We celebrate, on December 25, the birth of Jesus, the purest and perfect Spirit who lived in this world. His message begins in the manger, a symbol of humbleness, and ends on the cross, forgiving His tormentors. Jesus' whole existence was dedicated to doing well and giving Himself fully to all. He lived only to serve and help, without demanding gratitude or reward. All actions in Jesus' life were to help the needy and losers on Earth.

Mary's mission - According to Spiritism, Jesus is "the Path, the Truth and the Life," leading humankind to God. He is also the model of moral perfection, and Jesus' teachings, recorded in the Gospel, ensure to all who follow them the conquest of spiritual evolution. However, Jesus, even in the spiritual condition of our planet Governor, needed a mother's heart to receive him as a son. It was precisely to Mary of Nazareth that God entrusted this mission, due to the qualities of High Spirit, such as humbleness and the pure love of neighbor. 

Mary and Joseph's difficulties - Because of the advanced state of pregnancy of Mary, Joseph searched for Abias' inn in Bethlehem, and he immediately denied hostel for both, still looked wickedly at Mary, and directed irreverent jokes to Joseph. The couple also asked for accommodation to Joroao, a moneylender who rented rooms, and he promptly refused to accept them. However, when he noticed Mary's beauty, he called Joseph aside and asked if she was the daughter of slaves and if he could buy her. Then, the couple looked for Jacob's boarding house. However, when he looked at Mary, he openly asked how an old man like Joseph could have the courage to walk in the streets with a young woman of that rare beauty. 

The intervention of Gabriel - Notwithstanding all these unfortunate events, the truth is that Joseph and Mary were spiritually accompanied by a legion of Spirits, wise and magnanimous, in front of which stood Gabriel, the same who announced to Mary the birth of her son - Jesus. Faced with this difficult situation, the selfless Gabriel, knelt on the cobbled streets of Bethlehem, prayed fervently and asked for the protection of God, receiving guidance from various Celestial Emissaries of the highest areas of spirituality, so that Maria could get hostel and have her child in a safe place. That is when these Emissaries decided that the only safe place for the birth of Jesus was in the stable, and therefore, inspired Joseph and Mary towards the sheep and oxen shelter. 

Animals on the Christmas table - Such facts, narrated by the spiritual guide Achim Well Ebenezer and registered by the Spirit Humberto de Campos, are published in the Christmas Mediunic Anthology, psycho graphed by the medium Chico Xavier. At the end of his good-humored comment, Chico remembered that if it were not for the beasts of the stable hosting them, perhaps the good news brought by Jesus would have been delayed and Chico Xavier leaves the following question to think about, "Is it not the reason why animals in this world are not killed to celebrate Christmas?" Think about this carefully, and, on the 25th, honor Jesus with no baked animals on the Christmas table. 

The spiritual greatness of Joseph - "Joseph of Galilee was such a deeply spiritual man, that his sublime figure escapes the limited analysis of those who cannot do without the human material to arrive to a definition." This concept belongs to the spiritual guide Emmanuel in a psycho graphed message by Chico Xavier. It was precisely due to his spiritual greatness that the Divine Forces that presided over Jesus' coming to Earth trusted Joseph for this mission.

It is important to emphasize that Joseph was entrusted with the lives of Mary and Jesus, from the stable in Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth to her child safely, and then when they fled to Egypt, to save little Jesus' from the death ordered by Herod until their return to Nazareth. This man, although twice honored by the request of an angel, never once in his life boasted of this godsend.

The first request to Joseph of Galilee was at the time of Mary's pregnancy. Before living together, he decided to stay away from Mary secretly, hoping to avoid her being defamed. When he thought about this, that is when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling him: "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary, because what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you will name him Jesus." In the second dream, Joseph was warned by a Celestial Emissary to flee with his family to Egypt. If we do not have much information about Joseph, it is because he lived in this world in a divine silence of God, being an example of a humble, hardworking man, who loved his family. 

The best tribute - On Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, if you really want to pay a tribute to Jesus on His birthday, help your brothers in misery and pain. Offer a simple flower to the sick abandoned and forgotten in the bed of suffering. With the bread leftover from your table, feed the widow surrounded by her hungry children. Reach out your hand to your brothers in prison. Embrace the old aged in care homes. Talk to our brothers who live in the streets, on the cold sidewalks, and, if possible, serve a cup of milk, sweetened with your generosity. 

Visit of Jesus to Earth - Surely, after your full gift of love, you shall hear inside your heart the Master's unforgettable words: "Truly I tell you, as much as you have done to one of these my little brothers, you have done that to me."  Moreover, do not forget that between eleven at night and the early hours of Christmas Day, Jesus comes to Earth to help sufferers and those forgotten in the streets, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons, everywhere, according to a message of the medium Chico Xavier.

On one of these visits on Christmas Day, Jesus welcomed the soul of Mary, a little girl who died hungry, tired, and sick, stretched out on a sidewalk of a Brazilian city.

When watching this in the spiritual life, the poet, who had previously been born in the state of Ceara, Clotilde Francisca, dictated to the medium Chico Xavier, the following "Christmas Carol," published in "Christmas Mediunic Anthology": 

The night is quite cold...

However, little Mary

is the girl from other nights

shaking, coughing and

walking around...

Christmas bells are heard

here and there...

It is Christmas of peace and love.

There are many voices singing:

- "Praise the Lord."

The street is renewed

like a garden in bloom.

Every decorated shop window

repeats: "Jesus was born!"

Barefoot, dressed in rags,

there goes little Mary...

alone, without a mother to kiss her,

Sad little girl with no father too.

Here and there, she asks for a bread...

She is hungry and sick.

- "Loafer, get out of here at once."

is the cry of many.

- "Thief! - Others say":

- "Get away from here, ugly duckling."

Every lost child

must sleep in jail."

Little Mary is hungry

and cries, the wind

brings the smell of

warm bread in the oven.

Haggard, weary,

after walking so much

she stretches out on the sidewalk...

Tries to sleep, but cannot.

Then a calm and beautiful young man

appears and speaks, sweet and gently:

- Little Mary, are you

sleeping or thinking?

Little Mary answers,

raising her bare little arms:

- Today is Christmas Eve,

I am thinking of Jesus.

- Do you not remember anyone else?

And she, weeping, said:

- I also long for my mother, who died...

- If Jesus appeared,

what would you want from him?

- I would want him to give me

a cake from the bakery...

Then, after eating,

- The poor girl smiled happy -

she wanted a pair of shoes

and a big warm sweater...

After that,... she wanted a house,

as all have...

Finally, I want a doll too.

- But know then, little Mary,

I tell you that this is so!

Today you will have

everything you want.

- But who are you really?

And he says, light in his eyes:

- I am, a lifelong friend,

my daughter, I am Jesus!...

Little Mary, delighted, and

dazed with immense joy,

put her weary head

in his stretched out arms...

And slept, seeing another

in holy wonder,

snuggled in Jesus' arms

in the glory of Heaven.

On the following day, very early,

when the shopkeeper opened the door,

a body fell slightly...

the girl was dead.