Dear Friends and Family of our Monastery,

Praised be Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary! May these final days of preparation for the joyful and sublime Mystery of the Nativity be a time of much peace, good health and many blessings. As our monks prepare their minds and hearts to receive our Newborn King on Christmas night, we carry you and your loved ones in our hearts and entrust you to the Infant Savior.

This Christmas I want to share with you a quote from one of the poems of our Holy Father St. John of the Cross. Despite its length, it is well worth your consideration for the depth of spirituality and profound insight into the Birth and Infancy of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. John of the Cross says this,

“When the time had come

For Him to be born

He went forth like the bridegroom

From his bridal chamber,

Embracing His bride

Holding her in His arms,

Whom the gracious Mother

Laid in a manger

Among some animals

That were there at that time.

Men sang songs

And angels melodies

Celebrating the marriage

Of Two such as these.

But God there in the manger

Cried and moaned;

And these tears were jewels

The bride brought to the wedding.

The Mother gazed in sheer wonder

On such an exchange:

In God, man’s weeping,

And in man, gladness,

To the one and the other

Things usually so strange.”

St. John of the Cross and all of the glorious saints in heaven recognized that love is the secret treasure and true meaning of Christmas. It is written, “Deus caritas est” which means “God is love”. My beloved sons and daughters, do we too recognize this mystery of love as we kneel before the crib and see the Baby Jesus? Alas, too frequently Christmas becomes commonplace. Some might say, “Yes, another Christmas is here, just the same as last year.” No, this cannot be so for us. Rather, we must “repay love with love alone.” We cannot allow our hearts to become cold. If there is no warmth in our hearts, no burning embers of divine love, than how shall the Christ Child keep warm and be surrounded in light on Christmas night? Our hearts are to be the warmth and light for our Messiah borne so hidden and so poor in lowly manger.

As monks we have the great advantage to spend our days in love. The religious life can be defined simply as a “love affair of the heart.” By our little acts, whether cooking the meal, answering the telephone or mopping the floor, we are called to engage our minds and hearts in charity. As the catechism teaches us, “Why did God create us? God created us to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him for eternity.” The monk is called to preach this most basic and yet most sublime truth by the witness of His life. We are called to love, to be “love in the heart of the Church” as little Therese reminds us.

You too are called though to “love the Lord with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole strength and your whole self”. Notice the totality of this teaching in the repetition of the word “whole”. We must hold nothing back for ourselves or for creatures, but rather give everything to Jesus that we may be “happy with Him for eternity.” There can be no comprise and so you too ought to go about your daily life with love for the Lord.

If we find our hearts grown cold, let us recall the Nativity scene. Behold our God, the King of Heaven and earth, our Creator and Lord who lies as a small, little child in the manger. Those “tears and moans” of the Infant Jesus ought to move our heart to greater love for “these tears were jewels”. On the face of the Baby Jesus we behold “man’s weeping”, precious little tears like those of any infant. But were we to stop there we would miss the point altogether and lose out on the message of Christmas.

Why does the Child Jesus cry? Is it the cold of Bethlehem’s stable? Is it the poverty of the swaddling clothes? Or perhaps it is fear of the ox and ass, the only witnesses beside our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph of the Birth of our Lord? No, rather I would propose to you that the Child Jesus, our Lover comes to us as Zealous for Souls and it is for love of souls that He cries in lowly manger. Was not our Blessed Lord throughout the whole of His earthly life ever athirst for souls, ever longing that the hearts of men might be drawn to the love and service of the Eternal Father! On Calvary’s heights our Lord would expire after speaking these sobering words, “I thirst.” The Baby Jesus and the Crucified Christ long for one and the same thing: our God longs to be loved by all hearts.

My prayer for each of you this Christmas is that you may enter more deeply than ever before into the profound Mystery of the Nativity, that you may encounter the consuming, transforming love of Christ in the Baby Jesus who extends His Sacred Heart to each of you. As our monks love you with a tender, paternal love, surely the Lord loves you infinitely more. We entrust you to His loving care and wish each of you in particular and with all of our joy, “A blessed and merry Christmas.” God love you.

In the Baby Jesus and Mary His Virgin Mother,

Fr. Daniel Mary of Jesus Crucified, M. Carm.

Prior