A gentle stirring in the night, deep within the maiden’s womb.

An overshadowing. In a world unseen by mortal eyes, a knitting together: Bone, sinews, eternal

Spirit. That which was from the beginning, eternally begotten, timeless...now

conceived. Supernatural hand withdrawn; nature accommodates. Cells divide

and divide again. Blastocyst becomes embryo and embryo a fetus. A quickening.

Messiah, cradled within the holy virgin.

Day gives way to day, week to week. A young soul magnifies the Lord and

rejoices in God her Savior. He who created all things, who fills the

universe...grows. Fateful day approaches. A decree, a census, a journey to

ancestral lands. The allotment of Judah, Bethlehem Ephrathah—house of

bread—home of kings.

It begins. Birth pangs, fear, shrieks in t ...