clearly indicated by the text of the old Antiphonaries of the Roman Church, which were published by the Blessed Joseph Maria Tommasi, and by Gallicioli.

How lively was the faith of those olden times! To people who lived unceasingly amidst the Mysteries of Religion, Prayer was a tie which knit them closely together, and made them pass hours in the Church without weariness. They understood the value of the Prayers of the Church; and the Ceremonies of the Liturgy, which complete the tribute of man's inward worship of his Creator, were not looked upon as, unfortunately, they now so often are, as a dumb show, or at best an unmeaning poetry introduced for effect. What, in our days, are found only in individuals, were then in the mass of the people---faith, and a keen sense of the supernatural.

Thanks be to God! this strong practical faith is not dead among us, and is each year spreading in the land. How often have not we ourselves been charmed at seeing the traditions of the old Catholic customs still kept up in some families, especially in those favoured parts of the country where heresy has not been able to corrupt the simplicity of the people. We have seen, and it is one of the most pleasing recollections of our childhood, one of these families seated together, after the frugal evening collation, round a blazing fireside, waiting for the hour to come when the whole house was to go to the midnight Mass. A plain but savoury supper, which was to be eaten on their return and so add to the joy of holy Christmas Night, was prepared beforehand. A huge piece of wood, called the Yule-Log, was burning cheerfully on the hearth; it would last till the Mass was over, and warm the old men and the little children, as they came in chilled by the sharp frost.

Meanwhile, till it was time for Mass, their conversation was upon the Mystery of this much-loved Night. They compassionated the Blessed Mother and the sweet Babe, exposed to the inclemency of wintry weather, and with no other shelter than that of a wretched stable. Then, too, there were the Christmas Carols, in the practise of which they had spent many a pleasant evening of Advent. The whole soul was evidently in these dear old melodies, and many a tear would fall as the song went on to tell how the Angel Gabriel visited Mary, and declared to her that she was to be Mother of the Most High God; how Mary and Joseph were worn with fatigue, going from street to street in Bethlehem, trying to find a lodging, and no one would take them in; how they were obliged to shelter in a stable, and how the Divine Child was born in it; how the loveliness of the Babe in his little crib was above all the beauty of the Angels; how the Shepherds went to see him, and took their humble gifts, and played their rude music, and adored him in the faith of their simple hearts. And thus they spent the happy Eve, passing from conversation to song, and from one song to another, and all was on Mary or Jesus, Joseph or Bethlehem. Cares of life were forgotten, troubles were gone, melancholy was a sin; but it was time to leave; the village clock had just gone eleven; and of the happy group, there was a little one who had been too young the other years, and this was his first Midnight Mass. There was no brighter face in the procession than his. Would he ever forget that beautiful Night!

In many of our readers, these reminiscences will excite a feeling of regret that the miseries of the world around us make such Catholic customs as these unrealities: at all events, they will show how the holiest feelings of religion may blend with the best joys of family and home. The lesson is worth learning, though the examples that teach it are too Catholic for these rough times. Let us, therefore, leave them and turn again to objects, which are realities, made holy by to-night's Mystery, they will assist us to enter still further into the spirit of the Church.

There are three places on this earth of ours which we should visit to-night. For two of them, it can only be in spirit. The first is Bethlehem, and the Cave of the Nativity, which is Bethlehem's glory. Let us approach it with respectful awe, and contemplate the humble dwelling which the Son of the Eternal God chose for his first home. It is a Stable in the hollow of a rock, just outside the city walls. It is about forty feet long by twelve in width. The ox and the ass, as spoken by the Prophet, are there, standing near the Manger, mute witnesses of the Divine Mystery to which man refused to lend his own dwelling.

Joseph and Mary enter into the Stable-Cave. It is night, and all nature is buried in silence; but these two Hearts are sending up their praise and adoration to God, who thus deigns to atone for man's pride. The Virgin-Mother prepares the Clothes which are to swathe the limbs of the Divine Infant, and longs, though with a most tranquil patience, for the blissful moment when she shall have the first sight of the Blessed Fruit of her womb, kiss him, caress him and feed him---the Eternal God---at her Breast.

Our Jesus, on his part, now that he is about to leave the sanctuary of his Mother's womb, and make his visible entrance into this world of sin, adores his Heavenly Father, and, according to the revelation of the Psalmist, which is commented by St Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, thus speaks: Sacrifice and oblation thou willedst not; but a Body thou hast fitted unto me. Holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I, behold I come.

In the head of the Book it is written of me that I should do thy will, O God! {Heb. x 5, 6, 7.}

All this was happening in the Stable at Bethlehem, about this very hour of the Night. The Angels of God were singing their anthems of praise to this his incomprehensible mercy towards his rebel creatures. They looked down with admiration upon the Mother of their God, the Mystical Rose, whose hidden beauty was soon to bloom and fill the world with its fragrance.

O happy cave of Bethlehem! scene of these stupendous Mysteries! who is there that can forget it to-night? Who is there that does not love it above the richest palaces of Kings? From the very commencement of Christianity it was the object of men's deepest veneration. When, later on, God sent the great St Helen to resuscitate in his Church the knowledge and love of the Holy Places of Palestine, one of the works of the holy Empress was to build a magnificent Basilica over the spot, where stands this trophy of God's love for his creatures.

Let us go in spirit to this venerable Basilica; we shall find there groups of infidels and schismatics, but we shall also find the Religious who have the care of it, preparing to sing the same Matins, and in the same Latin tongue, which we are to have. These Religious are the Children of St Francis, heroic followers of the poverty of their Divine Master, the Infant of Bethlehem. Because they are poor and humble therefore they have had, for upwards of four hundred years, the honour of being the sole guardians of these Holy Places, which the Crusaders grew tired of defending. Let us pray in union with them to-night; and go with them, and kiss that sacred spot of the Cave, where is written in letters of gold: HERE WAS JESUS CHRIST BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. (HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.)

In vain, however, should we seek at Bethlehem for the holy Crib in which the Infant Jesus lay. The curse of God has struck that unhappy country, and deprived it of this precious relic, which now, for upwards of twelve hundred years, has been venerated in the centre of Catholicity, Rome, the favoured Spouse of Christ.

Rome, then, is the second place we must visit on this blessed Night. And in the Holy City itself there is one special Sanctuary which claims all our veneration and love. It is the Basilica of the Crib, the splendid Church of Saint Mary Major. Of all the Churches which the people of Rome have erected in honour of the Mother of God, this is the grandest. It stands on the Esquiline, rich in its marble and gold, but richer still in its possessing, together with the Portrait of our Lady painted by St Luke, the humble yet glorious Crib of Jesus, of which the inscrutable designs of God have deprived Bethlehem. An immense concourse of people is to-night assembled in the Basilica, awaiting the happy moment when this monument of the love and the humiliation of a God will be brought in, carried on the shoulders of the Priests, as an Ark of the New Covenant, whose welcome sight gives the sinner confidence, and makes the just man thrill with joy. Thus has God willed that Rome, which was to be the new Jerusalem, should be also the new Bethlehem; and that the children of the Church should find, in this the unchangeable centre of their Faith, the varied and exhaustless nourishment of their Love.

But the Basilica of the Crib is not the only sanctuary in Rome which has an attraction for us to-night. An imposing ceremony, which embodies a profound mystery, is taking place, at this very hour, in the palace of the Vatican, near the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles.

The Divine Infant, who is to be born amongst us, is the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, whose government is upon his shoulders, {Isa. ix 6.} as we shall sing to-morrow, with the Church. We have already seen how the God of Hosts has honoured this power of Emmanuel, by leading powerful Nations to acknowledge him who lay in the Crib of Bethlehem as the Lord to whom they owed their adoring fealty. The same recognition of that Babe as the Mighty God is made by the ceremony to which we allude. The Sovereign Pontiff, the Vicar of our Emmanuel, blesses, in his name, a Sword and Helmet, which are to be sent to some Catholic warrior who has deserved well of the Christian world. In a letter addressed to Queen Mary of England and to Philip, her husband, Cardinal Pole gives an explanation of this solemn rite. The sword is sent to some Prince, whom the Vicar of Christ wishes to honour in the name of Jesus, who is King: for the Angel said to Mary: The Lord will give unto him the Throne of David his father, {St Luke i 32.} It is from him alone that the power of the sword comes; {Rom. xiii 3, 4.} for God said to Cyrus: I have girded thee with the sword {Isa. xlv l, 5.}); and the Psalmist thus speaks to the Christ of God: Gird thy Sword upon thy thigh, O thou most Mighty!{Ps. xliv 4.} And because the Sword should not be drawn save in the cause of justice, it is for that reason that a Sword is blessed on this Night, in the midst of which rises, born unto us, the divine Sun of Justice. On the Helmet, which is both the ornament and protection of the head, there is worked, in pearls, the Dove, which is the emblem of the Holy Ghost; and this to teach him who wears it that it is not from passion or ambition that he must use his sword, but solely under the guidance of the divine Spirit, and from a motive of spreading the Kingdom of Christ.

How beautiful is this union of energy and meekness under the one symbol and ceremony! This power of blending and harmonizing the varied beauty of distinct classes of truth is not to be found save in that Christian Rome, which is our Mother and where God has established the centre of Light and Love. The ceremony we have been describing is still observed. What a grand list it would be, had we the names of all those glorious Christian Warriors, who were thus created Knights of the Church, at this solemn hour, when we celebrate the Birth of him who came to vanquish our enemy! We are going to adore this Babe in his Crib; let us think of our Mother's teaching, and pay homage to him as our Prince and King, and beseech him to humble the enemies of his Church, and vanquish those who are leagued against both our perfection and our salvation.

And now to the third of the sanctuaries, wherein is to be effected, this Night, the mystery of the Birth of Jesus. This third Sanctuary is near us; it is in us; it is our own heart. Our heart is the Bethlehem that Jesus desires to visit, and in which he would be born, there to live and grow unto a perfect man, as St Paul expresses it. {Eph, iv 13.} Why, after all, was he born in the stable of the city of David, but that he might make sure of our heart, which he loved with an everlasting love, and so ardently that he came down from heaven to dwell in it? Mary's virginal womb held him but for nine months; he wishes us to keep him for ever in our dwelling!

O heart of man, thou living Bethlehem, hold thyself in readiness, and keep a glad feast! Already, thou hast prepared thyself for this union with thy Jesus by the confession of thy misdeeds, by the contrition of thy sins, and by the satisfaction thou hast made for them. Now, therefore, be all attention: he is coming in the Midnight. Let him find everything ready, ready as were the Stable, the Crib and the Swaddling-clothes. True, thou hast nothing to offer him like what Mary and Joseph had---she, a Mother's caresses; and he, the most solicitous and tender care; but thou hast an adoration and a love like those of the poor Shepherds, and these thou must offer. Like the Bethlehem yonder in the far east, thou art living in the midst of heresy, of infidelity, and of men who ignore the divine mystery of divine love: secret then, but hearty, must be thy prayers, like those which are ascending this night to heaven from the few faithful ones who are assembled in the Holy Cave with the Sons of St Francis; for in that unfortunate Palestine, which has been a slave to the most degrading errors for this last thousand years, there are still a few who know and love God. On this glad Midnight, let thy soul become like that splendid Basilica of Rome, which possesses the two treasures, the Holy Crib and the venerable Portrait of the Virgin Mother. Let thy affections and thoughts be pure as the white marble of its pillars; thy charity bright as the gold which glitters on its ceiling; thy deeds shining as the countless tapers which light up its beauty, and turn this night into the glare of a summer noon. Thou must learn, too, O soldier of Christ! to use a Christian's weapons; thou must fight thy way to the Crib of thy Jesus; thou must fight for thy position there, and maintain it by the unbroken loyalty of thy love; thou must fight for the happy consummation of thy victory: union eternal with him. Treasure up these holy sentiments, and let them console and sanctify thee during these moments which precede the coming of Emmanuel into thee. O living Bethlehem! there is a word which heaven gave thee for these moments; take it up, and let it be thy ceaseless prayer;Come, Lord Jesus! come. {Apoc. xxii 20.}

It is time for us to depart, and go into the House of God. The Bells are not being rung for us, it is true---still, their melody wakens up Bethlehem in our hearts. How strange this joyous pealing at this midnight hour! But is not everything strange in this mysterious night of the Birth of God? He is going to show himself to us---but it is to be in a Crib, and as a little Child. When he came on Sinai, it was surrounded with thick clouds of smoke, and amidst thunder and lightning: now, there is nothing but humility, stillness and loveliness beyond measure, The Moon, emblem of the brightness reflected from Jesus upon Mary, is shedding its soft light on our path. The stars are twinkling in the firmament, and make us think of the Star which is so soon to rise and guide the Magi to our Saviour's Crib.

And whilst thus thinking over all these strange mysteries, we have reached the porch of the Church. The Sanctuary sends its light down even to the threshold of the holy place. Beautiful sight, indeed! What wonder that King Clovis, as he entered the Church of Rheims on his first Christmas Night, stood dazzled with the blaze of light, and trembling with emotion said to St Remigius, who had just baptized him: `Father! is this the Kingdom thou didst promise me?' `No, my Son,' replied the Bishop, `it is but the way that will lead thee to it..' (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B.,The Liturgical Year.)

Yes, the Catholic Church is the only way that will to the Kingdom of Heaven, where alone where will find true happiness for all eternity.

Mindful of the distractions posed by the world, the flesh, and the devil, Pope Leo XIII wrote the following on Christmas Day 1888 on Exeunte Iam Anno:

6. If We look into the kind of life men lead everywhere, it would be impossible to avoid the conclusion that public and private morals differ much from the precepts of the Gospel. Too sadly, alas, do the words of the Apostle St. John apply to our age, “all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life.”[1] For in truth, most men, with little care whence they come or whither they go, place all their thoughts and care upon the weak and fleeting goods of this life; contrary to nature and right reason they willingly give themselves up to those ways of which their reason tells them they should be the masters. It is a short step from the desire of luxury to the striving after the means to obtain it. Hence arises an unbridled greed for money, which blinds those whom it has led captive, and in the fulfillment of its passion hurries them madly along, often without regard for justice or injustice, and not seldom accompanied by a disgraceful contempt for the poverty of their neighbor. Thus many who live in the lap of luxury call themselves brethren of the multitude whom in their heart of hearts they despise; and in the same way with minds puffed up by pride, they take no thought to obey any law, or fear any power. They call selflove liberty, and think themselves “born free like a wild ass’s colt.[2] Snares and temptation to sin abound; We know that impious or immoral dramas are exhibited on the stage; that books and journals are written to jeer at virtue and ennoble crime; that the very arts, which were intended to give pleasure and proper recreation, have been made to minister to impurity. Nor can We look to the future without fear, for new seeds of evil are sown, and as it were poured into the heart of the rising generation. As for the public schools, there is no ecclesiastical authority left in them, and in the years when it is most fitting for tender minds to be trained carefully in Christian virtue, the precepts of religion are for the most part unheard. Men more advanced in age encounter a yet graver peril from evil teaching, which is of such a kind as to blind the young by misleading words, instead of filling them with the knowledge of the truth. Many now-adays seek to learn by the aid of reason alone, laying divine faith entirely aside; and, through the removal of its bright light, they stumble and fail to discern the truth, teaching for instance, that matter alone exists in the world; that men and beasts have the same origin and a like nature; there are some, indeed, who go so far as to doubt the existence of God, the Ruler and Maker of the World, or who err most grievously, like the heathens, as to the nature of God. Hence the very nature and form of virtue, justice, and duty are of necessity destroyed. Thus it is that while they hold up to admiration the high authority of reason, and unduly elevate the subtlety of the human intellect, they fall into the just punishment of pride through ignorance of what is of more importance.

7. When the mind has thus been poisoned, at the same time the moral character becomes deeply and essentially corrupted; and such a state can only be cured with the utmost difficulty in this class of men, because on the one hand wrong opinions vitiate their judgment of what is right, and on the other the light of Christian faith, which is the principle and basis of all justice, is extinguished. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888.)

This was written one hundred thirty-five years ago but it is a perfect description of the world today on Christmas Day, 2023.

His Holiness, though, gave us the antidote for the misery caused by human pride’s choosing salvation in all the wrong places: Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His true Faith:

There is, nevertheless, some consolation for Us even in looking on these evils, and We may lift up Our heart in hope. For God “created all things that they might be: and He made the nations of the earth for health.”[3] But as all this world cannot be upheld but by His providence and divinity, so also men can only be healed by His power, of Whose goodness they were called from death to life. For Jesus Christ redeemed the human race once by the shedding of His blood, but the power of so great a work and gift is for all ages; “neither is there salvation in any other.”[4] Hence they who strive by the enforcement of law to extinguish the growing flame of lawless desire, strive indeed for justice; but let them know that they will labor with no result, or next to none, as long as they obstinately reject the power of the gospel and refuse the assistance of the Church. Thus will the evil alone be cured, by changing their ways, and returning back in their public and private life to Jesus Christ and Christianity. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888.)

“Neither is there salvation in any other.”

There is no salvation in Marxism-Leninism, Socialism, Conservativism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Anarcho-Libertarianism, Nihilism, Naturalism, Secularism, Utilitarianism, Positivism, Relativism, Immanentism, Globalism, Statism, Evolutionism, Environmentalism, Feminism, Racialism, Hegelianism, Protestantism, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, Mohammedanism, Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Bahai-ism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Animism, Theosophy, Americanism, Populism, Nationalism, Trumpism, Rationalism, Deism, Nazism, Fascism, Capitalism, Mormonism, Paganism, Pantheism, Heathenism, Hedonism, Freudianism, or any other kind of “ism” except Catholicism.

Quoting Saint Ambrose, Pope Leo XIII explained that nothing is the equal of Holy Mother Church:

We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle Paul, “For all things are yours; and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”[21] By the hidden dispensation of divine providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church; which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of danger in dull security and insensibility. “Nothing is equal to the Church;” (says St. John Chrysostom,) “how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church’s greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered.” Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And, if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do. 15. This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity and order-that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbor, with temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888.)

Yes, far from Our Lord and His Holy Church, they who seek truth and salvation in other places will seek it to no purpose, which describe the canonization of the Palestinian cause at present or any nationalistic cause now or in the past.

It was in the midst of the terrible events of World War II that Pope Leo XIII wrote the following about the joy and the hope of Christmas that transcends all the events of the world:

As the Holy Christmas Season comes round each year, the message of Jesus, Who is light in the midst of darkness, echoes once more from the Crib of Bethlehem in the ears of Christians and re-echoes in their hearts with an ever new freshness of joy and piety. It is a message which lights up with heavenly truth a world that is plunged in darkness by fatal errors. It infuses exuberant and trustful joy into mankind, torn by the anxiety of deep, bitter sorrow. It proclaims liberty to the sons of Adam, shackled with the chains of sin and guilt. It promises mercy, love, peace to the countless hosts of those in suffering and tribulation who see their happiness Shattered and their efforts broken in the tempestuous strife and hate of our stormy days.

The church bells, which announce this message in every continent, not only recall the gift which God made to mankind at the dawn of the Christian Era; they also announce and proclaim a consoling reality of the present, a reality which is eternally young, living and lifegiving; it is the reality of the “True Light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this World,” and which knows no setting. The Eternal Word, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, began His mission of saving and redeeming the human race by being born in the squalor of a stable and by thus ennobling and hallowing poverty.

He thus proclaimed and consecrated a message which is still, today, the Word of Eternal Life. That message can solve the most tortuous questions, unsolved and insoluble for those who bring to their investigations a mentality and an apparatus which are ephemeral and merely human; and those questions stand up, bleeding, imperiously demanding an answer, before the thought and the feeling of embittered and exasperated mankind.

The watchword “I have compassion on the multitude” is for Us a sacred trust which may not be abused; it remains strong, and impelling in all times and in all human situations, as it was the distinguishing mark of Jesus.

The Church would be untrue to herself, ceasing to be a mother, if she turned a deaf ear to her children’s anguished cries, which reach her from every class of the human family. She does not intend to take sides for any of the particular forms in which the several peoples and States strive to solve the gigantic problems of domestic order or international collaboration, as long as these forms conform to the law of God. But on the other hand, as the “Pillar and Ground of Truth” and guardian, by the will of God and the mandate of Christ, of the natural and supernatural order, the Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim to her sons and to the whole world the unchanging basic laws, saving them from every perversion, frustration, corruption, false interpretation and error. . . .

And where could you with greater assurance and trust and with more efficacious faith place this vow for the renewal of society than at the foot of the “Desired of all Nations” Who lies before us in the crib with all the charm of His sweet humanity as a Babe, but also in the dynamic attraction of His incipient mission as Redeemer? Where could this noble and holy crusade for the cleaning and renewal of society have a more significant consecration or find a more potent inspiration than at Bethlehem, where the new Adam appears in the adorable mystery of the Incarnation? For it is at His fountains of truth and grace that mankind should find the water of life if it is not to perish in the desert of this life; “Of His fullness we all have received.” His fullness of grace and truth grows as freely today as it has for twenty centuries on the world.

His light can overcome the darkness, the rays of His love can conquer the icy egoism which holds so many back from becoming great and conspicuous in their higher life. To you, crusader-volunteers of a distinguished new society, live up to the new call for moral and Christian rebirth, declare war on the darkness which comes from deserting God, of the coolness that comes from strife between brothers. It is a fight for the human race, which is gravely ill and must be healed in the name of conscience ennobled by Christianity.

May Our blessing and Our paternal good wishes and encouragement go with your generous enterprise, and may they remain with all those who do not shirk hard sacrifices — those weapons which are more potent than any steel to combat the evil from which society suffers. Over your crusade for a social, human and Christian ideal may there shine out as a consolation and an inspiration the star that stands over the Grotto of Bethlehem, the first and the perennial star of the Christian Era. From the sign of it every faithful heart drew, draws and ever will draw strength; “If armies in camp should stand against me, my heart shall not fear.” Where that star shines, there is Christ. “With Him for leader we shall not wander; through Him let us go to Him, that with the Child that is born today we may rejoice. (Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message, December 25. 1942.)

We rejoice on Christmas Day no matter our own personal circumstances and no matter the events transpiring in the world. As Pope Pius XII above:

His light can overcome the darkness, the rays of His love can conquer the icy egoism which holds so many back from becoming great and conspicuous in their higher life. (Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message, December 25. 1942.)

We must always rise above the events of the world, and we must always celebrate Christmas, the Octave of Christmas, and the entirety of the Christmas Season, which ends on the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday, February 2, 2025, and, indeed, throughout the course of our entire lives.

Christian joy must the keynote of our lives at all times, especially in times of pain, suffering, and tragedy.

Let us depart, and go into the House of God. Let us take our place with Our Lady and Saint Joseph and the angels and the shepherds.

May the graces of this Christmas Day help us to see ourselves and all others and the world in which we live clearly through the eyes of the true Faith, forgiving all offenses, whether real or imagined, understated or exaggerated, as we are forgiven by the One Who extended His arms on the wood of the Cross to have us nail them to It so that we could be with Him in the presence of His Most Blessed Mother and His foster-father--and all of the angels and saints--beholding the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in acts of adoration and thanksgiving for all eternity.

Venite Adoremus!

Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint Anastasia, pray for us.