"We should all be like so many simple shepherds watching over the flocks of our affections, ready to adore this our Infant Savior, as soon as the Angels call us. We should offer Him, as a pledge of our eternal service, the finest lamb we possess; that is, all our love, without any reserve or exception. Oh, how happy shall we be, and what great consolation shall we receive, if we thus visit the Savior of our souls! As the manna had the taste of every kind of food, so this Divine Infant contains in Himself every kind of consolation. Each one can find in Him what he desires, and proportionate to his capacity, provided that he possess the requisite dispositions.....Let us often visit this Child, lying in a manger; and let us learn from Him how to act in all things according to His Most Holy Will."

~ Don Gaspar Gilli, The Month of Mary, According to the Spirit of St. Francis of Sales, imprimatur 1890.

What a wonderful thought, that the Infant Jesus is the source of all consolation (as we say in the litany) and that He consoles each of us in the way that we, personally, most need. He may have been a poor helpless Baby in the manger on the first Christmas, but now we approach Him, ourselves poor and needy and helpless, knowing that He can make our every dream come true....

Nollaig Shona Dhuit! (Merry Christmas in Irish)