It would be of no use if there were many beautiful roses in a garden if the person who is to see them did not have even a drop of poetry. Likewise, to understand the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas, it is necessary to possess at least a bit of poetry, with which to be able to see their beauty and take flight on the wings of hope.
These liturgical seasons each day show us the importance of approaching Christmas with much love and with great enthusiasm to receive the Lord, especially in Holy Communion.
This time, so precious, especially arouses hope, longing, desire, and joy that Jesus may be incarnated, born, and grow in our hearts.
This is certainly very great, since, as is evident, it is much more precious to receive the Lord with the arms of faith and love, having him closely united to our heart, than to have received him with our physical arms during the time of his mortal life. It is much more wonderful to receive the Lord in Holy Communion than to see Him as a child in Bethlehem.
Saint Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity said: “Pacify my soul. Make it your heaven, your beloved home, and the place of your rest. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be there entirely, entirely awake in my faith, entirely adoring, entirely given over to your creative action. (…) Oh, my Beloved Star! Fascinate me, so that I can no longer leave your splendor. Oh, Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love! Come to me so that it may become in my soul like an incarnation of the Word; may it be a humanity of increase, in which He may renew all His mystery.”
Many people give a lot of importance to aesthetics, to what is beautiful, to being pretty. In Italian, putting on makeup is called “truccarsi.” When a person is putting on makeup, what they are doing is hiding their small defects and improving their qualities. In a word, cheating! There is a trick! This can be a very laudable arrangement.
The medieval friar Saint Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelic Doctor, already defended that it is natural and good for a young girl to dress up to be more beautiful. Brides dress up to see their fiancés.
Well, some time ago, a priest was carrying the Blessed Sacrament to a lady who was very old in body, but very, very old, but in soul she was so young that she spent an hour dressing up so that the Lord would be very happy when he came to her soul.
A woman, who was already quite old, asked a priest to wait a little while to give her Holy Communion, since in order to receive the Lord she wanted to put on her little jewels, her earrings. It is clear that she wanted to be pretty for her Lord!
It is within this dynamic of poetry, of youth, of beauty, of illusion, of love, that we prepare ourselves for the feast of Christmas, arranging our soul, beautifying it, making it more beautiful.
Receiving the sacrament of confession serves this good purpose in an excellent way. This holy sacrament cannot be reduced to changing appearances, as occurs with cosmetics, but it does much more, it erases the stains of sin, which are precisely the ugliest. In addition, it adorns us greatly. The embrace that is given to us in this sacrament, which is Beauty, and infinite Beauty, is something that covers our soul with beauty. The soul, then, after confessing, is very, very, beautiful, much, more beautiful than before. There is much more difference in this than there is between a very black crow, including its somewhat repugnant croaks, and a resplendent white dove.
Thus, of course, after purifying the soul and adorning it wonderfully, Christmas reveals its magnificent truth, its goodness, its beautiful poetry, its exciting beauty. In a word, Christmas is a joyful and wonderful song!
