Nativity.
Miniature Minology of Vasily II. Constantinople. 985 Vatican Library. Rome Image from the site pravoslavie.ru
“Christ is born - glorify!” - this is how the Christmas canon begins and everything is clear here. But the further you go, the more difficult the Christmas carol is to hear: “our lifted up horn,” then about the sea beast that “vomited,” a little later — “the overshadowed thicket,” and so on. How to figure it out in order to glorify God consciously? Archpriest Vitaly Golovatenko , rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, explains
Song canon
In fact, there are not one, but two Christmas canons: both were composed in the 8th century by two great church poets and hymnographers: Cosmas of Mayum and his brother John of Damascus.
The Irmos of the first canon (Cosmas of Mayum) are performed every Saturday, starting from the day of the celebration of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 4, according to the New Style) until Christmas, and every day throughout Christmas time until Epiphany Eve (December 18): this is how the connection between the event of the Entry is expressed - the beginning of the preparation of the Mother of God for Her future mission - and the birth of the Savior.
In liturgical monuments of the 5th-8th centuries, the word “canon” refers to selected texts for reading and singing at church services. In the 7th century, a new liturgical genre began to take shape in the Church: the singing canon - a specific rule for singing hymns from the Holy Scriptures.
The singing canon consists of nine biblical hymns (songs in Slavic) combined with troparia (from the Greek “tropos” - “figure of speech”) - poetic texts in which the ideas of each hymn are supplemented and developed in accordance with the theme of the holiday. The combination of a biblical hymn with troparia is called the “song of the canon.”
In each of the nine songs of the canon, the connection with the text of the biblical hymn is made by the initial (main) troparion of the song - irmos, which serves as a model for the performance of the remaining troparions of the canon. It is the irmos (in Greek “plexus”, “ligament”) that links the content of the hymn with the subsequent troparions.
Moscow Sretenskaya Theological Academy
Sretenskaya Academy 01/07/201913997
More than two thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world for our salvation. Is it known reliably on what day and year this happened? What events are depicted on the Nativity icon? Why is He called the “Sun of Truth”? When did the Magi come to the Baby? And how is it that the prophecy says that the Son of God will be called Immanuel, but the baby is named Jesus? Let's try to answer these and other questions related to the Birth of the Savior.
Do you know what year from the Nativity of Christ it actually is?
In 525, one Catholic papal archivist, Dionysius the Small, calculated the year of the Nativity of Christ, which began to be considered the first year of our era. However, there is an opinion that these calculations were incorrect. Let's see what indications exist for a more correct date for Christmas.
The Gospel says that the Virgin Mary and Child and Joseph, some time after His birth, fled to Egypt from the persecution of King Herod the Great. After staying there for some time, they learned about the death of the wicked ruler and returned. According to historians, Herod the Great, according to our chronology, died in 4 BC
AD, which is logically impossible, because our era begins precisely with the Nativity of the Savior. Thus, Christ was born at least 4 years earlier than is commonly believed.
The Nativity of Christ was no earlier than 12 and no later than 4 BC.
Another clue that indirectly points to the year of the Nativity of Christ is the Star of Bethlehem.
Some researchers believe that it was Halley's comet, and conclude that Christmas occurred in 12 BC. This is the earliest dating of the hypotheses proposed by scientists. Thus, the Nativity of Christ was no earlier than 12 and no later than 4 BC, and therefore, according to the calculations of modern historians, in 2021 we will celebrate the 2022–2030th year from the Nativity of Christ.
Nativity.
St. Andrey Rublev. Did you know that before the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany of the Lord were celebrated on the same day?
The modern date of the Nativity of Christ (December 25, old style / January 7, new style) was accepted by the Church only in the 4th century. And in the first three centuries of the new era, the feast of the Nativity of Christ was combined with the feast of Epiphany and was celebrated on January 19 (January 6, old style) under the general name - Epiphany. The reason for this was probably the belief that Christ was baptized on the day of his birth. In addition, until the 70s of the 1st century, the overwhelming majority of Christians were Jews, and among them the question of the date of birth of the Savior was not raised, because it was generally not customary for Jews to know exactly their birthdays. And only in the 2nd–3rd centuries did the first attempts to set the date of Christmas and celebrate this day as one of the main Christian holidays date back.
December 25 was established in Rome at the beginning of the 4th century as the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
Finally, in 337, Pope Julius I approved December 25 as the day of the Nativity of Christ.
Since then, the entire Christian world celebrates Christmas on December 25. The exception is the Armenian Church, which still celebrates Christmas and Epiphany as a single holiday of Epiphany. The Russian Orthodox Church also celebrates the Nativity of Christ on December 25, but according to the old style - according to the Julian calendar (since its hierarchs did not accept the reform of the calendar of Pope Gregory XIII), that is, on January 7 according to the new (Gregorian) style.
Nativity.
Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich. Canvas, oil. Historical, Architectural and Art Museum "New Jerusalem". Did you know that the date of the Nativity of Christ is also not precisely established?
Neither the texts of the New Testament, nor the apocrypha, nor oral tradition have conveyed to us the actual date of birth of Jesus Christ. Why? The fact is that according to an ancient tradition, probably going back to the time of Moses, the Israelis did not celebrate birthdays. Of course, everyone knew their age, but they didn’t celebrate birthdays, and even if they wanted to, they couldn’t do it because of the accepted (also long-established) solar-lunar calendar with a floating beginning of the year, sometimes determined not even by the spring new moon, and in the afternoon, “when the barley starts to spike.”
This was the case during the time of King Herod the Great, who ruled Judea for thirty-four years until his death in the spring of 4 BC. e. and during whose reign the infant Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. If a Jew of those times had wanted to give the date of his birth, he could have said something like the following: “Born on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the 33rd year of Herod,” or rather (since the Jews did not like Herod) , it would be said: “in the 15th year of the Renewal of the Temple.”
As for the Savior’s birthday, December 25 was established as the feast of the Nativity of Christ in Rome at the beginning of the 4th century. It was like that. In 1278 from the founding of Rome (525 AD), Pope John the First commissioned the above-mentioned monk Dionysius the Less, an outstanding theologian, astronomer and mathematician of those times, to compile Easter tables. It was for the convenience of compiling Easter tables that Dionysius chose December 25, 753 from the founding of Rome as the hypothetical date of birth of the Savior. The day of Christmas celebration was established on December 25, for on this day the peoples of the Roman Empire celebrated the pagan “birth of the sun.” The Church glorified Christ who was born on earth - the Sun of truth, giving true Light, the Sun immortal and not afraid of darkness. The earliest news about this holiday dates back to the year 354, when the days of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany of the Lord were separated from each other.
The feast of the Nativity of Christ was finally legalized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. He came to Rus' in the 10th century with the adoption of Christianity. The later interpretation of the time of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25th was the following: the month and day of Christ’s death are precisely known from the Gospels, and (according to church tradition already widespread in the Early Middle Ages) Christ had to be on earth for the full number of years (as a perfect number); from this it followed that He was conceived on the same day on which He suffered, therefore, on the Jewish Passover, which that year fell on March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Counting the required 9 months from this day, we received the date of Christ’s birth - December 25.
This is the history of establishing the currently accepted date of the Nativity of Christ. It remains to add that in 1918, after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in Soviet Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church, in order to remain in the Julian count of days, moved all church holidays 13 days ahead, therefore, since 1919, the Nativity of Christ has been celebrated by the Orthodox world on January 7 (according to new style).
Nativity. Repin Ilya Efimovich. 1890 State Tretyakov Gallery.
Do you know why Christ in the troparion to the Nativity is called the “Sun of Truth”?
The Sun of Truth is one of the names of Jesus Christ. The last words of the phrase visited us from above
- Επεσκέψατο ημάς
ανατολή εξ ύψους
(Luke 1:78) - can be translated as “Sunrise”.
This name is also mentioned in the prophet Malachi: But for you, who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise and healing will arise in His rays, and you will go out and leap like fat calves, and you will trample on the wicked, for they will be dust under the soles of your feet in the day that I will do, says the Lord of hosts
(Mal. 4:2-3).
And here is what St. Nicholas of Serbia writes about this: “It is truly interesting to watch the play of light and shadows. The brighter and higher the sunlight, the shorter the shadows on the earth, and the weaker and lower the sunlight, the longer the shadows. When the midday sun is at its zenith above our heads, the shadows are shortest. And when it leans towards the west, the shadows are longest. Everything in nature has a spiritual meaning; there is not a single physical phenomenon that does not teach people a lesson about God and man.
Christ is called the Sun of Truth and the East of the East. The higher the Sun of Truth, Christ, stands, the smaller and shorter our human shadows are, and the lower Christ is on our horizon, the darker and longer the human shadows.
The Sun of Truth - Christ stands higher, the smaller and shorter our human shadows are, and the lower Christ is on our horizon, the darker and longer the human shadows.
When Christ completely disappears from our horizon, then human shadows lengthen, intertwine and fight like ghosts.
The Christian world has experienced such times of ghosts many times. We have experienced it in our days, and more than once. We did not value light, and the light moved away from us, we loved our thick and long shadows and covered the whole earth with our shadows. And the Lord disappeared from the European horizon, because He does not impose itself on people. He holds every creature in the universe in His power, in His strong right hand, only He does not impose itself on man, He only leaves man a choice - either with light or with darkness; either to heaven with angels or to a swamp with toads; either to be the son of the Most High God or to recognize himself as the son of potter’s clay and blacksmith’s coal.”
Adoration of the Magi.
Klavdiy Vasilievich Lebedev. Church and Archaeological Office of the MDA. Do you know why the prophet Isaiah says that the Son of God will be called Immanuel, but He was called Jesus?
The Holy Scriptures say about the conception and birth of the Savior: Behold, the Virgin is with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel
(Isa. 7:14), which means “God is with us.”
The words: “they will call Immanuel” mean nothing more than that they will see God with people.
Saint John Chrysostom, interpreting this passage of Holy Scripture, says: “Why, you say, was His name called not Emmanuel
, but Jesus Christ?
Because it is not said “you will name,” but “they will name,” that is, the peoples and the event itself. Here the name is borrowed from an incident, as is typical of Scripture to use incidents instead of names. So, the words: “they will call Immanuel” mean nothing more than that they will see God with people. Although God has always been with people, he has never been so obvious. <…> In the same way, the prophet says about the city that it will be called “the city of righteousness, the faithful capital” - the city of righteousness, the mother of cities, faithful Zion
(Is. 1:26); and, however, nowhere is it visible that this city was called “truth”; it continued to be called Jerusalem. But since Jerusalem really became such when it corrected itself, the prophet said that it would be called that. Thus, if any incident shows more clearly than the name itself the one who committed it or took advantage of it, then Scripture imputes the reality of the event to him in the name.”
Saint Philaret (Drozdov) writes: “The name Emmanuel was predicted not as the proper name of Jesus Christ, but as a name that meant what Jesus Christ should be, and indeed, since He was at one time both God and man and dealt with people, then He truly was Immanuel
, that is:
God is with us
.
In a similar way, the same Isaiah said: and His name is called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Father of the Age to Come
(Isa. 9:6); This does not mean that each of these names should be His own name, but only shows that He will be everything that these names mean, and that each of them is appropriate to Him.”
The appearance of an angel to the shepherds. Nativity. Candlemas. Mosaic based on the original by I. F. Porfirov, Church of the Resurrection of Christ (Savior on Spilled Blood), St. Petersburg. Did you know that there is no prophecy in the Holy Scriptures that Jesus will be called a Nazarene?
The Holy Scriptures say about the settlement of Jesus in Nazareth: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that He should be called a Nazarite.
(Matt. 2:23).
Archbishop Averky (Taushev), discussing this biblical verse, says: “We, however, do not find such a prophecy in the Old Testament. It has been suggested that this prophecy was in a book lost by the Jews. Others think that the Evangelist is not pointing here to one prophecy in particular, but is referring to the general nature of all prophecies about the humiliated state of Christ the Savior,” because “to leave Nazareth meant to be neglected... On the other hand, “ “Nazarites” in the Old Testament were people who dedicated themselves to God; perhaps this was the reason for calling Jesus Christ a Nazarite, as the highest bearer of Nazarite vows - complete dedication of Himself to the service of God.”
And blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria wrote: “ He will be called a Nazarene
: Which prophet speaks about this cannot be found now: for due to the negligence of the Jews, as well as due to constant captivity, many prophetic books were lost. But it is possible that this prophecy was transmitted unwritten among the Jews. Nazarite means “sanctified”; Since Christ is holy, He was rightly called a Nazarite, for the Lord is called “the Holy One of Israel” by many prophets.”
Nativity. Mosaic. Byzantium. XIV century Did you know that the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem was also the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy?
Among the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ there is a text that researchers attribute to the Star of Bethlehem. This is the prophecy:
I see Him, but now I am not there yet; I see Him, but not close. A star rises from Jacob and a rod arises from Israel, and smite the princes of Moab and crush all the sons of Seth.
(Num. 24:17)
According to Bishop Alexander (Mileant) of Buenos Aires and South America (1938–2005), this prophecy of the sorcerer Balaam, mentioned in the Old Testament, about the Star (Christ) from the tribe of Jacob laid the foundation for the belief of both the Israelites and the Persians, from whom the Magi mentioned in the Gospel came that the coming of the Messiah would be preceded by the appearance of a bright star in the sky.
Christmas. Bow to the kings. Nesterov M. V. 1903 Fragment of the painting of the northern wall of the church in the name of the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky
Did you know that the bringing of gifts from the East was also announced by one of the Old Testament prophets?
The psalmist David in Psalm 71 says: the kings of Tarshish and the islands will bring him tribute; the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring gifts; and all kings will worship him; all nations will serve him
(Ps. 71:10,11).
We are talking about the bringing of gifts by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon of Israel. The queen came from distant lands to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, which the Lord awarded him. This event is a prototype of the coming of the Magi from distant lands to Christ and the bringing of gifts.
Euthymius Zigabenus, a 12th-century Byzantine theologian and exeget, writes about this prophetic verse: “Someone adapts this to Solomon, to whom many merchants rushed on ships. But all of these truly submitted to Christ with faith, worshiped Him as God, and brought gifts through the Magi as to a king. The islands that bring gifts to Christ can also be souls” departing “from bitter unbelief”, and “the Arabians - according to the translation - west”, those “whose sun, which was in [their] respect due to error, disappeared and evening came [ that is, the end] of bad deeds” after their conversion to Christ, which is expressed by the name Sava, “for Sava... means conversion.” Tarshish, according to the interpretation of Euthymius Zigaben, means the contemplation of joy.
Answering the question why the eastern wise men from Persia, and not from another place or people, were the first to come to the birth of the Lord, the Byzantine theologian writes that, firstly, they fulfilled the same ancient prophecy mentioned above: the Kings of Arabia and Sheba will present gifts , “for the Persians then owned these countries. Their land yields excellent gold and myrrh and frankincense.”
That is why it was necessary for the Persians, “who received primacy at that time, to come and worship the first and only king of the ages - Christ our God who appeared on earth - bringing Him gifts.” By this they “would testify that the born king is the Lord and the Lord and the king over those who ruled almost all the earth and had primacy over everyone, to whom they had to bow and accompany him as His shield-bearers.”
John Duncan.
Adoration of the Magi. Scotland. XIX century Do you know why exactly two thousand years ago the Savior came into the world?
By the time of the Nativity of Christ, humanity had matured so much that it was able to accept the news of the Birth of the Son of God. The Apostle Paul writes: When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His (Only Begotten) Son, born of a woman, made subject to the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons.
(Gal. 4:4, 5). Saint Leo the Great, Pope of Rome, interprets these words of the holy apostle as follows: “So, beloved, the time has come for the redemption of people. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes in these last times of the world, descending from the Heavenly Throne, but without departing from the glory of the Father, appearing as a new Christmas in a new appearance.”
One might think that God was slow in saving humanity from the power of the devil and sin. Saint Leo writes on this occasion: “The Incarnation of the Word has always strived for fulfillment, and the Sacrament of Human Salvation has never delayed at any time. The Apostles preached it, the prophets proclaimed it, and it was not late in fulfilling what has always been an object of faith.”
In addition, the Son of God was born exactly 2000 years ago, since he could not break His prophecy given to the prophet Daniel. The prophecy reads: Seventy weeks are appointed for your people and for your holy city, that the transgression may be covered, the sins may be sealed, and the iniquities may be blotted out, and that everlasting righteousness may be brought in, and the vision and the prophet may be sealed, and the prophet may be anointed.
Holy
of holies. Therefore, know and understand: from the time the commandment goes out to restore Jerusalem until Christ the Master there are seven
weeks
and sixty-two
weeks
;
and [the people] will return and streets and walls will be built, but in difficult times (Dan. 9: 24–25).
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) interprets this prophecy as follows: “By week the prophet means seven years. Seventy weeks will be 490 years. <…> We are talking here about the redemption by Christ the Savior of people who violated the will of God and committed the fall. The prophecy directly indicates the Messiah... The counting of seventy weeks (490 years) begins from the date of the restoration of Jerusalem.”
Thus, the Savior came into the world 2000 years ago, since the fullness of times had come, and also this time was indicated by the prophecy received by the prophet Daniel from God Himself.
Nativity. Nesterov M. V. 1890-1891 Paper on cardboard, gouache, gold. Sketch of the painting of the altar wall of the southern limit in the choir of the Vladimir Cathedral. State Tretyakov Gallery. Do you know what events are usually depicted on the icon of the Nativity of Christ?
The first images of the Nativity of Christ are in the Christian catacombs of Rome. The paintings, dating back to the 2nd century, depict the Mother of God with the Holy Child seated on a throne, and the Magi with gifts who came to worship the King. These paintings always show a different number of Persian Magi, but very soon a tradition developed of depicting exactly three Magi of different ages: young, mature and old. Much later, during the Renaissance, images of the Nativity of Christ will feature a black man, a European and an Asian man in Persian clothes, as if as evidence that all peoples will bow before the incarnate Lord.
Soon, on the icons of the Nativity of Christ, the Virgin Mary began to be depicted lying on a bed next to the Baby.
When the Church under Constantine the Great gained freedom and emerged from the catacombs, church art began to quickly change and develop.
Soon, on the icons of the Nativity of Christ, the Virgin Mary began to be depicted lying on a bed next to the Baby. The outlines of the cave began to appear, in which, according to the Gospel, Christ was born and was laid in a manger (a feeding trough for livestock). The same star of Bethlehem is also depicted, shedding its light on the born Savior. In the upper part of the icon there appear the heavenly armies proclaiming the good news, shepherds, Joseph the Betrothed sitting at the feet of the Mother of God, and the scene of the washing of the Child in the lower part of the icon. In addition to a herd of shepherds, a donkey and an ox are traditionally depicted near the manger, looking at the Baby. The Byzantine tradition of iconography of the Nativity of Christ was finally canonically formed only after the end of the struggle against iconoclasm, in the 9th century. It was this tradition that Russian icon painting subsequently adopted. The 15th century icon, attributed to Andrei Rublev, became a model for depicting this bright holiday. As we already know, the Magi most likely came to the Savior only after His Nativity. Therefore, they are often depicted several times on one icon: going to Bethlehem (or on horseback) and bringing gifts to the Savior in a nativity scene. The later the image of Christmas dates back to, the more complex and wordy the image. Subjects such as the flight of the holy family to Egypt and the massacre of the Bethlehem infants appear here.
One interesting feature of the traditional icon of the Nativity of Christ is the appearance of a certain person next to Joseph the Betrothed. Some researchers call him almost a demon tempting the old man; according to another version, he is an elderly shepherd who makes him doubt about the seedless conception of the Baby Jesus. But this version is also refuted by the fact that on many ancient icons the elderly shepherd is depicted separately from the righteous Joseph. In ancient paintings, next to the holy elder, the prophet Isaiah was sometimes depicted, who witnessed the Incarnation of God long before the Nativity of Christ.
The iconography of the holiday continues to develop, images of various events related to the Incarnation may appear in it, but always, as in ancient times, the Christmas icon will first of all exude a feeling of the closeness of the incomprehensible God to people, a feeling of His omnipotence and boundless love.
Editorial staff of the Sretensky Seminary website
The material was first published on January 6, 2018.
Christmas chaos
When, over time, the singing canon was finally established in liturgical use, the irmos of some festive canons formed an independent genre - katavasia. “Katavasia” (from the Greek “katabasis” - “descent down”) is the name given to groups of irmos of some festive canons, for the solemn performance of which at the end of each song of the canon, the singers of both church choirs (right and left choir) left their places and united into one choir in the middle of the temple. Of course, now such a unification of choirs in parish churches occurs infrequently.
Merry Christmas greetings in pictures
Christ was born - congratulations / vitanya.in.ua
Christ is born - congratulations / krasainfo.com
Merry Christmas cards / rubezhnoe.com
Christ is born - pictures and postcards / pinterest.se
Irmos 1: Christ is born!
The Christmas chaos consists of the irmos of the canon of St. Cosmas of Mayum. The author was inspired to write it by the festive sermon of St. Gregory the Theologian - “A Word on Epiphany, or on the Nativity of the Savior” (until the beginning of the 5th century, the events of the Nativity and Baptism of Christ in the Christian Church constituted one feast of Epiphany). The poetic beginning of this Word became the irmos of the first song of the canon:
Christ is born, glorify: Christ from heaven, hide: Christ is on earth, be exalted: sing to the Lord, all the earth, and people sing with joy, for you have been glorified.
(translation)
Christ is born - praise! Christ (coming) from heaven - welcome! Christ on earth - ascend (to heaven)! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! O people, sing (to Him) with joy, for He is glorified.
According to the law of the genre, the irmos of each song of the canon must be thematically connected with the poetics of the corresponding song of the Holy Scripture. The first biblical song is considered to be the victory hymn of the prophet Moses “We sing to the Lord, gloriously we will be glorified...” (see Ex. 15: 1-19). The connecting link of the first irmos is the last verse “for he was glorified,” coinciding with the supreme image of the prophetic hymn of Moses - the Lord of glory, who once delivered His people from Egyptian slavery. Now the Lord incarnates with glory (born as the God-man) in order to deliver all humanity from slavery to sin.
Second Bible Hymn
- the accusatory song of Moses from the book of Deuteronomy (about God’s faithfulness to His Covenant in the “days of old” and the infidelity of Israel, entailing retribution (see 32: 1-43) - is included in the songs of the canon only during the periods of Great Lent and Pentecost, and the rest of the time the canon consists of eight songs: 1, 3-9.
Newspaper of the Novosibirsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Churchpublished with the blessing of His Eminence Tikhon
Archbishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christ is born, glorify - the history of the holiday and explanation of liturgical chants
The main and initial purpose of establishing this holiday is to remember and glorify the event of the appearance in the flesh of the Son of God. But there was another reason and goal: somewhat earlier than in the Orthodox Church, the celebration of Baptism was introduced by the Gnostic heretics (Ebionites, Docetes, Basilidians), because they attached the greatest importance in the life of the Savior to His Baptism. Thus, the Ebionites taught that Jesus was the son of Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that Christ was united with him at Baptism; The Docetes recognized human nature in Christ as only illusory; finally, the Basilidians did not recognize the incarnation and taught that God sent his Mind, the first outflow of the Divinity, and he, like a dove, descended in the Jordan on Jesus, who before that was a simple man, susceptible to sin. But nothing drew Christians into heresy, especially into Gnosticism, so much as the Gnostic worship service, full of harmonious and beautiful songs. It was necessary to contrast the Gnostic holiday with our own - the Orthodox one.
And so, the Orthodox Church established the solemn holiday of the Baptism of the Lord and called it Epiphany. On this day, Christ did not become God for the first time, but only revealed Himself as God, appearing as One of the Trinity, the Son of God in the flesh. In order to undermine the false thinking of the Gnostics regarding the Baptism of Christ, the Church began to add the remembrance of Christmas to the remembrance of Baptism. And thus, in the 4th century throughout the East, Epiphany and Christmas were celebrated on the same day, namely January 6, under the common name of Epiphany.
The original basis for celebrating the Nativity of Christ (as well as Epiphany) on January 6 was not the historical correspondence of this date to the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, but a mysterious understanding of the relationship between the first and second Adam, between the author of sin and death and the Author of life and salvation. The second Adam - Christ, according to the mysterious contemplation of the Ancient Church, was born and died on the same day on which the first Adam was created and died - on the sixth, which corresponded to January 6, the first month of the year.
The Feast of the Nativity of Christ was first separated from Epiphany in the Roman Church in the first half of the 4th century. By moving the holiday to December 25, the Church intended to create a counterbalance to the pagan cult of the sun and protect believers from participating in it and, thereby, turn the hearts of people to the knowledge of the true God. It is known that the Romans fell on December 25 (January 7 of the new style) a pagan holiday in honor of the winter solstice - the day (birth) of the appearance of the invincible sun, which winter could not overcome and which from now on goes to Spring. This holiday of the renewed sun god was a day of unbridled amusement for the people, a day of fun for slaves, children and others. Thus, this day itself could not be more appropriate for remembering the event of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Who in the New Testament is called the Sun of Truth, the Light of the World, the Savior of people, the Conqueror of death.
The celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 in the Eastern Church was introduced later than in the Western Church, namely in the second half of the 4th century.
For the first time, separate celebrations of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord were introduced in the Church of Constantinople around the year 377 at the direction of Emperor Arcadius and thanks to the energy and power of eloquence of St. John Chrysostom. From Constantinople, the custom of celebrating the Nativity of Christ on December 25 spread throughout the Orthodox East.
The establishment of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 had another reason. According to the thoughts of the Fathers of the Church of the 3rd and 4th centuries (Saints Hippolytus, Tertullian, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Blessed Augustine), the 25th day of December historically most closely corresponds to the day of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
***
Since ancient times, many chants have been known glorifying the incarnation of the Son of God. The most frequently used of them are the troparion, kontakion and irmos of the canon.
Troparion is a short chant that expresses the essence of the holiday. Sometimes, as its theme, the troparion takes some factual detail of a remembered sacred event and builds on it an edification of a doctrinal nature. Thus, in the troparion for the Nativity of Christ, one detail is taken - the worship of the Magi. An extraordinary star that appeared in the sky during the birth of the Savior illuminated the world with the light of knowledge. She taught the star-worshipping Magi to worship the Sun of Truth and to know the East from above - Christ, the true God. “East from above” is how the holy righteous Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, calls the Savior in the New Testament (Luke 1:78). East here does not mean the name of the cardinal direction, but the Rising Sun, that is, Jesus Christ. The physical sun shines on people, rising (apparently) from bottom to top, and the Sun of Truth, Christ, illuminated the earth, descending on it from heaven (from top to bottom). Hence He is the Rising from on high. This rhetorical device - a combination of words with opposite meanings - is called an oxymoron and is often used in church songwriting.
Thy Nativity, Christ our God, rises up into the world's light of reason, in which those who serve as stars learn to bow to Thee, the Sun of Truth, and lead thee from the heights of the East. Lord, glory to You!
Your birth, our God, shone for the world with the light of true knowledge; for during it those who served the stars were taught by the star to worship You, the Sun of Truth, and to recognize You, the Rising from on high. Lord, glory to You!
Another short chant glorifying the coming of the Son of God into the world is the kontakion. The Kontakion of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ was written by one of the most brilliant church hymn writers - the Venerable Roman the Sweet Singer, who lived in the 6th century. He served as a sexton in the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Saint Romanus was often ridiculed by his fellow clerics for his quiet and inept singing and reading.
One day, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ (the eve of the holiday), at the end of the service, he fell before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, bitterly weeping and praying. At night, in a dream vision, the Mother of God appeared to the saint and, giving him a scroll (in Greek, kondakion), commanded him to eat. Thus, the Monk Roman received the gift of book understanding, composing and performing church hymns. During the all-night vigil, when it was necessary to sing a hymn in honor of the holiday, Saint Roman ascended to the pulpit and sang his first kontakion in a wondrous voice:
“Today a virgin gives birth to the Most Essential...” From the scroll given to the Mother of God (kondakion) and all the hymns of the saint began to be called kontakion. In total, Saint Roman the Sweet Singer wrote more than a thousand hymns, many of which Christians glorify God to this day.
In addition to the troparion, which explains the essence of the celebrated event, the kontakion gives a complete picture, depicting it from the outside. This is a word icon. The Nativity of Christ appears as a union of the most distant opposites: the Virgin and the One who is above every creature, the low cave and the inaccessibly High, angels and shepherds, the wise men and the stars, the young Youth and the Eternal God.
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Most Essential, and the earth brings a den to the Unapproachable, Angels and shepherds glorify, and wolves travel with the star; For our sake, the Young Child, the Eternal God, was born.
Today the Virgin gives birth to Toro, Who above every creature and earth presents to the Inaccessible a cave; angels praise with the shepherds, while the wise men travel with the star. For for our sake a young Youth was born, Who is the Eternal God.
One of the significant parts of the festive service is the canon. The canon is a series of church chants, closely related to each other both musically (by melody, and in the Greek original by a certain poetic meter) and in content. The canon compares Old Testament types and prophecies with the corresponding events of the New Testament, and poetically pours out the pious feelings of the believing heart. The canon consists of 9 hymns (usually 8, since the second hymn is absent in all canons except for Lenten canons). Each hymn is divided into an irmos and several troparia.
There are two canons in the service of the Nativity of Christ. They belong to the pen of the most famous and talented songwriters - the Monk Cosmas of Mayum and John of Damascus, who lived in the 8th century.
Here is the text of the Irmos - the first stanzas of the songs of the first canon with translation into Russian.
1. Christ is born, glorify. Christ from Heaven, hide it. Christ on earth, ascend. Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and sing with joy, O people, for you have been glorified.
Christ is born - sleep! Christ from heaven - welcome! Christ on earth - arise! Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and sing with joy, O people, for He is glorified!
3. First of all, to the Son born incorruptible from the Father, and in the last from the Virgin incarnate without seed, let us cry out to Christ God: Our horn is lifted up, holy art thou, O Lord.
Before the ages (before the beginning of time), let us exclaim, incorruptible from the Father, to the Son born from the Father, and in the last times, infinitely incarnate from the Virgin, Christ God: Holy art Thou, Lord, who hast exalted our horn (symbol of strength and dignity)!
4. The rod from the root of Jesse and the Flower from it, O Christ, from the Virgin you grew green, from the mountain, the Praiseworthy, the shaded thicket, you came, incarnate from the Unartful, the Immaterial and the God. Glory to Your power, Lord.
A branch from the root of Jesse and a flower from him, Christ, You have sprouted from the Virgin; From a mountain overshadowed by a thicket, You came, praised, having become incarnate from one who knew no man, Immaterial and God. Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
5. God of peace, Father of bounties, You have sent us the Great Council of Your Angel, the giver of peace. Thus, having been taught the wisdom of God towards the light, from the morning we glorify Thee, O Lover of Mankind.
Being the God of peace and the Father of mercy, You have sent us the Angel of Your great counsel, giving us peace; Therefore, we, brought to the light of the knowledge of God, awake from the night, praise You, O Lover of Mankind.
6. And from the womb of Jonah the baby the sea beast vomited and took him in; The Word that entered into the Virgin and received the flesh passed through, preserving it incorruptible, for He did not suffer corruption, preserve the One who gave birth undamaged.
From the womb Jonah, like a baby, was cast out by the sea beast just as he had received him; and the Word, having moved into the Virgin and taking on flesh, passed through Her, preserving it incorruptible. For Itself, being incorruptible, kept the One who gave birth unharmed.
7. The fathers were educated in piety, heedless of the evil command, not afraid of the fiery rebuke, but standing in the midst of the flame, poyahu: Fathers, God, blessed art thou.
The youths, brought up with piety, neglecting the wicked command, were not afraid of the fiery threat, but standing in the middle of the flames, they sang: “God of the fathers, blessed are You!”
8. The miracle of the supernatural, dew-giving, depict the image of the cave: not more, even as it is accepted, scorches the young, as if below the fire of the Virgin’s Divinity, in Nyuzha’s womb. Thus let us sing in praise: may all creation bless the Lord and exalt it to all ages.
The dew-bearing furnace presented an image of a supernatural miracle; for it does not burn the young men whom it has received, just as the fire of the Divine does not burn the womb of the Virgin into which it entered. Therefore, as we sing, let us exclaim: “May all creation bless the Lord and exalt it to all ages!”
9. I see a strange and glorious sacrament: Heaven is a den, the Throne of Cherubim is the Virgin, a manger is a container, and reclining in them is the Inconceivable Christ God, Whom we magnify in praise.
I see a strange and extraordinary sacrament: a cave - like the sky, a Virgin - like a cherubic throne, a manger (a feeding trough for livestock - Author's note) - like a spacious place where the incontainable Christ God reclined, whom we, chanting, magnify.
Irmos 3: the song of Anna, mother of Samuel, who thanked God for resolving infertility
The third song is a hymn to Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel (see 1 Samuel 2: 1-10). Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, the last of the judges of Israel, thanked God for the resolution of her barrenness: “Mine heart be established in the Lord.” Her song is a symbolic expression of the prayer of the entire Church, formerly barren, but now rejoicing for her many holy children, or of every Christian soul asking for confirmation in the Lord.
The Irmos of Kosma Mayumsky presents the central image of this hymn - a horn, an ancient biblical symbol of power, strength, dignity:
First of all, to the Son born incorruptibly from the Father, and in the last century to the Virgin incarnate without seed, let us cry out to Christ our God: Our exalted horn, holy art thou, Lord.
(translation)
To the Son, before (all) times Incomprehensibly (not according to the law of corruptible nature) born of the Father, and in the last (times) infinitely incarnate from the Virgin - Christ God (thus) let us exclaim: “Holy are You, Lord, Who exalted our (human) dignity! »
The Infant Christ, fresco, 18th century.
Moscow Sretensky Monastery Iobrazhenie from the site pravoslavie.ru
Orthodox Life
Christ was born to unite us in the Truth, which He Himself is, so that in Christ we learn to know what the will of God is, and try to do it, for our life is in the will of God.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE from the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine to the archpastors, pastors, monastics and all faithful children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Christ is born, praise!
I heartily congratulate you all: God-loving Archpastors and shepherds, all-honorable monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters, on the great and joyful Feast of the Nativity according to the flesh of our Savior and God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
On these sacred days, the entirety of our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church offers humble prayers, remembering and glorifying the incomprehensible Divine love and thanking God for coming to earth and taking upon Himself our human nature in order to save us. Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea says that the Old Denmi God became a Child in order to make us children of God; He who sits in glory in Heaven for our sake rests in the manger of dumb animals; The dispassionate, the incorporeal, the vast, wraps itself in swaddling clothes to break the bonds of sin that bind humanity.
On these holidays, we remember with love and reverent surprise the blessed night of Bethlehem, under the mysterious cover of which “a great mystery of piety took place: God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). The Son of God was born at night to dispel the spiritual night that sin has engulfed humanity, and to remind us that He, our Savior and Lord, is “the True Light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9), to remind you that He is the Sun of Truth, with Whom night becomes day and without Whom day becomes night.
How happy were the Bethlehem shepherds who heard the angels singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Luke 2:14). With trepidation they stepped into the Bethlehem cave and saw the Marvelous Infant of God, entwined and lying in a manger (Luke 2:16). Their minds could not comprehend, but by the faith of their hearts they understood that before them lies the One who once created Adam from the virgin soil and who now wove flesh for Himself from the Blessed Virgin and came Himself to earth as the New Adam.
The shepherds understood with faith in their hearts that before them lay the Eternal God, Who came to earth to save humanity, which He created, and to destroy death, which He did not create (Wis. 1:13). The shepherds, with the faith of their hearts, understood that before them lay the Great Shepherd, Who “lays down His life for His sheep” (John 10:11), Who left many sheep that were not lost in order to find one that was lost (Matthew 18:12).
The wise Magi, the three Kings from the east, also came to the newborn God-Infant, who brought Him gifts: incense, gold and myrrh. It was revealed to the Magi that before them lay the “High Priest of good things to come” (Heb. 9:11) and the “King of kings” (Rev. 19:16). The news that a King had come into the world (Matthew 2:2) alarmed the power-hungry King Herod, and then, throughout history, this news alarmed those who, like Herod, were obsessed with the passion of power. Power seekers do not want to have a Tsar over them, because in their pride they consider themselves the best of all. Power seekers do not perceive power as a Cross that God must place on them; they believe that power is something that must be achieved oneself, using all possible measures and means, regardless of their moral content. Power seekers, even if they believe in Christ, do not submit to Christ, but, on the contrary, try to force Christ to make them earthly kings. This is exactly what the Jewish elders demanded from the Savior, as from the Messiah; and when they heard the words of the Savior that His Kingdom was not of this world, they hated Christ and crucified Him.
Lust for power is a medal, on the other side of which is the fight against God. Lust for power destroys everyone who is possessed by it, regardless of whether it is a worldly person or this person is clothed in a high spiritual rank; it destroys everyone and everything.
This must be remembered, dear brothers and sisters. It is necessary to remember that the Son of God came to earth to give us an eternal Kingdom, a Kingdom that is not of this world. The Son of God created the Church, which leads man to the eternal Kingdom and eternal life. The Church is the mysterious Body of Christ, and He, the Son of God, our Savior, is its Head and Great Pilot. All people, without exception, must submit to the Church, that is, not lead it, but live according to the laws of the Church. Whoever introduces the laws of love of power and violence into the life of the Church becomes a foreign body in the Church, which sooner or later will be thrown out by the grace of God beyond the Church threshold.
May this not happen to us, for Christ was born to unite us in the Truth, which He Himself is, so that in Christ we learn to know what the will of God is, and try to do it, for our life is in the will of God.
Once again I congratulate you, dear brothers and sisters, on the Nativity of Christ, on the New Church Year and on the feast of Holy Epiphany. May the Son of God, Who was born into the world and became the Son of Man, bless us all, our entire Ukrainian people and land. May the star of Bethlehem illuminate our earthly paths, so that we may spend the days of our earthly wanderings in peace, humility and mutual love, and in eternity we will be honored to live in joy where the eternal King, Master and Lord Jesus Christ reigns. Amen.
Humble +ONUPHRIUS,
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine
Christmas, 2018/2019
Kyiv
Christmas messages from the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary
Metropolitan Augustine of Belotserkovsky and Boguslavsky
Metropolitan Alexy of Balta and Ananyevsk
Metropolitan Vladimir-Volynsky and Kovel Vladimir
Metropolitan of Gorlovka and Slavonic Mitrofan
Metropolitan Irenei of Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd
Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol
Metropolitan Nicodemus of Zhitomir and Novograd-Volynsk
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol
Metropolitan Elisey of Izyum and Kupyansk
Metropolitan Joasaph of Kirovograd and Novomirgorod
Metropolitan Ephraim of Krivoy Rog and Nikopol
Metropolitan Nicholas of Kremenchug and Lubensky
Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk Mitrofan
Metropolitan Theodore of Mukachevo and Uzhgorod
Metropolitan of Nikolaev and Ochakovsky Pitirim
Metropolitan Vissarion of Ovruch and Korosten
Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail
Metropolitan Philip of Poltava and Mirgorod
Metropolitan Bartholomew of Rivne and Ostrog
Metropolitan of Sumy and Akhtyrsky Evlogiy
Metropolitan of Ternopil and Kremenets Sergius
Metropolitan of Uman and Zvenigorod Panteleimon
Metropolitan of Kharkov and Bogodukhov Onuphry
Metropolitan John of Kherson and Tauride
Metropolitan Mark of Khust and Vinogradovsk
Metropolitan of Chernigov and Novgorod-Siversk Ambrose
Archbishop of Berdyansk and Primorsky Ephraim
Archbishop of Vinnitsa and Barsk Barsanuphius
Archbishop of Dzhankoy and Razdolnensky Alypiy
Archbishop Nicholas of Kremenchug and Lubensky
Archbishop of Lvov and Galicia Filaret
Archbishop of Nizhyn and Priluki Clement
Archbishop of Novokakhovsk and Genicheski Filaret
Archbishop of Rovenkovsky and Sverdlovsk Panteleimon
Archbishop of Severodonetsk and Starobelsk Nikodim
Bishop of Alexandria and Svetlovodsk Bogolep
Bishop of Ascension and Pervomaisky Alexy
Bishop of Volyn and Lutsk Nathanael
Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia Seraphim
Christmas video greetings from the vicars of the laurels of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, abbot of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Metropolitan Vladimir of Pochaev, abbot of the Dormition Pochaev Lavra
Metropolitan Arseny of Svyatogorsk, abbot of the Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra
Irmos 4: Glorification of the Mother of God who gave birth to Christ
Habakkuk's prophecy about the Mother of God as the Mountain of God, overshadowed by grace from above (see Hab. 3: 2-19), is embodied in the poetics of the irmos of the fourth song (Jesse is the father of King David, the ancestor of the Mother of God):
The rod from the root of Jesse, and the flower from it, Christ, from the Virgin, you grew green, from the mountain of praise, the shaded thicket, you came to be incarnate from the unartful, immaterial and God. Glory to Your power, Lord.
(translation)
Christ, You are a branch from the root of Jesse and a flower from him! Glorified One, You grew from the Virgin - from the mountain, overshadowed by the coolness of the forest thicket. You, the incorporeal God, came (to us), having become incarnate from a woman who did not know a husband (Mary). Lord, glory to Your power!
Irmos 5: Peace on earth, love in people
According to the teachings of the Church, the message to fallen humanity of Christ the Savior, reconciling sinful man with the Holy God, was predetermined at the pre-eternal (held before the beginning of the world) Council of the Holy Trinity. That is why in the prophecy of Isaiah Christ is called the Member of the Council and the Chief of Reconciliation (see Isa. 9: 6).
The fifth biblical hymn is taken from the same book of Isaiah (see 26: 9-20), in which the prophet from the depths of the darkness of the night (a symbol of the human world of evil and sin) welcomes the coming dawn as an image of the coming of Christ, giving people peace with their Creator and light knowledge of the true God the Father:
God of peace, Father of bounties, You have sent us the gift of great counsel from Your Angel: Thus, having been taught the wisdom of God towards the light, from the morning in the morning, we glorify You, O Lover of Mankind.
(translation)
As the God of reconciliation and the Father of compassion, You have sent us the Angel (Messenger) of Your great Council, giving peace [i.e. e. reconciliation]. And we, brought (by Him) to the light of knowledge of God, awake from (deep) night, praise You, O Lover of Mankind.
Christ will descend from heaven for the second time: how to recognize the main sign of God
40 days after the resurrection, Jesus and His apostles gathered on the Mount of Olives. The time had come for Jesus to leave the earth. He completed all the work that He had at that time and had to return to our Heavenly Father and be with Him until His second coming.
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According to the Bible, Jesus himself told his disciples about His second coming:
“So if they say to you, “Behold, He is in the wilderness,” do not go out; “Behold, He is in the secret chambers,” do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east and appears to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For where the carcass is, there the eagles will gather.” (Matt. 24:26-28).
Jesus' answer “don't believe it” was because we learn about His coming only through the Holy Spirit, and not from man.
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Jesus Christ said that in the future he would comprehend our entire world and all people. He taught that the world would end and the earthly life of the human race would end.
Then He will come to earth a second time and resurrect all people:
“Then the bodies of all people will be united again with their souls and will come to life,” and then Jesus Christ will judge people and reward everyone according to their deeds.
“Do not be surprised at this,” said Jesus Christ, “for the time will come in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God and, having heard, will live; and they will come out of their graves - some who did good, for eternal, blissful life, others, who did evil, for condemnation.”
We won't even know about it in any visible way! Moreover, it is written that Satan “... disguises himself as an angel of light...” (2 Cor. 11:14) and “... performs great signs, so that he brings down fire from heaven to earth before men.” (Rev. 13:13) .
So, behind the external, sensory, physical signs - the actions of Satan are similar to the coming of Jesus Christ: . ”
“This same Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:16) and we will have the guidance of the Spirit of God: The Lord is here, that He has already come.
If you have the Spirit of God and know His voice, then you will know that He has come. And if in your heart you did not hear that the Lord had come, if the Spirit did not speak to you, then it was not the Lord who came. Written:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom 8:14).
Therefore, everyone who is led by the Spirit of God should receive a response in their hearts that the Lord has come. Not a single person can tell you that the Lord is there, only the Lord Himself will tell you that He has come.
Just before the end of the world there will be great terrible signs in the sky; the sea will be agitated and indignant; sadness and despair will take possession of people, so that they will tremble with fear and with anticipation of disasters for the whole world.
In those days, after the tribulation, the sun will dim, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of Jesus Christ (His cross) will appear in heaven; then all the tribes of the earth will mourn (for fear of God’s judgment) and will see Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Just as lightning flashes in the sky from east to west (and is immediately visible everywhere), so (visible to everyone, sudden) will be the coming of the Son of God.
Jesus Christ did not tell His disciples about the day and hour of His coming to earth: “Only My Heavenly Father knows about this,” He said, “and He taught to be always ready to meet the Lord.
Let us remember that Sunday was first declared a day off on March 20, 321.
As the portal “Know.ua” reported, the Messiah will appear on Earth in six months to protect humanity from extinction, and the planet from destruction and the Third World War.
Know.ua also wrote that residents of a Mexican village near Acapulco claim that a statue of the baby Jesus Christ, located in one of the private houses, regularly cries blood.
Irmos 6: Jonah the prophet - a type of Christ
A remarkable example of a troparion-metaphor is the irmos of the sixth canto in his poetic interpretation of the sixth biblical hymn - the prayer of the prophet Jonah (see Jonah 2: 3-10).
God sent the prophet Jonah to preach to the pagan city of Nineveh. Jonah did not want to go to the pagans, so he boarded a ship and went in a completely different direction, to the city of Tarshish. The ship was overtaken by a storm, the sailors, in fear, cast lots to find out whose sins God was punishing them for? The lot fell on Jonah, who himself asked to be thrown overboard, which was done, and the storm immediately subsided.
At sea, Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Having stayed in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, Jonah realized that he was being punished for disobedience, for not wanting to tell the pagans about God, and he prayed, promising, if he escaped death, to go to Nineveh. God had mercy on Jonah, Jonah began to preach repentance to the Ninevites.
Miracle of the Prophet Jonah.
Icon of the 17th century, Russia Image from the site iconsv.ru
His preaching after the horrors of death was so convincing that the Ninevites all immediately repented and God spared them. And Jonah was even outraged by God’s mercy. Then God again enlightened the prophet: the tent where he lived was protected from the heat by a tree. By God's will, it dried up overnight. Jonah was upset. And God said: you feel sorry for the tree on which you have not worked a day. How can I not feel sorry for a city of many thousands?
Just as the prophet miraculously escaped death by being in the belly of a whale for three days, so the Son of God Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, inexplicably preserved Her virginity:
From the womb of the baby Jonah, a sea beast vomited and adopted him: but the Word entered into the Virgin and received flesh, passing through, preserving it incorruptible: since it did not suffer corruption, preserve the One who gave birth unharmed.
(translation)
The sea monster, like a newborn, vomited Jonah from his womb the same (unharmed) as he had swallowed; so God the Word, having inhabited the Virgin and taking flesh, came out of Her, keeping Her virginity intact; for without undergoing corruption (Himself), He also preserved the one who gave birth to Him undamaged.
The prophet Jonah in the belly of the whale is also an image of Christ’s acceptance of death, victory over it and resurrection.
Christ is Born - Praise!
Before we talk about the iconography of the Nativity of Christ, I would like to share my impressions of the night service on New Year’s Eve. Night services on this holiday began to be held quite recently, and they are not held in all churches. Therefore, I think readers will find it interesting.
How to describe the night liturgy on New Year's Eve? Something extraordinary, wonderful, filled with something that penetrates into the very depths of the soul, into the very heart. After all, this is exactly how the first Christians once served, at night. Nowadays, night service is a rarity for us.
23.30. There is no one on the street. Two or three cars on deserted roads with belated motorists on their way to visit. In the darkness, here and there on the trees there are multi-colored lights - you can already feel the approach of the Holiday.
The temple cannot be said to be full, but it is not empty either. And almost everyone who came to this service concentrated in one corner - waiting for confession. Finally, the priest came. Young, not venerable. Well, okay - somehow I’m not really in the mood for deep repentance today - just for the little things. And the priest is also young, serving alone, only with a deacon (also one of the new ones) and an altar boy. It’s amazing - everyone is young, like a new year emerging that night. And, oddly enough, there are quite a lot of young parents with children in the church—for some reason, almost all of them are girls. No one falls asleep or cries, not even the little ones - well, of course, except for those who sleep in their parents' arms.
The clock has been read. 12 o'clock or 0 o'clock of the new year is approaching. Instead of the Kremlin chimes (by the way, I love their ringing very much, but not on TV, but in real life) and the pop faces that fill the eyes of calluses on the screen - the joyful ringing of bells and such kind and dear faces, among whom there are many acquaintances. And, finally - somehow in a special way, as if from somewhere far away - giving hope and in general the whole meaning of life and such mysterious words: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages...” Divine eternity breaks into the linear time of our fallen world. But today is a special service, New Year’s - the consecration of time - yes, yes, our ordinary time, in the flow of which we all live and which rushes like an arrow - where? Let's try to reason, fortunately we have time.
We are already accustomed to living in two calendars at the same time - the “civil” and the church. But I wonder, has it occurred to anyone that our current situation with the measurement of time is actually absurd and does not fall within any logical framework? What are we celebrating today? Some kind of arbitrary date, based on nothing? Or do we rejoice that another year of our earthly life, that is, a fairly short period of the time of earthly life given to us by God, has expired irrevocably? What is this so-called Gregorian calendar anyway? What's better than Julian? Many are unhappy that with the transition to the Gregorian calendar after the revolution, the New Year began to be celebrated before Christmas, that is, during the period of the strictest fasting before the holiday, everyone has fun and fills their bellies to capacity (the godless authorities didn’t give a damn about this!). But if you look at it seriously, what's the difference? After all, the new year that our Slavic (Indo-European, Hyperborean) ancestors celebrated is the night of the winter solstice, the longest and darkest night of the year, when the Sun (and in fact the Earth, but this is not important in this case) finally turns to summer. The annual circle closes and a new one begins with the transition to a new round of the time spiral. But the Sun is still standing still, wavering, it may not turn, so it needs to be helped - and for this, people burned bonfires everywhere, walked all night with torches or images of the Sun on a long pole, danced around the bonfires, sang and prayed - asked the Creator the universe does not destroy them, turn the Sun in the right direction. And they made sacrifices, of course. Our ancestors knew that on this joyful, but also terrible night, the Son of God, whose visible face is our Luminary, sinks to the very bottom of the universe, and before him - and before people too - the gates of the abyss open, where he dies in the mouth of a sea monster (Whale Fish, Leviathan or Jormungandr are still the same sea serpent biting its tail). But still, the Tsarevich is reborn and defeats the snake, and, having safely emerged from his mouth, begins his journey upward - towards spring and summer, when he reaches his full power on the day of the summer solstice. But this is already a different sun - born again in the very depths of the Earth and the sea, and this is already a different, new year. And this was an anticipation, a prototype of the Nativity of the Son of God Jesus Christ - or, perhaps, a memory of the ancient Adamic knowledge-prophecy, as if playing out in advance His coming, incarnation on Earth - for us for the sake of man and for our sake of salvation... And then ours who had already accepted Christianity the ancestors continued to glorify the new year in the same way, but now the Son of God, who is born precisely on this longest, darkest and most terrible night - terrible, because abysses open, and from there not only dead ancestors come to visit the living, but all kinds of evil spirits force. However, the victims turned into pies and “kozulki” in the carolers’ bags, and the carols (from the word “sorcerers” or “calends”) began to sound in a new way. And everyone knew that the real New Year was Christmas night.
But, alas, our fallen world is imperfect, and one of the signs of this imperfection is the fact that the point of the winter solstice, i.e. the first appearance of the sun on the horizon on this day, every 72 years it shifts by 1 degree - the Earth “runs” forward by several minutes a year. And the calendar, once adopted by Julius Caesar on the advice of Alexandrian astronomers, stands still. Pope Gregory XIII, who moved the calendar of Catholic Europe in the 16th century, did not solve the problem, he just confused everything. Our Church remained with the old Julian calendar, sanctified by centuries. And how can it be changed when miracles that occur on certain church holidays, for example, the descent of the Holy Fire onto the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday, prove the correctness of the Orthodox calendar? And, nevertheless, the “old new year”, which now falls on January 13-14, has “moved away” from the real new year - the winter solstice - for almost a month. The most interesting thing is that the solstice now coincides with the day of St. Nicholas the Winter, that is, as he is called in the West, Santa Claus (and the vast majority of the local population has no idea about this). And the image of our Russian Winter Grandfather, Karachun or Morozko, or, in a simple way, Koshchei (and even Kostey), superimposed on the image of the kindest holy archbishop of the city of Myra in distant warm Lycia, also became kinder and began to give gifts to children - following the example of the Gospel Magi .
But the trouble, however, is that all this current absurdity with the calendar is completely insoluble - we really can’t change the church calendar to a “civil” one! On what day then will the Holy Fire appear on Easter Saturday? And when can we expect clouds on Mount Tabor? Maybe the Lord will condescend to our weaknesses and, as a consolation, will give us a miracle through prayer on some other day. And if not? And, most importantly, how to explain all this to parishioners who don’t want to know anything about any precessions? This is a serious matter - it threatens to split the Church. Alas, earthly logic does not always coincide with the heavenly Logos. Therefore, for the time being, we will begin to celebrate the New Year on the day of St. Nicholas (moderately - fasting, after all), then we will congratulate our Catholic friends, and then humbly, trusting in the mercy of God (but in full consciousness of the absurdity of what is happening), we will go to the temple to pray to Him on the night of the civil New Year, and on Christmas night, and finally, on the old New Year, we will remember St. Basil the Great and St. Martyr Melania the Roman (let's prepare food for Malanin's wedding, so to speak). And let’s finish the celebration on the day of Epiphany - the Baptism of the Lord, remembering that in ancient times Christmas was also called Epiphany, so this entire month (from the 20th to the 20th) can be called that.
What an extraordinary service today! Probably precisely because that night it was really parishioners who gathered here, and not “parishioners.” The choir sings “left,” that is, not a professional one, which usually sings on Sundays and holidays and is more reminiscent of belle canto, but an amateur one, with ordinary human voices. He sings very well, you really feel a prayer, and not an Italian opera, and, although in two voices, it is mostly in everyday life, and many of those praying in the church quietly sing along, that is, they actually participate in the service, and do not stand like a pillar in a crush, like this Usually it happens in our church on Sundays. The young priest serves with inspiration, and the entire liturgy passes in one breath. Almost all parishioners receive communion. It’s amazing - today they give drinks without stinting, and there is enough prosphora for everyone, they even give two or more - as much as anyone wants. Everyone takes it decorously, thanks and congratulates each other on accepting the Mysteries of Christ - for health of the body, salvation of the soul. In general, everyone moves somehow slowly - as if in slow motion. The lighting in the temple seems to be bright - all the lamps are on - but the light does not hit the eyes, but spreads somehow softly, as if in fog. And the air in the temple is somehow thick, and in general everything happens as if in water, at the bottom of the sea...
We leave the temple into the black night. True, the darkness is only at the top, and the church itself is brightly illuminated by spotlights - a red and white beauty on a black background, just a sight for sore eyes. There is no trace of fatigue at the end of the service. We cheerfully stomp home to the roar of firecrackers and fireworks in the black skies. Still, the people help the Sun turn and at the same time drive away evil spirits - it’s amazing how at certain moments a pagan awakens in our people. In this case, however, this is not bad, let people have fun - although at the wrong time, what can I say... And high in the sky, where rockets from firecrackers cannot reach, a scarlet star slowly floats in the sky. I know, of course, that this plane is shining with lights. But all the same - it looks like the Star of Bethlehem - after all, Christmas is just around the corner...
Irmos 7: Pious Youths in the Furnace
The poetics of the Irmos in the seventh and eighth songs of the canon refers to the biblical images of three Jewish youths - Ananias, Azariah and Michael, friends of the prophet Daniel, who were thrown into the fire by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to bow to the idol, but were preserved by the archangel Michael and emerged unharmed. With their unwavering faith in God, they turned the heat of a fiery furnace into the coolness of dew (see Dan. 3: 26-88):
The youths, who were educated in piety, were not heedless of the evil command, were not afraid of the fiery rebuke, but stood in the midst of the flames: Blessed are you, God of the fathers.
(translation)
The youths, brought up in the veneration of the (true) God, despised the wicked king’s command, were not afraid of the threat of fire, but standing among the flames, they sang: “Blessed are You, God of our fathers!”
Irmos 8: The Nativity of Christ from the Virgin - a supernatural miracle
The troparion of the Irmos of the eighth canto is also a metaphor. He glorifies God, who miraculously preserved Mary, thanks to her purity, from being scorched by the fire of the divine nature of Her Son, just as he had previously preserved three young men in a raging fire:
Draw an image of the natural birth-giving miracle of the cave: it is not as usual that the young ones burn, as if below the fire of the Virgin’s Divinity, in the lower depths, the womb. Thus let us sing in praise: may all creation bless the Lord and exalt it to all ages.
(translation)
The cooling (Babylonian) oven foreshadowed a supernatural miracle: just as it did not burn the young men thrown into it, so the fire of the Divine did not burn the womb of the Virgin, descending into it. Therefore, glorifying (God), let us sing: “May all (His) creation bless and exalt the Lord at all times!”
