We begin the last day of the Little Journeys of the Virgin, an Advent path that prepares us interiorly for Christmas. It is not just about remembering the journey of Mary and Joseph, but about walking with them, learning to wait, to accept deprivation, and to prepare the heart for the adoration of the Child who is coming. Each day placed us in a stage of this spiritual itinerary, inviting us to advance with fidelity, silence, and hope toward Bethlehem.
INITIAL PRAYER
Before beginning the journey
Lord our God,
Eternal Father, origin of every fulfilled promise,
in the silence of Advent we set out on the path before You.
We know where we are going and with Whom we walk.
You have willed that Your Son not come suddenly, but slowly,
gestated in the faith of a Virgin,
guarded by the silence of a just man,
awaited step by step, day after day.
And in that humble path You have taught us
that salvation does not burst forth with clamor,
but arrives walking little by little.
Today we want to accompany Mary of Nazareth,
Immaculate Virgin and believing Mother,
on her silent march toward Bethlehem.
We want to walk with Saint Joseph, blessed Patriarch,
faithful man who sustains without possessing the mystery that saves the world.
And we want to prepare the heart
to welcome the Child who is coming,
the eternal Word who becomes flesh
without demanding place or forcing doors,
without imposing His Love.
Purify, Lord, our memory,
so that the path may not be merely remembrance, but conversion.
Awaken in us a simple hope, capable of rejoicing even in rejection,
and a humble joy that does not depend on being consoled, but on knowing oneself loved.
May these Little Journeys teach us to walk slowly,
not to anticipate the end, nor flee from weariness, nor close the heart.
Make us interior pilgrims, so that when we arrive in Bethlehem,
we do not pass by, but know how to adore.
Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, who comes to us in poverty
and lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
and is God forever and ever.
Amen.
We no longer walk: the path has fulfilled its mission. Everything is silent and time seems to stand still. In this poor and full silence, He is born… I am with you, my Virgin, and I dare not say anything. I see you bend down, take the Child, wrap Him with a delicacy that is not only of a mother, but of an adorer. Your face does not express triumph or relief, but grateful wonder.
—Mary of Nazareth —I whisper—, what does one do when God allows Himself to be held in one’s hands?
You look at me, and your voice is barely a breath:
—One loves. And one adores.
On his knees, the Patriarch does not speak: his silence is manly, chivalrous, protective, full. I approach him.
—My Father and Lord —I say to him—, what do you now keep in your heart?
He raises his gaze to the Child and replies:
—I keep what is not mine, so that the world may receive it.
I also kneel before the Presence. My Savior is here. Not as an idea, nor as a demand: as the Gift of gifts.
—Baby Jesus —I dare to say—, so many times I did not open to You. Today… I do not know what to give You.
And in Your newborn silence I understand the response: You ask for nothing. You have come to give Yourself. Joy is not noise or passing emotion. It is a deep certainty: God has willed to come this way, small and fragile. And my heart, which so many times was a hermetic inn, today is an open portal, not by merit, but by mercy. And so, I adore.
Prayer
My Virgin, Immaculate Mother, Mary of Nazareth,
teach me to hold Jesus with a clean heart,
not to appropriate Him, to offer Him to the world without reservations.
Keep me in grateful wonder,
in the silence that adores and in the joy that needs no words.
Saint Joseph, Nazarene Patriarch, my Father and Lord,
teach me to guard the holy without possessing it,
to serve the mystery without obscuring it,
to remain faithful when everything seems desperate.
Make me a humble guardian of the gift that God entrusts to me.
And You, my Savior, Divine Redeemer, Awaited Messiah who is already here,
receive my poor and sincere adoration.
Adonai made Child, Flower of Galilee opened in the night,
stay in my life this Christmas, forever.
Make my heart Your home, my days Your dwelling,
and my joy a jubilant praise that sings to You always.
By: Msgr. Alberto José González Chaves