A Christmas wish.
The Seventeenth Letter.
A Christmas wish.
Beloved brother, in the grace of our Immanuel!
May the blessed God-child, especially at this season, infuse Himself into our old, cold, and waste hearts with all His lovely divine attributes, and reveal Himself therein, unto new life and blessedness in God, our Saviour! But this, assuredly, is so hidden a spiritual work that it is wrought no otherwise than in the stillness of God — as the divine, apostolic Ignatius reminds us toward the end of his letter to the Ephesians. Therefore nothing, surely, is more needful for us than, through a childlike, humble self-abandonment, to sink ourselves with Mary into this divine stillness: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord!" (or manservant) "Be it unto me according to Thy word!"
Blessed little Child! work Thou this Thyself in me, and in these my beloved brothers and sisters, that in these days too, and evermore, such an inward Fiat — let it be done — may rise up from the deepest ground of our spirit before Thy countenance, until Thy full birth in us, where we may join in the jubilation: "Glory to God in the highest," and so on.
German
Der siebzehnte Brief.
Weihnachtswunsch.
Geliebter Bruder in der Gnade unsers Immanuels!
Es wolle dann auch sonderlich zu dieser Zeit das gebenedeiete Gottkind sich in unsere alte, kalte und wüste Herzen mit allen Seinen liebwürdigen göttlichen Eigenschaften einflößen und darinnen offenbaren zum neuen Leben und Seligkeit in GOtt, unserm Heilande!
— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.
German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. A Christmas letter — a prayer to the newborn Christ on behalf of a brother and the whole circle of "beloved brothers and sisters." Tersteegen asks that "the blessed God-child," at this season, would "infuse himself into our old, cold, and waste hearts" and "reveal himself therein, unto new life." But he insists this is a hidden work, "wrought no otherwise than in the stillness of God" — quoting the early martyr Ignatius, who wrote that the mysteries of salvation were accomplished "in the silence of God." So nothing is "more needful" than to "sink ourselves with Mary into this divine stillness," making her answer to the angel our own: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord… be it unto me according to thy word." The letter then rises into direct address of the Christ-child: "Blessed little Child! work thou this thyself in me, and in these my beloved brothers and sisters," that "such an inward Fiat — let it be done — may rise up from the deepest ground of our spirit… until thy full birth in us," when "we may join in the jubilation: Glory to God in the highest."
A few words and echoes.
- The God-child in cold hearts. The Christmas prayer: that the "blessed God-child" would be born not only in Bethlehem but "in our old, cold, and waste hearts," bringing "new life."
- Wrought in stillness. His striking source is Ignatius of Antioch, the early martyr, who wrote that God's saving mysteries were accomplished "in the silence of God" — so the inner birth, too, comes only in "divine stillness."
- Mary's fiat. The soul's whole posture is Mary's "be it unto me according to thy word" — a childlike "yes" that lets God act. He even adds, in an aside, "(or manservant)," so a male reader can pray it too.
- Until Christ be formed in you. His hope of the "full birth" of Christ in the soul echoes Paul's longing that "Christ be formed in you" — Christmas made inward and personal.
- Glory to God in the highest. The letter ends where the first Christmas ended, in the angels' song — the soul, once Christ is born in it, joining "the jubilation."
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thi-017 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.