At the heart of Christmas is a mystery both simple and profound: the God of all eternity took on flesh so that we might know eternity too. As we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth, we invite you to reflect on these 10 quotes from the saints and popes about the true meaning of Christmas.
The Hope of Christmas
“O Holy Night, so long awaited, which has united God and man forever! You rekindle our hope. You fill us with ecstatic wonder. You assure us of the triumph of love over hatred, of life over death.”
— Pope John Paul II
“Yet, in the shadows and silence of that holy night, a great and inextinguishable light shone forth for every man; the great hope that brings happiness entered into the world: ‘the Word was made flesh and we saw his glory,’ (John 1:14)…” — Pope Benedict XVI
The Profound Mystery of the Incarnation
“Him whom the heavens cannot contain, the womb of one woman bore.” — St. Augustine
“That night in Bethlehem…God’s stooping down became real in a way previously inconceivable… he himself comes down as a child to the lowly stable, the symbol of all humanity’s neediness and forsakenness… The Creator who holds all things in his hands, on whom we all depend, makes himself small and in need of human love.” — Pope Benedict XVI
“May He make us children of God, He who for our sakes wished to become a Child of man.”
— St. Augustine
“In the stable at Bethlehem, Heaven and Earth meet.” — Pope Benedict XVI
“The One who is our very life descended into our world, and bore our death, and slew it with the abundance of His own life. Thundering, He called out to us to return to Him in heaven.” — St. Augustine
The Savior Is Born
“O, loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O, wisest love! That flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail!
And that a higher gift than grace should flesh and blood refine;
God’s presence and His very self and essence all-divine.”
— St. John Henry Newman
“On this night God answers the ceaseless cry of the peoples: Come, Lord, save us! His eternal Word of love has taken on our mortal flesh. ‘Your Word, O Lord, came down from his royal throne.’ The Word has entered into time: Emmanuel, God-with-us, is born.” — Pope John Paul II
“Christ is born, glorify Him! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him! Christ on earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth.”
— St. Gregory of Nazianzus
Sources:
A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, Paul Thigpen.
Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI on December 25, 2007, The Vatican.
Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI on December 25, 2008, The Vatican.
Homily of the Holy Father on December 24, 2002, The Vatican.
Homily of the Holy Father on December 24, 2003, The Vatican.
Urbi et Orbi Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Christmas 2007, The Vatican.
