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Christmas Eve of Saint Jerome
One Christmas night, Jerome, the great recluse of Bethlehem, was praying in the blessed grotto. How often in that holy vigil he trembled as he kissed the sacred Crib where the Savior of the world wanted to be born for us.
But all of a sudden, oh wonder! Oh love! The night was illuminated with ravishing brightness, it shone like a radiant day. The Child–God was there, extending His divine arms to His faithful friend.
“Jerome,” He said to him, “oh, see My poverty. To your God who begs, what present will you give?
– To You, O King of love, my heart, my goods, my life!
– That is not enough, give Me more.
– All that I have received from your blessed hand, all that with your grace I have been able to do for you, all my works, Lord, my tears, my prayers, my long nights of study, and my days of pain…, everything is yours, Jesus, take it for you alone.
– No, I want more, said the Divine Child.
– What is it, my tender love, that you are still waiting for? I have given You everything, I have nothing left… Speak, what do You want? Do you want me to pour at the foot of your altar, drop by drop my blood in the golden chalice?
– No, My son, if I have left the splendors of My Heaven, it is not that I need the treasures of mortals, but I hunger to pour into souls the gifts of My love, the treasures of My grace. Destroying every obstacle, I want a divine fire to ignite them forever: Give Me your sins so that I may erase them.”
– How can one give one’s sins to the God Child? – One must first recognize them, then regret them and ask God for forgiveness with the firm resolution not to commit them again. They must be confessed to the priest as soon as possible. And God, whose mercy surpasses the greatest of our crimes, since it is infinite, always forgives us. We must therefore have unshakeable faith in His Love and Mercy.
