Vigil of the Nativity.
It was formerly the custom of the faithful to spend the night before a great solemnity in the church. Hence the term vigil, or watch, which we now give to the whole day preceding a solemn festival. Christmas Day. To-day the Church rejoices i over the birthday of her Divine founder — the Redeemer of mankind. The time appointed for the entrance of the Son of God into the world having arrived, Mary and Joseph were led by Divine Providence into Bethlehem. Failing to obtain admittance into the inns, they were compelled to take refuge in a grotto which served as a shelter for cattle. There our Blessed Savior was born to a life of poverty, humiliation, and suffering. He came to redeem the world, and to draw to Himself the affections of men, and therefore He presented Himself in the most amiable form that can be imagined — that of an innocent, helpless babe.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZT19081217.2.1.2
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Tablet, 17 December 1908, Page 3
Word Count
157Vigil of the Nativity. New Zealand Tablet, 17 December 1908, Page 3
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