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Chadwell St Mary Parish
Church
The Birth of Jesus
Christ
| The virgin Mary lived
in the city of Nazareth.
One day when she was alone, Angel Gabriel appeared to
her and told her, “Don’t be afraid. God has chosen
you. You shall
have a son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He shall be great and
shall be called the Son of God”. Mary was very happy
with the news given to her by the
angel. |
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Joseph the carpenter and his wife Mary went on a
journey. When
they arrived at Bethlehem in the evening, Joseph wanted to
find a comfortable place for his wife Mary who needed to rest
and who was awaiting the birth of her promised Son. The only place
they found was a stable with camels, donkeys and sheep. It was a quite night.
Soon after midnight, Jesus was born under the clear sky of
Bethlehem. |
| After His
birth, the angels were singing in the sky, which was lit by
the light of heaven.
Nearby there was a group of shepherds. An angel appeared to
them and announced to them the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel said, “Do
not be afraid. I
bring you great news.
Today was born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”, and
the angel showed the shepherds where the newborn baby
was. The
shepherds rushed to the stable to see the newborn baby. After seeing Him, the
shepherds left the stable. They praised God
and told everybody what they saw on this first Christmas
morning.
Joseph and Mary went to
Jerusalem to present baby Jesus to God in the Temple. As they were there,
they were approached by an old man, who was known to be always
watching and praying for the coming of the Messiah. The old man whose name
was Simeon, took baby Jesus in his arms. As he looked at the
baby’s face he knew at once that his prayers were
answered. He
said, “Oh Lord, my eyes have seen your salvation”. |
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A few months later, three old men came to Jerusalem
with their servants.
The old men were asking, “Where is he who was born King
of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East and have
come here to worship him “. Herod the king of Judea was
troubled by these events and brought the three wise men to his
palace. He asked
them about the star the have seen and about the King they were
looking for. The
three wise men who spent many years studying the stars
explained to King Herod about the star which they saw, and
that it means the birth of the King of the
Jews. |
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| King
Herod ordered the three old men to go to Bethlehem and bring
him baby Jesus, King of the Jews. “Go to Bethlehem and
bring me the child so that I can also worship
him”. King
Herod’s intention was however not to worship but to kill baby
Jesus. The three
men went to Bethlehem and found baby Jesus. They kneeled before
the child and offered gifts to him. When they left
Bethlehem, they did not go back to Jerusalem because god
warned them in a dream about king Herod’s bad intention. King Herod was very
angry so he ordered that every baby boy in Bethlehem should be
killed. God spoke
to Joseph in a dream that night and told him to take Mary and
the child to Egypt where it is safe. At dawn, Joseph and
Mary along with baby Jesus left Bethlehem and went south
towards
Egypt. |
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