Exhortation for the Solemn Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord

It is the Eve of the day in which all time began, the day of the birth of the Lord in  human fashion. All ages previous are reckoned as merely years leading up to this day. All ages since are reckoned as mere years since this day, for even as a stone tossed into a lake radiates waves in every direction, so does the stone which the masons tossed away, the Lord Christ, now radiate in time, both backwards and forwards, itself the center of all history and all being, itself the source and itself the cause; itself the beginning, and itself the end, of all things, visible and invisible; for in the Almighty being made man, the first promise given to creation, that man should be made in the image and likeness of God, has been made manifest. And in the Lord taking on flesh, the final promise that the dwelling of God is with men has been accomplished. This day, for which we await, which is but a night away, this day we call Christmas, is the beginning and end of the story of humanity, for it is the coming of the Alpha and Omega of all that has been made.

Therefore, awaiting the completion of our being and the final cause of our essence in the incarnation of the Son of God, let us this night keep vigil, both in hearing and in singing, listening to the most holy Word of our Redeemer, and casting our songs of longing, and our hymns of praise before the manger which shall soon bare within it the majesty of our infant God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory, honor, and worship, unto the end of the age. Amen.

Let us therefore pray for the Church and all the world, for whom our God in grace has come.

Preached by Pastor
Fields

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