Eve of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Posted on December 24, 2019 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 1:39-45 (NKJV)
1:39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
Devotion
This night before the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord is a night for proclaiming the Good News of our Lord Jesus’ birth. The Blessed Virgin Mary has just been informed by the angel Gabriel that she will be the Mother of God. What is her first instinct? To run to the hill country to tell Elizabeth, the very woman whom Gabriel had said was going to bear a son even though she had been considered barren. Elizabeth would bear the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Upon Mary’s greeting the babe in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. Mary’s arrival also meant the arrival of the Messiah and the Savior. The babe in Elizabeth’s womb could not contain his joy over the presence of the Lord in the Virgin’s womb. St. John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, also is compelled to proclaim the Good News of the Savior and the woman who bears Him. The fruit of the Blessed Virgin’s womb held our Savior.
Tonight, the Church also leaps for joy over the Savior in the Virgin’s womb. Bells are rung, hymns are sung, and candles light up the night dispelling the darkness. For the Church now is gifted with her Redeemer in swaddling cloths. That which was foretold to the Blessed Virgin Mary is fulfilled, and we are blessed by the birth of this Baby, who is God in the flesh come to be our Savior.
We pray: O God, who hast made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light, grant, we beseech Thee, that, as we have known on Earth the mysteries of that Light, we may also come to the fullness of its joys in Heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
