A Blessed Nativity to all Monomakhos readers!
Today the Virgin
gives birth to Him
who is above all being.
and the Earth
offers a cave to Him
whom no man can approach.
Angels with sheperds
give glory,
and Magi journey with a star.
For unto us is born
a youg Child,
the eternal God
Blessed feast, George! Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Khristos Razhdayetsya! Slavite Yego!
Thank you for providing a more appropriate place for this…
The Sovereign of the universe
‘Neath shining star is seen
In feeding trough for cattle
One of the Trinity
Messiah unto us is born
A Man yet Deity
How is it that within our ears
The cries of God we hear?
Creator born of Virgin
To Mary’s breast draws near
In hands of men the Lord of Heav’n
Whom angels serve and fear!
The hosts of heaven stand amazed
As Thou, Lord, condescend
Laying aside the glory
Which fore’er Thine had been
To walk upon the earth as man
O who can comprehend?
Behold God and man forever One
In the Son
Blessed mystery of Incarnation!
A blessed Nativity to you, George, and to all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace to men of goodwill!
Ehre sei Gott in der Hoehe!
The Birth of Christ is the most important event that ever occurred for all of humanity.
Well, it’s certainly right up there near the top of the list, but the Tradition weights the Lord’s resurrection with far greater significance than any other event in His human life among us on Earth twenty centuries ago.
That this is true can be seen from the practice (attested in Acts) of the protochristians to gather for the Eucharist on the first day of the week, which they called The Lord’s Day in honor of His rising from the dead.
Liturgically, we must also note that after Paskha, the second-highest ranking feast of our Lord is arguably Pentecost, in third place, then, would be His baptism by John in the Jordan, the occasion of the theophany (revelation of God) showing us the Holy Trinity.
It took a few centuries for our Lord’s birthday to be celebrated liturgically. When that finally happened, the feast (at least in byzantine practice) adopted the structures already in place for Theophany, not — as some mistakenly think — the other way around. So that would rank the Nativity of Christ in fourth place, I suppose.
But all these holy days, and everything they help us remember taking place for our salvation, are equally worthy of honor and all the praise we can bring to the Lord for so graciously making possible the salvation He sends us in His Christ.
May the Lord bless all of us, especially George Patsourakos for his fervent faith, during the holy season of His birth, and all through the coming year.