examination of the heart 458 And such shall you be in the sight of the Lord today, namely, full of good will, if you want “the Prince of peace” (cf. Is 9:6) to offer you the sweetest kiss of peace. 2. “And the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Beg Jesus, now a grown man established in the pulpit of your heart, to teach you the same virtues, which He, as a child in the cradle, taught the whole world. For Whom do you have with you as a Teacher? It is He Who, while He was limitless, was confined in a tight manger; the one who, while being God, Creator and Possessor of the universe, was made Man and did not have a place to lay down in the town of Bethlehem (cf. Lk 2:7); the one who, as the highest, invincible Emperor, instead of fasces224 had swaddling-cloths225; the one who, after associating with the Father and the eternal Spirit among the angels, was laid between an ox and a donkey and existed simultaneously in Heaven and in the stable. Learn from the naked Infant to foster the utmost poverty; from the heavenly King reclining in the manger a true humility; and from the most obedient Son of God the obedience worthy of the crown. Learn from the silent Word to keep silence. Learn from the Savior burning in the middle of winter with great desires to redeem all people and imbue yourself with the divine love and the love of neighbor. Obtain from the highest Sovereign of the world, exposed to the winter colds, hunger, thirst, and smelly stable, the strength to bear adversities joyfully. Finally, learn true wisdom from the Eternal Wisdom that came down into the world. 3. “laid [H]im in a manger” (Lk 2:7). Consider that the Lord of the whole universe, born and laid down in a stable presented a sight worthy of admiration. But more admirable is that the same Lord remains today in your heart. 224 Fasces: “a bundle of rods containing an ax with the blade projecting, borne before Roman magistrates as an emblem of official power:” Sol Steinmetz, Ed., Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd ed., Random House, Inc., New York 1997, p. 700 (s.v. fasces). 225 There is a play on words here in Latin that is lost in English: “qui fascium loco fascias manu gerebat.”
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