![]() It has been surmised that the choir sang the Latin and the congregation sang translations of the same. In the old German, Danish, and Swedish hymnals a translation in the vernacular was inserted immediately after each Latin stanza. Later on a number of German versions appeared. “Puer natus” was translated into German in 1439 by Heinrich von Laufenberg. Consequently, it has undergone many changes due to omissions, revisions, and additions. The Latin text, which is found in many different redactions ranging from six to twelve stanzas, has, very likely, been composed by several authors. The oldest Latin text found so far is contained in a Benedictine book dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century. Know that he comes to seek you out.This Christmas hymn was especially popular during the ancient period. Come before him, kneel in adoration and know yourself loved beyond measure. ![]() Today we enter the stable again as the altar becomes the place where Christ is made truly, bodily, personally, present for us in the Blessed Sacrament. From him we will hear the tale of how God has personally pursued us and we will experience the greatest love story in the whole world. From him, we will learn how to give of ourselves even to the end. God’s own fleshly hands reaches out to us again, not from the manger this time, but from the empty tomb.Īnd what story do our hands tell? Do they tell the tale of our salvation? Are they moved to defend the unborn and the refugee? Are they eager to soothe with the balm of mercy or are they quick to rebuke? This tiny baby will teach us how to spend ourselves in love. More incredibly still, these hands will be the means by which we know him risen from the dead. They will speak of a depth of love unknown even to the greatest of earthly lovers. Pierced with wounds we simply cannot fathom they will tell the story of our rescue, of his suffering and pain. In time they will bear the marks of the nails. ![]() Come close.īut in time, these hands will tell a different story leaving the security of his mothers care, they will reach out to bless, to rebuke the evil one, to heal, to feed. Hear her inviting you to touch those tiny hands. Hear his mother inviting you to help her care for him. Look into those eyes, speak with him, and give him the warmth of your love. She will hold those hands close to her as she rocks him to sleep. She will take his hand into her own as he takes his first tentative steps. She will gaze upon them, caress them, wash and clean them. She knows those hands better than her own. He needs the presence of his Mother, she who knows who this child really us, to keep him safe. He need to be caressed, fed, and clothed, warmed and settled. He wants to know the comfort of our touch. The Lord of space and time, becomes subject to its laws.īut Jesus is also a human being just like me and you. The creator has come to dwell in his creation. We can become all too overfamiliar with the sheer wonder of this child. Today we celebrate the birth of another child eagerly longed for, eternally loved, earnestly hoped in. The baby I was holding has been much longed for the joy of his arrival was palpable in the family home, as now, at last, his parents have been given the gift we all so earnestly prayed for. I was looking down at him in my arms and passed my finger over his palm, and suddenly he had gripped my finger tightly. Have you ever noticed how beautiful the hands of a newborn are? I was holding a new born baby recently and was struck by how lovely his hands were. Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The Lord hath said to me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.
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