"The birth-day of the Lord"

"WE OUGHT to celebrate the birth-day of the Lord, the day of mercy, with mercy and truth. Christ came to us in these two ways, and so we ought to go to Him. Ps. xxv. 10, "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." To celebrate the day of grace with purity and humility, for these two graces make acceptable grace. Of the first, Prov. xxii. 11, "He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips, the King shall be his friend." Of the second, James iv. 6, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."

~St. Thomas Aquinas:  Advent Homily 1.

Nativity, by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Tempera on panel, c. 1492; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.