# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1844 12 08_S29
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

The Lutheran.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall not pass away, now nor ever."

Published by C. F. W. Walther.

—

Volume 1.

St. Louis, Mo., December 14, 1844.

No. 8.

Terms: The Lutheran appears once every two weeks, at a subscription price of one dollar twenty-five cents for out-of-town subscribers, who must prepay half of this and bear the postage. — In St. Louis each single issue is sold for 6¼ cents.

Invitations
to a Blessed and Joyful
Celebration of the Holy Feast of Christmas,
Gathered from the Writings of the Church Fathers.

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in
Africa, died a martyr's death in 258.

It is here, the ardently longed-for and long-awaited birth of Christ; it is here, the high festival, and in the presence of the Savior the holy Church throughout the whole earth brings thanks and praise to him who has visited her. Joy is proclaimed to us from heaven, gladness is commanded. That night which beheld the holy birth is illumined by a new radiance. The higher inhabitants render glory in heaven, and peace on earth is assured to the men in whom he is well pleased. Angels are present; they speak to the shepherds; they do not consider it beneath their dignity to converse with the lowly, and although they are exalted beings, they do not despise the least. Neither the unaccustomed light nor the presence of the angels frightens the shepherds; full of true and pure faith, they delight to hear heavenly voices give praise in harmony and, in holy songs, extol the divine glory and grace. (Serm. de nativ. Christi.)

Basil the Great, Bishop of Neocaesarea
in Asia, died 379.

O greatness of the goodness and loving-kindness of God! Through his overflowing goodness we are freed from bondage. Man ponders and searches after the reason why God becomes man, though it would befit him far better to worship God's goodness than presumptuously to seek to fathom the Godhead. (Serm. de hum. Christi generatione.)

Gregory of Nazianzus in Cappadocia,
died 339, after he had laid down the office of
bishop in Constantinople.

Christ is born. Strike up songs of praise. Christ comes from heaven — go to meet him. Christ is on earth — arise. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. And, to join both together: let heaven rejoice, and let the earth be glad, over him who was heavenly and has since become earthly. Christ in the flesh — exult with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of sin, with joy because of the rising hope. — He who is without a mother is afterward born without a father; first without a mother, afterward without a father. — He who is without flesh becomes flesh; the Word becomes body; the Invisible One becomes visible; the Untouchable allows himself to be touched; he who is without time takes his beginning; the Son of God becomes a son of man, Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, and the same forever. To the Jews it may be a stumbling block, to the Gentiles foolishness; let the false teachers work their willfulness — then they will believe, when they see him ascend into heaven; or if not even then, at least afterward, when he comes again from heaven as judge; but for now we must celebrate the appearing of God, or the birth of Christ. — But certainly we do not wish to observe this feast in pagan fashion and with pagan indulgence, but rather to delight ourselves — we who worship the Word — with the Word of God. — Sing songs of praise with the angels and archangels, for I am convinced that they too, out of the love they bear us, celebrate this feast with us in heaven. (Homily 38.)

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan in
Italy, died 397.

When Christ is born, the angels exult, the shepherds keep watch, the wise men come, the star goes before them, and all that is most beautiful in heaven and on earth is brought as an offering to the Lord. For honor is brought to him by the angels, brightness by the star, worship by the wise men, simplicity by the shepherds. (Serm. 12.)

The Same.

He was a little boy, an infant, that you might be a perfect man; he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, that you might be freed from the bonds of death; he was in the manger, that you might be in the sanctuary; he was on earth, that you might be able to be in heaven; he found no room in the inn, that you might have many abiding places in heaven. He, though rich, became poor for your sakes, that you through his poverty might become rich. His poverty is therefore my inheritance, and the Lord's weakness my strength. He chose want, that he might be an abundance of gifts to all. (In Luc. c. 2.)

Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople,
died 407 as an exile.

Fallen, forever fallen was our nature, and only that mighty hand was able to raise it up again. Never could it have arisen, had not he who created it reached out his hand and, through the water and the grace of the Holy Spirit, restored it again to its former excellence. Consider the great, high mystery! He dwells forever in this tabernacle. For he did not take on our flesh in order to lay it aside again, but in order to keep it forever. Were this not so, he would not have raised it to the throne of the Godhead, nor would he, surrounded by it, have let himself be worshiped by the whole heavenly host. Where are the words that could express this great, astonishing honor thereby shown to our race? What angel, what archangel can do this? No one in heaven or on earth. So great are the graces of God, so overflowing his benefits, that not only human tongues, but even the tongues of angels, are too weak to describe them. (Hom. 11. in Joh. cap. 1.)

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa,
died 430.

I ask you, dearest brothers, that with a willing heart you receive the word which the Lord will place in our mouth on this most delightful day, on which even unbelievers feel a sting, on which even the ungodly is seized by mercy, the one lying in bonds hopes for pardon, the prisoner no longer gives up the hope of return, the wounded man awaits his remedy: on which the Lamb is born who bears the sins of the world. (Serm. 7. de temp.)

The Same.

Let all care come to an end; Christ, the true rest, comes to us. Let all misery come to an end; today the Savior has appeared.

Let all wars come to an end, let every strife be settled; true peace descends today from heaven; let all bitterness depart, for today the heavens dripped honey over the whole earth. Let death flee, because today life has been given to us from heaven. The angels sing today over the earth, the archangels rejoice, the prophets are full of praise, the saints are gathered, the wicked are dismayed, the good congratulate themselves, the blind can see again, the deaf hear again, the lame walk again,