24 December 2008

From the Roman Martyrology

In the year 2015 from the birth of Abraham, in the year 1510 from the exodus of the people of Israel out of Egypt, in the year 1032 from the enthronement of David the Prophet and King, in the sixtieth "week" of the prophecy of Daniel, in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Augustus, in the thirty-third year of the reign of Herod, when the staff had gone from Judah has had been prophesied by Jacob the Patriarch, at a time when the whole world was at peace, it pleased God to send His only-begotten Son and Eternal Word to the world to become Man and to teach us God's love, to suffer, die, and rise from the dead for our salvation.

At that time, the Lord Jesus was born in a humble cave in Bethlehem of Judah, and no one knew of it but the immaculate Virgin Mary his Mother and Joseph her spouse. No one heard of this miracle surpassing all miracles but a few humble shepherds who had been told by angels in the sky that sang this hymn: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." Then the Magi came from the East, led by a star in the heaven: they found their way to where the Divine Infant rested, and they adored Him, and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

To God Incarnate, to the suckling Infant who humbled Himself and took our form, becoming one of us to make us divine; to the One who later walked among us to teach us the way of salvation and who loved us so much as to give His life for it: to Him be glory, honor, and adoration forever and ever. Oh, come, let us adore Him! [At St. Paul's, we read this prior to the Processional Hymn on Christmas Day: "O Come, All Ye Faithful."]

5 comments:

Christopher Esget said...

This is wonderful. I'm going to do it this morning!

WM Cwirla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WM Cwirla said...

Didn't Caesar Augustus reign from 31 BC to AD 14? According to this chronology , Christ would have been born in AD 12. But Herod the Great ruled as "King of the Jews" from 38 to 4 BC, which would be 5 BC, which is the more likely date.

Something doesn't add up here.

Christopher Esget said...

Ah, who cares about the numbers, it gets the points across. (Just kidding, mostly.)

I've been thinking lately that Jesus must have been born c. 8 B.C., on the theory that the census mentioned in Luke 2 happened BEFORE Quirinius was governing Syria.

Anonymous said...

Is this the current edition of the Roman Kalends for the day, or a foreshortened version? The one I recall began at Creation, and had more 'secular' dating pegs as well.