"But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2.19)
An icon of the Virgin of Silence.

Michael Praetorius. Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen (1609). Monteverdi Choir.

Miracles at the Birth of Christ
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

The King of Glory sends his Son
To make his entrance on this earth;
Behold the midnight bright as noon,
And heavenly hosts declare his birth.

About the young Redeemer's head
What wonders and what glories meet!
An unknown star arose, and led
The eastern sages to his feet.

Simeon and Anna both conspire
The infant-Saviour to proclaim;
Inward they felt the sacred fire,
And blessed the babe, and owned his name.

Let Jews and Greeks blaspheme aloud,
And treat the holy child with scorn;
Our souls adore the eternal God
Who condescended to be born.

Prayer

Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate your majesty, power-and wonder; nor is it fitting for us to try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love. caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries.
—Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153

English paraphrase

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night

Isaiah 'twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright,
She bore to men a Saviour, when half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger found Him, as angel heralds said

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us, and lightens every load.

O Saviour, Child of Mary, who felt our human woe,
O Saviour, King of glory, who dost our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray,
To the bright courts of Heaven, and to the endless day!