Cradle of Redeeming Love: The Theology of the Christmas Mystery (Saward)
In Cradle of Redeeming Love, John Saward returns to the mystery of Christ’s incarnation and birth. Drawing upon both the rich traditions of the Church and the writings of the great Christian mystics, he fashions a work both new and old, revolutionary and orthodox. This profoundly moving meditation on the meaning of the Incarnation will enrich any contemplation on the life of Christ.
The subject of this book is the “Christmas” dogma: the divinely revealed truth of the Nativity of Christ, as proclaimed by His infallible and immaculate Bride, the Church. It is the splendor of this truth, of “Love’s noon in Nature’s night,” which for two millennia has captivated the minds of Fathers and Schoolmen, activated the genius of poets, painters, and musicians, and, in even the bleakest of mid-winters, brightened the eyes of little ones kneeling by the Crib.
“John Saward offers us a profound theological meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation as made visible by the birth of Jesus in a humble cave in Bethlehem. He introduces us to the mystery of Christmas as an anticipation of the joy of the blessed in heaven.”—FR. KENNETH BAKER, S.J.
“John Saward is on my very short list of preeminently important twentieth-century Catholic authors. His writing is always profound, original, and clear. Read him, and find your vision vastly deepened.”—THOMAS HOWARD
“Cradle of Redeeming Love bears John Saward’s hallmark of profundity and precision united. It is both a treasure-trove of texts from the tradition and a comprehensive exposition of the Christmas mystery in its height and depth, length and breath. Any who want to know the why and wherefore of the Incarnation and put Christ back into Christmas need look no further.”—AIDAN NICHOLS, O.P.
