Looking Toward the Nativity with St. Cyril of Jerusalem

As we embark upon Advent, and prepare for the coming of the Lord, let us bear in mind these profoundly inspiring words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem:

In his first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger. In his second coming he is clothed with light as with a garment.

In his first coming he bore the cross, despising its shame; he will come a second time in glory accompanied by the hosts of angels.

It is not enough for us, then, to be content with his first coming; we must wait in hope of his second coming. When we said at his first coming, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord', we shall repeat at his last coming...

-- From the catecheses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Taken from the "Office of Readings" for the First Sunday of Advent in the Liturgy of the Hours