Five pretty Christmas prayers to discover

If Christmas is peace

If Christmas is Peace, Peace must pass through our hands.
Give peace to your neighbor…
If Christmas is Light, Light must flourish in our lives.
Walk towards your brother to brighten his days.
If Christmas is Joy, Joy must shine on our faces.
Smile at the world so that it becomes happiness.
If Christmas is Hope, Hope must grow in our hearts.
Sow Hope in the depths of every man.
If Christmas is Love, we must be its instruments.
Bring Love to all the hungry in the world

Author unknown, Haiti

A Christmas prayer

Friends, brothers everywhere
the one we were waiting for came.
Do you know his name?
I will tell you and in your hearts
his Name will sing like a flute
in the foggy silence of the night.
Doors, open!

On the paths, make room,
Prepare the house,
Put lights on your windows,
Know that the long wait is over,
Raise your head!
I tell you: He has come!
Do you know his name?

I am going to tell you
and his Name will shine
like stardust
on the world square.

Today the night will be bright
and resplendent during the day.
Because the child was born
who changes the world.
Do you know his name?

On his face dances the smile of God.
He was born, he will stay with us
and the joy of men
becomes the joy of God.

He was born, he stays with us
and the suffering of men
becomes the suffering of God.
He was born, he stays with us
and the love of men
becomes the love of God.

He was born, he stays with us
and his words carry
life in them like a spring
full of promises.

Do you know his Name?
I am going to tell you
and I would like him to stay attached
to your heart.
His name is EMMANUEL. He is God with us.

Charles Singer, extract of Festivals for God (Ed. Fleurus)

So it’s you, this newborn?

How can you?
How, you God, who are so great
Can you be this close to me
Than a newborn being rocked in your arms?
How, you God, who are God
Can you suddenly be a man?
I returned these questions a lot
In my head without ever finding an answer.
So I will never know how…
My heart told me why,
He told me: there is only Love!
Amen!

Jean Debruynne, priest of the Mission of France (1925-2006)

The gratuity of a love

Jesus, where You were born, in the midst of Joseph and Mary, your manger was not closed.
Anyone could enter.
Jesus, when You were born, You wanted everyone to be able to come see You
because You came for everyone.

Before You were born, Jesus, Joseph and Mary had found
only houses with closed doors: closed to the secret of God.
They found a stable open, a poor stable.
My heart can also be opened or closed to love.
My hands, they can also be opened or closed to give.
My life can also be opened or closed to provide life.

Today, Jesus, You are no longer born in a stable;
but You want to be born, to tell the secret of God,
in all homes, in all hearts.
You want to place God’s kiss on everyone’s faces.
You want millions of nativity scenes to inhabit the world.
You want millions of hearts to give your peace on earth.
You want millions of faces to give the peace of God.
You want millions of Christmases to give your Christmas away.
Open houses closed by fear or by wealth.
Open hearts closed by sorrow or selfishness.
Open faces closed by anger or lack of love.

Jesus, come and open our smiles and our lips,
come and open our homes and our hearts to say with You:
Glory to God, our Father!

Brother Élie Maréchal

Prayer of Jacques Brel

“Say, say, if it were true, if He had really been born in Bethlehem in a stable. Say, if it were true, if the Three Wise Men had really come from far, far away, to bring Him the gold, myrrh, frankincense. Say, if it were true, if it were true everything that they wrote Luke, Matthew and the other two. Say, if it were true, if it were true the blow of the Wedding at Cana and the blow of Lazarus. Say, if it were true, if it were true what little children tell in the evening before going to sleep. You know well, when they say Our Father , when they say Our Mother, if all that were true? I would say yes! Oh, surely I would say yes! Because it’s all so beautiful when you believe it’s true.”