Dominus dixit ad me

The Gregorian Mass of Midnight is probably the most expressive and moving of the entire liturgical repertory. It introduces us into the mystery of the Holy Trinity and allows us to hear the intimate dialogue between the Father and His Son: Dominus dixit ad me! The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

In presence of these words we can only remain silent and bow down with humility. God is speaking! He is speaking to Himself and His speech is Himself. His speech is His Word and His Word now has a name since he became visible: Jesus-Christ!

Tonight we can hear the Divine Word resounding from one end of the earth to the other filling the heavens and our hearts. We listen to Him and this brings peace and well-being in our souls. But the world hears too. Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The world is not mistaken. The Baby of Bethlehem comes to foil its plans. Then, a conspiracy is organized in order to eliminate Him. The night of Christmas is already stained by the blood of the Holy Innocents. But it is not enough. They – the enemies of God – want the blood of Jesus. They will be satisfied. They will have His blood. Christ will give it to them. But this time, they will be mistaken. His blood will be for their condemnation and for the salvation of the just.

Now the Gentiles can rage and the people can continue their plots, but it is too late. Jesus Christ already came into the world and He died. The mass murder of the Holy Innocents anticipates the death of Jesus. But they didn’t die for nothing. Nor did Jesus die for naught.

Now the light shines upon the world. Now we have an opening, a path to the Truth and a way toward salvation. Now we have a reason to hope and a God to love. This God gave us a precious gift: His own Son. This is the Baby we come to adore tonight. A Baby! Who could imagine that God had to come under the appearance of a Baby. And it is not merely an appearance since the humanity of Jesus is real and belong to Him. Here is the mystery of the Incarnation. And we are now facing this mystery, unable to understand it. It is ineffable. We can only stammer a few feeble words in an effort to express this mystery. Or better yet, we can remain silent and adore it. Let the generation of the Word be honored by our silence, as a Father of the Church said – I think it is Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. It is the same silence which is most appropriate for another kind of generation, when the Word comes to the altar during Mass. Men cannot express adequatly the greatness of God and it is so much better for them to worship in silence.

In the silence of this very special night, in the silence of our hearts, we can hear God speaking to His Son: In splendoribus sanctorum ex utero ante luciferum genui te - in the brightness of the Saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee.

Tonight we share with all the Saints the brightness of God. We certainly don’t see it yet, but it has already come to enlighten our intelligence and make us believe. Now we should keep this light preciously cherished until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts as Saint Peter says. It will be the day of our generation to eternal life prefigured by the generation of the Word to the temporal life.
This generation will not be completed without our Blessed Mother who was required by God Himself for the temporal generation of His Son. Thus, we turn to her and congratulate for the great honor of being the Mother of the Savior. It is a great mystery that God has chosen to make our salvation depending on the agreement of a woman. And she said Fiat! This little word, as little as was the Incarnate Word in the manger, has changed and renewed the World.

Fiat! Fiat Amen!