On Epiphany, the Three Wise Men brought their gifts to the Christ Child.
Immediately afterwards, the persecutions began. The first one was the massacre of the Innocents. It stained the land with blood. That land would later become sacred because the Divine Child would shed His Most Holy Blood there.
Thus, at the moment when the wonder of His birth was affirmed, the hatred of the wicked rose like a mob and fell upon the innocent ones.
The slaughter of the Innocents is usually considered a humanitarian disaster, a scene of outrageous cruelty. Such a classification definitely has some validity.
However, the modern, naturalistic mind is prevented from going beyond mere human compassion for these children and making a far more momentous consideration. The massacre of the Innocents was a foreshadowing of the deicide, the murder of God. That slaughter was ordered because the King of the Jews, Herod, had been informed that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. To kill the Messiah, he ordered all the young boys there to be killed!
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It is not clear to what extent Herod knew that Jesus was the Man-God. It appears he did not know. Nonetheless, in one way or another, Herod intended to strike, if not God, then God’s Envoy. The Divine Child had to be killed. He had only announced Himself through a star and the choirs of angels. Yet, already, the murderous swords of the great earthly powers were moving against Him.
Christmas without considering the slaughter of the Innocents does not make sense. This tragedy so closely accompanies the heavenly peace, grandeur, and magnificent serenity, all filled with the celestial beauty found in the hymn Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night).
In these turbulent times, our lives resemble those who lived on the eve of the day when the Church chants: Puer natus est nobis, et Filius datur est nobis (A child is born to us, and a son is given).
Today’s world is agonizing under the weight of sin, just as it was on the eve of the birth of Our Lord. Everything is marked by disorder, madness and delirium. Everyone is looking for those things that increasingly elude all: physical well-being, the soft, comfortable life, the infamous mediocre pleasures, the thirty pieces of silver with which each one sells Our Lord, Who begs for the defense and enthusiasm of those whom He redeemed.
We live in the collapse of a world falling apart; the collapse of Christianity. However, it is much more than the Christian order that is jeopardized; it is also the Holy Immortal Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ that faces collapse! It is a struggle that we could call mortal if the Church were not immortal.
However, it is a time that opens up the possibility of great events that will come to free us from this collapse, as can be seen by the prophecies of Fatima. Perhaps this liberation will be one of the greatest events in history—infinitely small in comparison with Holy Christmas—but a monumental event that will also free us from all the horror in which we find ourselves.
Such events can suddenly suspend this collapse and usher in another historical era.
Thus, we find ourselves at the foot of the manger like the Magi and shepherds. We must do as they did and bring our gifts to Our Lord. The gifts He wants from us are our own hearts and souls. We must give ourselves to Him. He wants no other gift than ourselves.
Someone will say, “This gift of myself is such a paltry gift.”
Indeed, it is a paltry gift. However, He receives it with His divine hands, and like the water at Cana, He turns it into wine. Let us say to Him: “Lord, change us: asperges me hyssopo et mundabor; lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor. (Lord, sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will become whiter than snow!).” Behold this gift, Lord, and heed the request of Thy creature who ask that Thou sprinkle and cleanse me.
At the same time, the only way we can offer a gift of ourselves is through Our Lady.
However, we can also ask Our Lord for a gift through her. Whatever we ask through her, we are sure to be heard. What should we ask of Our Lord? What is legitimate to ask of Him through Our Lady?
We can ask for one fundamental gift: “Lord, change the world! Have mercy on those who persevere amid iniquity and shorten our days of affliction. Bring about the Reign of Thy Mother as soon as possible.”
We can also add this request, which is formulated in the Litany of the Saints. It reads: Ut inimicos Santa Matris Ecclesiae humiliare digneris te rogamus, audi nos (That Thou wouldst humble the enemies of Holy Mother Church, we beseech Thee, hear us).
Deign to humble her enemies, O newborn Lord, who rests in the arms of Thy Mother, the most splendid throne that ever was and ever will be for a king on Earth. We beseech Thee, Lord, to bring down, punish, take away these enemies’ influence and prestige, diminish their numbers, and remove their ability to do evil to the Holy Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church! Yes, defeat her enemies, starting with the most terrible ones, which are found not outside but within the Church.