Yesterday I displayed a few gems from a Christmas Vigil sermon by Bernard of Clairvaux. These are from a pair of his sermons for Christmas Day. I have taken a few liberties with the translation, which is a bit dated.
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Christ is born in a stable, and lies in a manger. Yet is He not the same that said, The earth is mine, and the fullness thereof? Why, then, need He choose a stable? Plainly that He might repove the glory of the world, that He might condemn its empty pride.
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I have already said that He preaches to you even in His infancy: “Do penance, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Stable preaches this penance to us; the Manger proclaims it to us. This is the language which His infant members speak; this is the Gospel He announces by His cries and tears.
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And lest thou should say even now, I heard thy voice, and I hid myself, behold, He comes as an Infant, and without speech, for the voice of the wailing infant arouses compassion, not terror. If He is terrible to any, yet not to thee.