THOUGHTS FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON FROM ST. LEO THE GREAT[1]
LET US be glad in the Lord, dearly beloved, and make merry with
spiritual joy. For there has dawned for us the day of new
redemption, of ancient preparation, and of eternal bliss. In this
annual feast there is renewed for us the sacrament of our
salvation, which was promised from the beginning, was accomplished
in the fulness of time, and will endure for all eternity. (Homily
2,1.)
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You therefore, whoever you may be, who devoutly and full of faith
boast of the Christian name, rightly weigh the grace of your
reconciliation. By the Incarnation of the Word power was given you
to return from afar to your Maker, to recognize your true
parentage, from a slave to become a freeman, from an outcast to
become a son. Born of corruptible flesh, you were empowered to be
reborn of the Spirit of God, and to obtain through grace what was
not yours through nature. You know that by the spirit of adoption
you are become a son of God: you dare call God your father. (Hom.
2,5.)
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In order that we might be recalled to eternal blessedness from the
bonds of original sin and from all human error, He Himself came
down to us to whom we of ourselves could never rise. For although
there was in many the love of truth, yet the multitude of shifting
opinions was taken advantage of by the crafty and deceitful
demons, and in the false name of science human ignorance was led
astray into various and mutually conflicting doctrines. To put an
end to this fools' merry-go-round, moreover, by which minds were
held captive to serve the arrogance of Satan, the teaching of the
Law was not sufficient, nor could our nature be repaired solely by
the exhortations of the prophets. The reality of redemption had to
be added to moral injunctions and strivings: our nature corrupted
in its very origin must needs be re-born by new beginnings
("<novis exordiis>": i.e., the new life deriving from the new Head
of the race). (Hom. 3,3.)
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Worthily and zealously will each of us celebrate the day of our
Lord's Nativity if we but recall of whose body we are members, and
to what Head we are joined. Consider well, dearly beloved, and
with the help of the enlightening Spirit wisely bear in mind who
it was that received us into Himself and whom we have received
into our midst: for as the Lord Jesus was made fled, by being
born, so we are made His body by our rebirth. Thus are we members
of Christ as well as temples of the Holy Ghost, an I for this
reason the Blessed Apostle says: "Glorify and bear God in your
body" (1 Cor. 6:20). (Hom. 3,5.)
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Let the righteous exult in the Lord, let the hearts of believe
turn to His praise, and let the sons of men confess His wondrous
deeds. For in this work of God especially (the Nativity), does OT
humble condition realize how highly it is esteemed by its Maker.
God indeed gave much to man when He made him to His own image, but
He granted him far more by the work of restoration, for the Lord
Himself assumed our "form of a servant." And although all that the
Creator expends upon His creatures is suggested by one and the
same paternal love, it is less wonderful that man be elevated to
the divine, than that God should descend to human estate. (Hom.
4,2.)
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Each one of us by regeneration received part in Christ's spiritual
origin (cf. "conceived of the Holy Spirit"). To every one who is
re-born, the water of baptism is as the Virgin's womb, for the
same Holy Spirit fills this font who filled the Virgin. Thus the
sin which that sacred conception overthrew is taken away by this
mystical washing. (Hom. 4,3.)
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But you, O dearly beloved, to whom I can address no words more
worthy than those of St. Peter: "you are a chosen generation, a
kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people" (I Pet.
2:9): you have been built upon the impregnable rock Christ, you
have been planted into our Lord and Savior by His true assumption
of our flesh. Remain firm then in that faith which you have
confessed before many witnesses, and in which, having been born
through water and the Holy Ghost, you received the chrism of
salvation and the seal of eternal life. (Hom. 4,6.)
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Unless faith is one, it is none, for the Apostle has said: "One
Lord, one faith." (Hom. 4,6.)
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It was for the sake of our weakness, who were incapable of
receiving Him, that Christ lowered Himself. Because the eye of man
could not bear to look upon the brilliance of His majesty, Christ
hid it with the veil of a body. (Hom. 5,2.)
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In assuming our nature, Christ became for us a ladder, so that
through Him we can now ascend even unto Himself. (Hom. 5,3.)
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Father and Son are coeternal. For brilliance born of light is not
posterior to the light, nor is true light ever without its
splendor. Moreover' to radiate is as essential to light as is its
own being. The manifestation of this radiance, however, His
appearance on this earth, is called Christ's mission. While He
ever filled all things with His invisible majesty, He came as it
were from His remote and exalted secret place to those who knew
Him not, and healed them of their blindness of ignorance, as it is
written: "To those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, a light is risen" (Is. 9:2). (Hom. 5,3)
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Let Catholic faith recognize the glory of the Lord in His
humility; and let the Church, which is the body of Christ, exult
in the sacraments of her salvation. For unless the Word of God had
become flesh and had dwelt amongst us, unless the Creator Himself
had descended to enter into communion with His creature and in His
birth had restored the old man by a new beginning, death would
have reigned from Adam even unto the end (Rom. 5:14), Irrevocable
condemnation would have been all men's lot, and the very fact of
birth would have been unto all cause of perdition But He became a
man of our race, that we might become partake
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of the divine nature. The birth that was His from the virginal
womb, He made available to us in the baptismal font. He gave to
water the same power that He gave to His mother. For the power of
the Most High and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)
which made Mary give birth to the Savior, likewise effect that
water gives new life to the believer. (Hom. 5,5.).
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Adam contemned the command of God, and led the race into sin's
damnation; Jesus, born under the Law, restored to us the liberty
of justification. Adam, agreeing to the wiles of Satan even unto
the fall, merited that in him all die; Jesus, obedient to the
Father even unto the cross, merited that all in Him find life.
Adam was jealous of angelic honors, and destroyed the dignity of
his own nature; Jesus took upon Himself the condition of our
infirmity, and raised up to heaven those for whom He descended
into the abyss. To Adam who fell by pride it was said: "Dust thou
art, and unto dust thou shalt return" (Gen. 3:19); but to Jesus,
who was glorified because of His abasement, it was said: "Sit Thou
at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool" (Ps.
109:1). (Hom. 5,5.)
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On all days and at all times, dearly beloved, do the thoughts of
the faithful who meditate on divine things dwell on the birth of
our Lord and Savior from the Virgin-Mother. For the mind that is
lifted up in acknowledgment of its Maker, whether it be in
groaning supplication, in the gladness of praise, or in the
offering of sacrifice, directs its spiritual gaze on nothing more
frequently or with more confidence than the fact that the same God
the Son of God who was begotten of the co-eternal Father was also
born by a human birth. No other day, however, calls upon us to
venerate the Nativity, worthy as it is of adoration both in heaven
and on earth, so insistently as does the present, which reveals to
our gaze the brightness of this wondrous sacrament, and on which
even nature herself is radiant with new light.[2] For the angel
Gabriel's converse with the astonished Mary and the conception
that took place through the Holy Ghost, as wondrous because
promised as because believed, are not merely recalled to mind, but
as it were occur before our very eyes. For today did the Author of
the world issue forth from the virginal womb, and He vitro made
all natures today was made a Son of her whom He created. Today the
Word of God appeared clothed in flesh, and that which had never
been visible to human eyes, now became tangible to human hands as
well. Today shepherds, taught by angels' voices, came to the
Savior born in the substance of our flesh and soul; and thus today
was established the form in which the gospel was to be preached by
the shepherds of the Lord's flocks for all our preaching is no
more than an echoing of the angelic host: "Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men of good will" (Luke 2:4). (Hom.
6,1.)
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Although the infancy which the majesty of God's Son did not
disdain passed into the maturity of manhood, and although all the
acts of humility undertaken for us ceased once the triumph of the
passion and resurrection had been attained, yet today's festival
renews for us the sacred infancy of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary;
and while we adore the birth of our Savior, we find that we are
celebrating too the commencement of our own life. For the birth of
Christ is the origin of the Christian race, since the birthday of
the Head is the birthday of the body.
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Though each of those who are called have his own station in life,
though the sons of the Church are separated from each other by the
passage of the years, yet the entire body of the faithful, having
a common origin in the baptismal font, are crucified together with
Christ in His passion, are raised up in His resurrection, and in
His ascension are placed with Him at the Father's right hand-and
so likewise are they all with Him born in this Nativity. For every
believer, in whatever part of the world he may be, who is reborn
in Christ, quits the evil path of his first origin, and by being
born again is changed into a new man. For no longer is he
considered as an offspring merely of an earthly father, but as
belonging now to the seed of the Savior, who for this reason
became the Son of man that we might have the power of becoming
sons of God. (Hom. 6,2.)
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In no other way can God be worthily worshipped, than if we offer
Him what He Himself has given us. But in the entire treasury of
the Lord's bounty, what more suitable gift can we find to honor
the present day, than <peace> that peace which was first
proclaimed by angels' chant on the Lord's Nativity. For this peace
it is that begets sons of God, that is the nurse of love and the
mother of unity; this peace is the rest of the blessed and our
eternal home; its proper task and special benefit it is to join to
God those whom it separates from the world. Wherefore the Apostle
urges us to attain this blessing, saying: "Being justified by
faith, let us have peace with God" (Rom. 5:1). In this short
sentence is summed up the effect of almost all the commandments;
for where there is true peace, there no virtue can be lacking.
But, dearly beloved, what does it mean to have peace with God
except to will what He commands, and not to desire what He
forbids.... You are a chosen and kingly race. Live up, then, to
the dignity of your regeneration, love what your Father loves, and
in nothing dissent from your Maker, lest the Lord should again
declare: "I have brought up children and exalted them: but they
have despised Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his
master's crib: but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath
not understood" (Is. 1:2f.).(Hom. 6,3.)
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Great, O dearly beloved, is the sacrament of this gift, and far
does it excel all other gifts: that God should call man His son
and man call God father. (Hom. 6,4.)
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If we are of one mind with God, if we will what He wills, and
condemn what He abhors, He Himself will bring all our battles to
good issue. For He who gave the will, will also give the power
("<ipse qui dedit velle, donabit et posse>"): thus we shall be
cooperators of His works, and in exultation of faith shall cry out
with the prophet: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom
shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall
I be afraid?" (Ps. 26:1). (Hom. 6,4.)
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The birthday of our Lord is the birthday of peace. For the Apostle
says: "He is our peace, who hath made both one" (Eph. 2:14), and
whether we be Jew or Gentile, "by Him we have access both in one
Spirit to the Father" (Eph. 2:18). It was this doctrine in
particular that Christ taught His disciples the very day before
His passion, when He said: "My peace I give you, My peace I leave
with you" (John 14:17). And lest in the generic term of peace the
particular character of <His> peace be lost to view, He added:
"Not as the world gives do I give to you." The peace of the
spiritual-minded and of Catholics comes from on high and itself
leads to the heights. It refuses to hold communion with the lovers
of this world. For "where thy treasure is, there is thy heart
also" (Matt. 6:22): that is to say: if what you love is here below
you will descend to the depths; but if your love is above, you
will attain to the heavenly summits Thither may the Spirit of
peace lead and accompany us who all will the same, who are of one
mind, who are united in faith and hope and charity. For "as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom.
8:14). (Hom. 6,5.)
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That "the Word was made flesh" does not mean that the nature of
God was changed into flesh, but that flesh was assumed by the Word
into the unity of His person. The word "flesh" moreover signifies
the whole man, with whom the Son of God so inseparably united
Himself within the womb of the Virgin, fecundated by the Holy
Spirit and destined to remain for ever virginal, that He who was
begotten of the essence of the Father before time, in time was
born of the Virgin's womb. For in no other way could we be
released from the chains of eternal death, except He become humble
in our nature who remained almighty in His own.
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The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John
3:8). Therefore He so united Himself to us and us with Him, that
the descent of God to man's estate became the exaltation of man to
God's. (Hom. 7,2.)
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Though all the divine utterances exhort us, dearly beloved, to
rejoice in the Lord always, yet today we are no doubt inspired to
a fuller spiritual joy, since the sacrament of the Lord's Nativity
is shining so brightly upon us. Today especially we have recourse
to that unutterable condescension of the divine mercy whereby the
Creator of men deigned to become man, that we might be found in
His nature whom we worship in ours. For God the Son of God, the
only-begotten of the eternal and unbegotten Father, while
eternally remaining in the form of God, and unchangeably and
beyond time possessing the same being as the Father, took unto
Himself the form of a servant without suffering loss of His
majesty, and thus did He advance us to His own estate without
lessening Himself in ours. Thus each nature remains the same in
its properties, yet such is the community of their union that
whatever there is of the Godhead is not disjoined from the
humanity, and whatever there is of man, is not separated from the
divinity. (Hom. 8, 1.)
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The greatness of the divine event (which we are celebrating),
dearly beloved, far exceeds the power of human eloquence.
Moreover, the difficulty in speaking adequately of it derives
precisely from the reason for our not keeping silent about it. For
it was not only of the divine essence in Christ Jesus, the Son of
God, but also of His human nature that the words of the prophet
were spoken: "Who shall declare His generation?" (Is. 53,8).
Unless faith held fast, no speech could declare the union of
twofold nature in one sole person. And thus there is never lack of
matter for praise, for never does the strength of him who praises
suffice for the subject.
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Indeed, let us rejoice that we are unequal to the task of giving
due praise to so great a sacrament of mercy (i.e., the Nativity);
and if we are unable to express the sublimity of the manner of our
redemption, let us know that it is good for us to be so helpless.
For none approaches more closely to the knowledge of the truth
than he who realizes that in matters divine there ever remains far
more to attain, no matter how far he progresses. (Hom. 9,1.)
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The angel sent of God, Gabriel, had said to blessed Mary: "The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High
shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). But of
this same Spirit, of whom Christ was born out of the womb of the
immaculate Mother, is reborn the Christian out of the womb of holy
Church. True peace for him lies solely in not being separated from
the will of God, in loving those things only which are beloved of
God. (Hom. 9,1.)
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Let us then, most dearly beloved, give thanks to God the Father,
through His Son, and in the Holy Spirit, who "for His great mercy
wherewith He hath loved us" has taken pity on us, and "when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ" (Eph.
2:5): that in Him we may be a new creature and a new creation. Let
us put off, therefore, the old man and all his works. Having
received a share in the birth of Christ, let us renounce the works
of the flesh. Recognize thy dignity, O Christian! Made a partaker
of the divine nature, do not dare by degenerate conduct to return
to former baseness. Remember of what Head and what body thou art a
member. Call to mind that thou wert snatched from the power of
darkness and translated into the light and kingdom of God. In the
sacrament of baptism thou wert made a temple of the Holy Spirit:
do not by evil actions drive from thee so great a Guest in order
once again to subject thyself to Satan's thraldom. For the blood
of Christ is thy purchase money, and He who ransomed thee in mercy
will one day judge thee in justice: who with the Father and the
Holy Ghost reigns for all ages. Amen. (Hom. 1,3.)
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ENDNOTES
1 Through his famous letter ("Tome") to the Council of Chalcedon.
in which in classical form he expounded the traditional teaching
on the hypostatic union and particularly on the two natures in
Christ. Leo the Great shares with St. Cyril of Alexandria the
honor of being the Doctor of the Incarnation. The Church has
corroborated this title by choosing Leo's first homily on the
Nativity for the breviary lessons of Christmas. Ten of the Saint's
Christmas homilies have come down to us (P.L. 54, 190-234). There
are also eight homilies for the sister feast of Epiphany. Since
the first homily on Christmas is generally known, we have
restricted ourselves in the following selections to his Christmas
homilies 2 to 9, except for the concluding paragraph from Homily
1. If ORATE FRATRES readers are in favor of such translations. we
will publish extracts from the Epiphany homilies for next year's
Christmas number. There exists, of course no Catholic English
translation of the works of the great St. Leo (nor of most of the
other great patristic spiritual writers)-God forgive us!
2 The winter solstice is passed.
(Taken from the December 27, 1942 issue of "Orate Fratres".)
Copyright (c) 1996 EWTN Online Services.
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