December 30
“O Father, in your Truth… you have humbled me. He was humbled in the womb of the Virgin, needy in the manger of the sheep, and homeless on the wood of the Cross. Nothing so humbles the proud sinner as the humility of Jesus Christ’s humanity.”
-St. Anthony of Padua
December 29
“Open wide your door to the one who comes. Open your soul, throw open the depths of your heart to see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the sweetness of grace. Open your heart and run to meet the Sun of eternal light that illuminates all men.”
-St. Ambrose of Milan
December 28
“A God who became so small could only be mercy and love.”
-St. Thérèse of Lisieux
December 27
“Although he was the Son of God, Jesus Christ wished for the sake of our redemption to become one of us. He shared our human condition, making himself part of the world of his time, speaking the language of his country, and drawing on local life for the examples with which to illustrate his teachings of justice, truth, hope, and love. Today, his teaching spreads throughout the world.”
–St. Paul VI
December 26
“Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day; even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word.”
—St. Paul of the Cross
December 25
“Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all.”
-St. Leo the Great
December 24
“No one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord. The great joy announced by the angels on Christmas night is truly for all people, both for the people of Israel then anxiously awaiting a Savior, and for the numberless people made up of all those who, in time to come, would receive its message and strive to live by it.”
–St. Paul VI
December 23
“We desire to be able to welcome Jesus at Christmas-time, not in a cold manger of our heart, but in a heart full of love and humility, a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.”
-St. Teresa of Calcutta
December 22
“Wake up, O human being! For it was for you that God was made man. Rise up and realize it was all for you. Eternal death would have awaited you had He not been born in time. Never would you be freed from your sinful flesh had He not taken to Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. Everlasting would be your misery had He not performed this act of mercy. You would not have come to life again had He not come to die your death. You would have perished had He not come.”
–St. Augustine
December 21
“We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.”
–St. Paul VI
