And the word was made flesh

God sent the Archangel Gabriel to ask Mary's consent that He should become her Son; Mary gives her consent, and behold the Word is made Man. O wonderful prodigy at which the heavens and all nature stand in astonishment! The Word made flesh! A God made Man! What if we were to see a king become a worm, to save the life of a little worm of earth by his death?

Behold the only-begotten Son of God, omnipotent and true God, equal to the Father, born a little Infant in a stable. He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men (Phil. ii. 7). If any one would see a God annihilated, let him enter into the Cave of Bethlehem, and he will find Him as a little Infant, bound in swaddling-clothes, so that He cannot move, and weeping and trembling with cold. Ah, holy Faith, tell me whose Son is this poor Child? Faith answers: He is the Son of God, and He is true God. And what has brought Him to so miserable a condition? It is the love He had for men. And yet there are men to be found who do not love this God!

O amiable Infant, though I see Thee in this cavern lying on straw poor and despised, yet Faith teaches me that Thou art my God, Who camest down from Heaven for my salvation. I acknowledge Thee, then, for my sovereign Lord and Saviour; but I have nothing alas to offer Thee. I have no gold of love, because I have loved creatures; I have loved my own caprices, and I have not loved Thee, O amiable Infinite One! I have not the incense of prayer, because I have lived in a miserable state of forgetfulness of Thee. I have no myrrh of mortification, for I have often displeased Thy infinite goodness in order not to be deprived of my miserable pleasures. What then shall I offer Thee? I offer Thee my heart, soiled and poor as it is; do Thou accept it and change it.

II. Behold the end for which the Son of God willed to be born an Infant, to give Himself to us from His Childhood, and thus to draw to Himself our love. Why, asks St. Francis de Sales, does Jesus take the sweet and tender form of an Infant, if it be not to stimulate us to love Him and to confide in Him? St. Peter Chrysologus had said before: "Thus He willed to be born, because He wished to be loved."

Oh, dear Child Jesus, my Saviour, I love Thee, in Thee do I trust. Thou art all my hope and all my love. What would have become of me if Thou hadst not come down from Heaven to save me? I know the hell which would have awaited me for the offences I have offered Thee. Blessed be Thy mercy, because Thou art ever ready to pardon me if I repent of my sins. Yes, I repent with all my heart, my Jesus, of having despised Thee. Receive me into Thy favour, and make me die to myself to live only to Thee, my only Good. Thou camest into the world for this purpose, to wash the hearts of men from their sins by Thy Blood and thus change them from sinners into saints. Give me the gold of Thy holy love; give me the spirit of holy prayer, give me the desire and strength to mortify myself in everything that displeases Thee. I am resolved to obey Thee and to love Thee; but Thou knowest my weakness, oh, give me the grace to be faithful to Thee! Most holy Virgin, thou who didst welcome with such affection and didst console the holy Magi, do thou welcome and console me also, who come to visit thy Son and to offer myself to Him. O my Mother, I have great confidence in thy intercession! Do thou recommend me to Jesus. To thee do I entrust my soul and my will; bind them forever to the love of Jesus!