In Preparation for Christmas

The Nativity of Our Lord is such a beautiful time. It is so much more than the birthday of Christ. It is the opening again of Paradise. It is the restoration of our fallen nature. It is an invitation to the whole world to come to Christ. These words of a hymn of the forefeast of Nativity say it much more beautifully:

Make ready, O Bethlehem,
     for Eden has been opened unto all.
Adorn thyself, O Ephratha,
     for the Tree of Life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave.
Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the divine Fruit;
     if we eat of it, we shall live forever and not die like Adam.
Christ is coming to restore the image He made in the beginning.

Rejoice in the glad tidings of Christmas, on this great and wonderful day, for God has become man, righting the once-wronged image of God imprinted in mankind, and in so doing, we now again have access to Paradise itself. Glory to God!

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