So our eyes can feast of your Nativity scene; Great...now read for the soul.
"Mary Christ Mass " to all Catholics, as Father Fred Nelson of Powers Lake used to say!
https://site-catholique.fr/?Sermon-de-Noel-de-Mgr-Marcel-Lefebvre-le-25-decembre-1977Unofficial. iPhone Translation.
Here is the Christmas Sermon "O God who wanted to take a soul and a body like ours to announce to us this Good News" delivered in Écône on December 25, 1977 at the "Holy Day Mass of the Nativity of the Lord" (Ad Tertiam Missam in Die Nativitatis Domini) by Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre (1905 - 1991) who was the Catholic Archbishop of Dakar and Apostolic delegate for French Africa, Archbishop-Bishop of Tulle in 1962 then Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and who founded in 1970 the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius-X (FSSPX) and the International Seminary of Econe.
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My dear friends, my dear brothers,
The Holy Gospels, in the narration they give us of all the events that surrounded the coming of Jesus here below, the Incarnation of our Savior, manifest to us the extraordinary action that the Holy Angels had in the announcement of the Good News.
Our Lord had not yet come. Our Lord having not yet appeared in public to accomplish this evangelization, it seems that God initially wanted the Angels to be in charge of it.
Note that already for the Precursor, for Saint John the Baptist, it is the Angel Gabriel who comes to visit Zachary and who announces to him that he will have a son who will be the Precursor of the Savior. But Zachary doubted the Angel's word and yet the Angel explicitly told him: "I am Gabriel, the Angel who comes to announce these things to you and because you have hesitated to believe, you will be dumb until the birth of the son that God sends you".
And then, it is again the Angel who comes to visit the Blessed Virgin Mary, who also comes to announce to Her the extraordinary news that She would be the Mother of Jesus, that She would be the Mother of the Savior. One might also think that, the Most Holy Virgin had a certain hesitation, to accept the Angel's word.
But no, if She makes an objection, it is simply because She wants to keep her Virginity and She does not understand how, preserving her Virginity, She could be a mother.
And the Angel explains to Her that the Holy Spirit will cover Her with his shadow and that He who is born of Her will be the Son of the Most High. So, She pronounced her Fiat.
And then, it is still the Angels who will dispel the doubts of Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph, in fact, did not know the Mystery and the notable Grace of which his wife the Virgin Mary was the object; he is worried. He wonders how the Blessed Virgin can be pregnant and he intends to leave Her. And behold, an Angel, in a dream, appears to him and tells him that this Child that the Virgin Mary carries is born of the Holy Spirit, that he should not hesitate to take Mary as his wife.
Saint Joseph immediately obeys the orders of the Angel and joins Mary.
It is still the Angels who will instruct the shepherds about the Good News. The shepherds are frightened by this light that surrounds them, by this announcement that this Angel makes to them. But the Angel said to them: "Do not be afraid, I announce good news to you: The Savior promised by the prophets is born to you. He is in the Holy City, the city of Bethlehem, the city of David. You will recognize Him, this Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and surrounded by the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph".
And the shepherds do not hesitate to go find the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and to recognize the truth of the Angel's word.
And while they areon their way to Bethlehem, it is no longer just one Angel, but it is a whole important group of Angels who sing in Heaven the Glory of God: "Peace to men of good will".
And that's not all. It is again the Angels who will indicate and inspire the old Simeon, who will also recognize Jesus.
However, what is the result of this contact that the Angels have with the people who have this distinguished Grace to learn the news of the Incarnation of the Savior, or to see Jesus with their own eyes?
Well! The result will be that those persons will sing the praises of God.
Zachary will sing this magnificent hymn Benedictus. The Virgin Mary will sing her Magnificat. The shepherds will also sing the Glory of God.
This is what the Holy Scripture says, after they had recognized what the Angels had said, they returned home singing the praises of God.
Old Simeon will sing his Nunc dimittis. Therefore, the news that God announces to us through the Angels makes us SING the praises of God; makes us worship God - of adoration, of gratitude, of thanksgiving. Our souls must rise to God and sing these canticles, sing our joy, sing our thanks, our gratefulness, our gratitude to God who came to save us, to deliver us from our sins.
For this is what is announced, to each of those who have had this great Grace to have one of the first announcements of the Coming of the Savior. It is the Savior Who is sent to us. The One who will redeem us from our sins.
Only Saint Joseph, in his humility, probably wanted to leave all the space for the very Holy Virgin Mary. He probably did not feel worthy of the extraordinary treasure that God put in his hands: the Virgin and the Child.
And why, why didn't God continue this ministry of the announcement of the Good News by the Angels? Since He did it at that time? Why wouldn't He have done it until the end of time? It would probably have been, perhaps more effective. We don't know. But no, God did not want it. Why? Because someone who was superior to the Angels had to come: Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
He is the King of Angels. Therefore God wanted the Angels to prepare the way, prepare the announcement of the One who is their King; to the One who is much more than them; who is their Creator. It is not only an Angel who came to tell us the Good News, it is God Himself! God Himself who wanted to take a soul and a body like ours, to announce this Good News to us.
But then, it would have been necessary for Our Lord to remain among us until the end of time. Well, it's not yet in God's plan. God's purpose is that there are men, men who are intimately associated with the Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring the Good News to their brothers. This was the intention of God; this was what the Divine Plan was.
To associate in such an intimate way, people who would be chosen to be other Priests, to be other Christs and who would spread the News of the Coming of the Savior.
And what will then be the object of their preaching? How will Our Lord conceive this transformation of souls? How will souls also sing songs to the Glory of God, to thank God for the benefits given to them?
Well, Our Lord, in his Omnipotence and in his infinite Goodness, in his Mercy, wanted that there should be a sacrifice, that his Sacrifice continue until the end of time, by the Consecration of Priests and that these Priests themselves would be charged, not only to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the Good News, but to give the Holy Spirit, no longer in the way that the Angels could give Him by their words, for it seems that at the word of the Angels, the Holy Spirit has come down on the people chosen by God to be the object of his particular Graces.
Indeed, the Most Holy Virgin was, at the word of the Angel, filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth herself, simply by the visit of the Blessed Virgin, was also filled with the Holy Spirit. Zachary, the old Simeon, Saint Joseph certainly, at the announcement of the Angel, were also filled with the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord did not want it to be like this for us. Our Lord wanted, that at the announcement of the Gospel that is made to us, that we might convert, but He wanted to institute Sacraments. He wanted to institute signs that would consecrate us to God; that would instill the Holy Spirit in us.
We receive the Holy Spirit by Baptism, by Confirmation. By all the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit is truly poured in our souls. And then, the effect of the Sacraments in us should be that we are in thanksgiving; that we are dedicated to the worship of God. We are consecrated, consecrated to the worship of God.
And that is why, Saint Thomas very rightly says that Baptism prepares us for the Eucharist; prepares us for the Holy Sacrifice which is the heart of all the Sacraments; which is the center, like the sun that shines on all the Sacraments.
By the fact that we are Consecrated to God, by the fact that we are Baptized, the Priest has poured on us the Holy Water of Baptism, that He has anointed our bodies with the Holy Chrism and the oil of the Catechumens, we are Consecrated to the worship of God.
We must think about this, resurrect in ourselves the Grace of our Baptism which is given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ and think that, truly, we are chosen by God to honor Him, to worship Him, to thank Him, to unite us with Him in a very special way by His Holy Spirit, by all the Sacraments.
Our Lord wanted the whole Society to be Christian and to be consecrated to God and to sing the praises of God.
And that's why there is a Special Sacrament for Marriage. The spouses must sing the Glory of God. They are also consecrated by the Sacrament of Marriage, to Sanctify the society that is the family.
And even more. Our Lord wanted the whole of Society to be consecrated, consecrated to the praise of God, to the glory of God, to those songs that should never end and continue into eternity, by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. By the Holy Eucharist which cannot separate itself from the Cross of Our Lord. It is the Sacrament of Society, the Sacrament that unites, not only a family, but all families, all Society, princes, magistrates, all those who have a function in Society are also called to come and attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They must sing too “they are consecrated by God “ to sing the praises of God. And the whole crowd of the faithful united to the Priest, around the Altar, must sing the praises of God. It is the whole of Society that must be consecrated to God. This is what Our Lord Jesus Christ wanted. This is what is in God's plan.
But we will be careful not to forget that the old Simeon said to the Blessed Virgin: "Your heart will be pierced with a sword" and "your Son will be a sign of contradiction". And this sign of contradiction, who is Our Lord, who is Jesus, will reveal, said the old Simeon, the intimate thoughts of men. And yes, Our Lord Jesus Christ presents Himself to us, today and every day of the year. He is at the door of our heart. He strikes and asks us to love Him; He asks us to follow Him; He asks us to obey His Commandments.
What will be the response of men? There are some who will refuse and there are some who will accept. And now the intimate thoughts of men are revealed at the call of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, on this Christmas Day, we must ask that the Graces that Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to bring us, be spread more and more throughout the world. However, unfortunately, we are obliged to note that in our sad time, voices are silent. The Gospel is falsified; even our Sacraments are denatured, our Mass Itself becomes a mass of which we no longer know exactly what it is, which no longer has a definition.
So, we can and we must be worried and we must be anxious about this deplorable situation, which results in general Apostasy.
We cannot abandon Our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot abandon what Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted: his Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, his Sacraments, his Gospel, his Teaching. We must stand firm in the Faith and in the Sacraments that Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to bring us. This will certainly be the assurance of the renewal of the Church.
Dear Christian parents, faithfully keep the Catechism that was taught to you in your youth. Teach it to your children. Teach your children what you have been taught yourself. Teach them what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is, the Cross of Jesus. Teach them what Baptism is, what their Confirmation is, what Holy Communion is and then you will truly transmit to them what Our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to give you, to yourselves - what you have dearest. Be faithful, faithful to the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
And you, my dear friends, despite the persecutions, despite the difficulties, despite the slander that can weigh on you, you will be faithful too. Faithful to the teaching of the Holy Angels, of those Angels who proclaimed the Savior, who proclaimed Our Lord Jesus Christ and who spread the Holy Spirit in souls. Faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ, faithful to the Holy Church, this is what you will be. And if you do this, be sure that one day the Good Lord will bless you; that the Good Lord will give you all the Graces you will need.
So let's go to the Crib today and ask the Most Holy Virgin Mary, ask Saint Joseph, to put in our hearts, in our souls, the feelings that made their hearts beat towards Our Lord, vis-à-vis Jesus whom they worshiped and loved.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Topic: Emmanuel- God with us! (Read 1832 times)