Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of
salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is
the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that
holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. This is the season that the Church
has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always
observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the
Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery. In his
infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to
free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us
into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in
right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with
the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of
eternal life.
Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she
urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us. This
holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit
of his contemporaries; his power has still to be communicated to us
all. We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and the
sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us, and live
by that grace and in obedience to Christ.
From a pastoral letter by Saint Charles Borromeo, bishop
(Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis, t. 2, Lugduni, 1683, 916-917)
