In his first pastoral encyclical on the Nativity of the Lord in 1977, Romania’s fourth Patriarch Iustin Moisescu stressed the joyful way Christians need to welcome the Baby Jesus in their lives.
1. Listening to Christmas hymns, let us all now bow our heads before the icon of the Nativity, thanking God for the saving gifts He has poured out upon us as His Son descended into the world.
2. The Son of God was born in the likeness of humans because He would save humans.
3. In the service of the great feast of the Nativity of the Lord, as in other days, words like these resound for centuries in our ears: Heaven and earth have been united today, as Christ is born. Today, God came to earth, and man ascended to heaven.
4. Let us sing praises, today, to our Lord Jesus Christ for His appearing on earth, in the image of the humility of our flesh.
5. With joy to go forth before Him, welcoming Him as God while He descends to us. With love, let us receive Him, preparing in our hearts a place worthy of His holy abode in us.
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