The Dawn of Peace:

Thank God for the gift of Jesus! Today we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, the proof that, in God, all things—including our hopes for peace—are possible. Let us dwell on the coming peace, the peace Jesus brings into the world and leaves with us, and celebrate what a gift it is.

God Is With Us:

You became human
so that I can become divine.
I love you,Eternal God and Living Son!

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The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal, and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise him, the Magi advance with the star, for you are born for us, little Child, God eternal!

- St. Romanus the Melodist (d. 540)

The love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven.... His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven.

- Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (from a sermon on the Feast of St. Stephen)