Day One – December 16
The Eternal Word became man.
O sweet Jesus, Eternal Word made flesh, I give You thanks for becoming incarnate, for
adopting our human nature to ennoble and restore it. In the Creation of the universe
You manifested Your immense power, but now it is all the tenderness of Your mercy
that You display in the redemption of fallen humanity. You become a man, sub-ject to
infirmities. You become our brother to lead us back to our Father. Only Your infinite
Love could have inspired You to invent such loving follies.
O little Child Jesus, how can I make myself worthy of such a wonder of love and self-
abasement? I, a vile sinner, seek to rise above everyone, whereas You annihilate
Yourself to the point of taking the last place! Enough, O my God! I want to follow You
on the way of Your humiliations by my loving acceptance of all the occasions in which
this last place will be offered to me by Your divine Providence. Amen.
Invocation
O divine Child Jesus, who for the salvation of the world wanted to be born in a stable,
lying on straw in the manger, have mercy on me.
Mary and Joseph, pray to the Child Jesus for me.
Glory be to the Father…
Inspired by the book Bethléem, ou l’École de l’Enfant-Jésus, (Bethlehem, or the School
of the Child Jesus) by Msgr. Jean-Joseph Gaume