The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ

The Ascetical Works #IV

by Alfonso María de Liguori

CONTENTS THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH. THE INCARNATION. DISCOURSES FOR THE NOVENA OF CHRISTMAS. DISCOURSE I. The eternal Word is made man 10 II. The eternal Word being great becomes little 23 III . The eternal Word from being lord became a servant. 33 IV. The eternal Word from being innocent becomes as it were guilty 41 V. The eternal Word from being strong became weak 50 VI. The eternal Word from being his own has made himself ours 58 VII. The eternal Word from being happy made himself afflicted 67 VIII. The eternal Word from being rich made himself poor 77 IX. The eternal Word from being high made himself low 86 Discourse for Christmas night. The birth of Jesus Christ 94 Discourse on the name of Jesus 102 Examples of the Infant Jesus 111 MEDITATIONS FOR EVERY DAY OF ADVENT. MEDITATION I. Goodness of God in the work of the redemption 117 II. Grandeur of the mystery of the Incarnation 119 III. The love of God for men 121 IV. The Word was made man in the fullness of time 123 V. The abasement of Jesus 125 VI. Jesus enlightens the world and glorifies God 127 VII. The Son of God was laden with all our iniquities 129 VIII. God sends his Son to die in order to restore us to life 131 IX. The love that the Son of God has shown us in the redemption 133 X. Jesus, the man of sorrows, from the womb of his Mother 135 XI. Jesus charged with the sins of the whole world 137 XII. Jesus suffers during his whole life 139 XIII. Jesus wished to suffer so much to gain our hearts 141 XIV. The greatest sorrow of Jesus 143 XV. The poverty of the Infant Jesus 145 XVI. Jesus is the fountain of grace 146 XVII. Jesus the charitable physician of our souls 148 XVIII. We should hope all things from the merits of Jesus Christ 150 MEDITATIONS FOR THE NOVENA OF CHRISTMAS. I. God has given us his only Son to save us 151 II. Bitterness of the heart of Jesus in the womb of his mother. 153 III. Jesus made himself a child to gain our confidence and our love 155 IV. The Passion of Jesus lasted during his whole life 158 V. Jesus offered himself for our salvation from the beginning 160 VI. Jesus a prisoner in the womb of Mary 162 VII. The sorrow that the ingratitude of man caused Jesus 164 VIII. The love of God manifested to man by the birth of Jesus 166 IX. St. Joseph goes to Bethlehem with his holy spouse 168 MEDITATIONS FOR THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS AND THE FOLLOWING DAYS TILL THE EPIPHANY. I. The birth of Jesus 170 II. Jesus is born an Infant 172 III, . Jesus in swaddling-clothes 174 IV. Jesus taking milk 177 V. Jesus lying on the straw 179 VI. Jesus sleeping 181 VII. Jesus weeping 182 VIII. The name of Jesus 184 IX. The solitude of Jesus in the stable 186 X. The occupation of the Infant Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem 188 XI. The poverty of the Infant Jesus 190 XII. The abasement of Jesus 192 FOR THE OCTAVE OF THE EPIPHANY. I. The adoration of the Magi 194 II. The presentation of Jesus in the Temple 195 III. The flight of Jesus into Egypt 197 IV. The dwelling of Jesus in Egypt 199 V. The return of Jesus from Egypt. 201 VI. The dwelling of Jesus at Nazareth. 203 VII. The same subject continued 205 VIII. The loss of Jesus in the Temple 206 OTHER MEDITATIONS. FOR THE FIRST ElGIIT DAYS OF ADVENT. I. The love that God has manifested to us in the incarnation of the Word 209 AND MUCH MORE!

Genres: Theology, Religion

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1758

About the author

Saint Alfonso María de Liguori, CSsR (1696–1787), was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian.

He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his "Moral Theology" in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are "The Glories of Mary" and "The Way of the Cross", the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions.

He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. One of the most widely read Catholic authors, he is the patron saint of confessors.

Reviews

[Lini · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Adam came into the world at a full age: but the eternal Word chose to appear as an infant - a child is born to us - that He might thus attract our hearts to Himself with greater force... He came not into the world to inspire terror, but to be loved..."

"O wonder! A God serving as a boy! A God sweeping the house! A God working and sweating to plane a piece of wood!
And who is this? The omnipotent God, who by a nod created the world, and can destroy it when He pleases! Ought not the mere thought of this to move our hearts to love Him?" 

[Katherine Thérèse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for Advent. I try to read it every year.

[Dawn Axelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The essence of this book was so good that I suspect I may never look at the Nativity in precisely the same way again. There are lines such as: "Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret of Cortona that in his whole life he never experienced the smallest degree of sensible consolation" (p. 55) and "from the first moment that I was in the womb of Mary I suffered all that I had afterwards to suffer in my death" (p. 57). It was a brutal read. But the strength of God's Love shone through in a way that the Hallmark card type of Christmas could not begin to capture.

I read this book in two ways. From mid November, until Christmas day, I read it in 15 minute increments. From Christmas until just after Epiphany, I sped the process up, wanting to move on to another subject. The first method worked quite well for this book. It is somewhat repetitive, and when using the book in short bursts for multiple weeks, this repetition actually works to reinforce the material. But trying to read it as one would a normal book is not a pleasant experience, in my opinion. A pious editor would do the world a great service by condensing this work into something that could be read in meditative chunks for the four weeks of Advent, and I doubt very much that too much would be lost in the process.

There are many typos. But it was a very inexpensive and edifying read, so I am okay with scanning over those.

So... I would definitely read this again. But I would start next time in October in order to work through it slowly.