THE MYSTERY OF THE NATIVITY
The devout person profits most appropriately from the humble birth of Jesus Christ in order that the life of Jesus may grow in his/her own life through consideration of the virtues which Jesus actualizes in his.
"In the second place
I wish to be filled with the blessings
of your loving birth.
What marvels and wonderful lessons
I see in this first mystery
of your sacred infancy.
I see here the tender love
you had for poverty,
contempt,
and suffering
which you espoused
at the first moment of your birth
and which remained with you
to the last breath of your life.
I admire here
the perfect and complete poverty
in which you willed to be born.
I see here the beginning
of your submission
and subjection
to the wishes of others
in the obedience you gave
to the edicts of an emperor
who was nothing compared to you.
I adore here the wonder of your infancy,
when, in infinite wisdom,
you allowed yourself
to be guided
with the same docility
as if you were an ordinary child.
O wondrous childhood
that teaches us the true way of virtue
which lies wholly in submission to superiors,
and in the obedience of a child
who allows himself
to be led
without looking for reasons.
Oh, if only I could imitate
particularly your holy childhood,
If, in imitation of your life
as a child,
I might never in any way reason
concerning the direction
and the orders of superiors.
In imitation of your life,
as a child,
may I never seek
my own glory
in anything,
may I never make a single choice
concerning my present
or future employment
but await peacefully
and
accept without resistance
all the dispositions
of your divine
Give me this grace, good Jesus.
engrave it in my life
and make me a participant
in the other virtues
which shine out so brilliantly
in the mystery
of your holy birth."
(Writings of Jean-Pierre Médaille, pp. 115-116)