Look, we have the infant Christ; let us grow with him. Lord Jesus, make this so.We all love Christmas, but we should never forget that Christmas doesn’t exist just to charm or delight us — it exists so that we might recommit ourselves to Christ.
So don’t let Christmas pass without kneeling in church or by the crèche and recommitting the consecration to Christ that began at your baptism. Here is an original prayer and some classic ones that might help.
Christmas Recommitment Prayer
Lord Jesus, I recommit myself today to you.
Give me the grace to live the beautiful graces of Christmas all year long.
At Christmas, you remind us of the importance of our family —
give me the grace to keep my family close all year long.
At Christmas, we are delighted by giving gifts —
may I seek happiness in generosity every day.
At Christmas, we love receiving gifts —
keep me open to gifts from you and from others at all times.
Finally, Jesus, at Christmas I am energized by the story of your birth —
Give me the grace to see the same beauty in every chapter of your life story
which the Church presents to your people all year long.
Lord Jesus, by the grace of this day, help me know
that your presence fills my whole life
with the splendor, joy and purpose of Christmas always.
Amen.
St. Augustine Christmas Meditation
Lord Jesus, where are you for my sake? In a mean lodging, in a manger.
He who rules the stars sucks at a breast. He who speaks in the bosom of the Father is silent in the mother’s lap.
But he will speak when he reaches a suitable age, and will fulfill for us the Gospel. For our sakes he will suffer, for us he will die. As an example of our reward, he will rise again. He will ascend into heaven before the eyes of his disciples, and he will come from heaven to judge the world.
Behold him lying in the manger; he is reduced to tininess, yet he has not lost anything of himself. He has accepted what was not his, but he remains what he was.
Look, we have the infant Christ; let us grow with him.
Lord Jesus, make this so.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Christmas Meditation
The infant Christ does not console the talkative; the tears of Christ do not console those who rejoice in worldly things; his swaddling clothes do not console those who are clad in rich garments; the stable and manger do not console those who love the front seats in the synagogue; but perhaps they will one day see that this universal consolation descends on those who await the Lord in silence, those who weep, those who are dressed in poor clothes. Lord Jesus, make it so for me.
St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Suscipe Prayer
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
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A Christmas Prayer by St. John Paul II
“A child is born to us …” (Isaiah 95).
We welcome you with joy, Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, who out of love became a child “in Judea, in the city of David, which is called Bethlehem” (Luke 2:4).
We welcome you with gratitude, new light rising in the night of the world.
We welcome you as our brother, the “Prince of Peace,” who “made of the two one people” (cf. Eph 2:14).
Fill us with your gifts, you who did not hesitate to begin human life like us. Make us children of God, you who for our sake desired to become a son of man (cf. St, Augustine, Homilies, 184).
You, “Wonder-Counselor,” sure promise of peace; you, powerful presence of the “God-Hero”; you, our one God, who lie poor and humble in the dim light of the stable, welcome us around your crib.
Come, peoples of the earth, open to him the doors of your history! Come to worship the Son of the Virgin Mary, who descended among us, on this night prepared for down the centuries.
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