Day 8 — Seeking Lodging in Bethlehem

Prayer for All Days

Most benign God of infinite charity, who so loved mankind that you gave us your Son as the supreme pledge of your love, so that, made man in the womb of a Virgin, he might be born in a manger for our salvation and remedy; I, in the name of all mortals, give you infinite thanks for so sovereign a benefit. In return, I offer you the poverty, humility, and other virtues of your incarnate Son, beseeching you, by his divine merits, by the hardships of his birth, and by the tender tears he shed in the manger, to dispose our hearts with deep humility, with burning love, and with total contempt for all earthly things, so that the newborn Jesus may find in them his cradle and dwell there eternally. Amen.

(The Gloria is said three times).

Reflection for the Eighth Day

Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem seeking lodging in the inns, but find none, either because all are occupied, or because they are turned away on account of their poverty. Yet nothing can disturb the inward peace of those who are fixed in God.

If Joseph felt sadness when he was refused from house to house, because he was thinking of Mary and of the Child, he also smiled with holy tranquility when he fixed his gaze on his chaste spouse. The noise of each door that closed against them was sweet melody to his ears.

That was what he had come to seek. The desire for those humiliations was what had contributed to his taking human form. O Divine Child of Bethlehem! These days that so many have spent in feasts and amusements or resting softly in comfortable and rich mansions, have been for your parents a day of fatigue and all kinds of vexation. Alas, the spirit of Bethlehem is that of a world that has forgotten God.

How often has it not been ours as well! The sun sets on December 24 behind the roofs of Bethlehem, and its last rays gild the crest of the steep rocks that surround it. Coarse men jostle the Lord rudely in the streets of that eastern village and shut their doors at the sight of his Mother.

The vault of the heavens appears purple above those hills frequented by the shepherds. The stars appear one after another. A few hours more, and the Eternal Word will appear.

Sovereign Mary, who by your great virtues and especially by your humility merited that God himself should choose you as his Mother, I beseech you to prepare and dispose my soul, and the souls of all who make this novena in this season, for the spiritual birth of your beloved Son. O sweetest Mother, impart to me some share of the profound recollection and divine tenderness with which you awaited him, that we may be made less unworthy to see him, love him, and adore him for all eternity. Amen.

(The Hail Mary is said three times).

O most holy Joseph, spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus! I give infinite thanks to God for having chosen you for so sovereign a ministry and adorned you with every gift proportioned to such excellence. I beseech you, by the love you bore the Divine Child, to enkindle in me fervent desires to see him and receive him sacramentally, while in his divine essence I hope to see and enjoy him in heaven. Amen.

(An Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Gloria are said).

Remember, O sweetest Child Jesus, that you said to the venerable Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament, and in her person to all your devout clients, these words, so consoling to our suffering humanity: "Whatever you wish to ask, ask it by the merits of my infancy, and nothing shall be denied you." Full of confidence in you, O Jesus, who are truth itself, we come to lay before you all our misery. Help us to lead a holy life, that we may attain a blessed eternity. Grant us, by the infinite merits of your infancy, the grace of which we stand in such need. We surrender ourselves to you, O omnipotent Child, confident that our hope shall not be frustrated, and that, by virtue of your divine promise, you will receive and graciously grant our petition. Amen.

Gozos (Joys)

Sweet Jesus mine, my adored Child, come to our souls, come, delay not!

O highest Wisdom of the sovereign God, who stoop down to a child's reach! O Divine Child, come to teach us the prudence that makes truly wise! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O mighty Adonai, who to Moses speaking gave the commandments to the people of Israel! Ah, come promptly to redeem us, and let a weak Child show a strong arm! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O sacred root of Jesse, that on high displays your fragrant nard to all the world! Sweetest Child, who have been called Lily of the valleys, fair flower of the field! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O Key of David, that opens to the exile the closed gates of the royal palace! Draw us out, O Child, with your white hand, from the sad prison that sin has built! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O Dawn of the East, Sun of eternal rays, that in the darkness we may see your splendor! So precious a Child, the joy of the Christian, may the smile of your sweet lips shine forth! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O spotless Mirror, Holy of Holies, peerless image of the sovereign God! Blot out our faults, save the exile, and, in the form of a Child, give the helpless aid! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O King of the nations, bright Emmanuel, Israel's longing, Shepherd of the flock! Child who tend with gentle crook both the wayward sheep and the gentle lamb! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

Let the heavens open and rain from on high refreshing dew, a holy watering! Come, lovely Child, come, God made man, bright star shine, flower of the field spring forth! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

Come, for Mary already prepares her arms to behold her Child in coming time! Come, for Joseph with holy longing makes himself a shrine of your love! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

O aid of the weak, shelter of the suffering, comfort of the sad, light of the exile! Life of my life, my adored Lord, my constant friend, my divine brother! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

Come before my eyes, enamored of you! Let me kiss your feet, let me kiss your hands! Prostrate on earth, I extend my arms to you, and more than my words, my tears speak! Come to our souls, come, delay not.

Come, our Savior, for whom we sigh! Come to our souls, come, delay not!