The early Christian thinker Irenaeus of Lyon (II century), speaking of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the mystery of the incarnation, explained: "God became Man so that man could become God." The Nativity of the Savior has become a single, universal reference point, which has become the goal and meaning for the entire temporary world. The event that took place divided world history into two epochs - before and after the birth of Christ.

Saint John Chrysostom called the feast of the Nativity of Christ the beginning of all holidays: “... In this holiday, both Theophany, and sacred Pascha, the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost have their beginning and foundation. If Christ had not been born according to the flesh, then he would not have been baptized, and this is the feast of the Epiphany; and would not have suffered, and this is the Passover; and would not send the Holy Spirit, and this is Pentecost. So, from the feast of the Nativity of Christ, our holidays began, as from the source of various streams.

It is known that the birth of Christ was predicted by the Old Testament prophets - this was expected for several centuries. This great event is related to each of the living people - this, in particular, is evidenced by church hymnography. For example, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the most frequently sung hymns are the troparion and kontakion of the Nativity.

In the texts of hymns there is one characteristic feature - the frequent repetition of the words "today" and "now" regarding the events of two thousand years ago. The Church in liturgical practice thus introduces a person into a special reality - everyone becomes a spiritual participant and witness to the ongoing events of the Nativity of Christ.

Nativity of Christ: Bethlehem cave

The Creator, taking on the image of His creation, “is humiliated”, performs what is called “kenosis” in Greek, and “exhaustion” in Old Slavonic.

Evangelist Luke testifies: “And it happened in those days: a decree went out from the emperor Augustus that a census should be carried out throughout the whole earth. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went from the Galilean city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was from the family and house of David. He went to the census together with Mary betrothed to him, who was expecting a child. And behold, while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her Son, the firstborn, and swaddled him, and put him in a manger for the cattle, because there was no place for them in the inn ”(Luke 2: 1-1). 7).

Exactly so - in a cave intended for a stall, among the straw and hay scattered for feed and bedding for livestock, on a cold winter night, in an environment devoid not only of some earthly grandeur, but even of minimal comfort - the God-man, the Savior of the world, was born . Such an untimely journey for the Holy Family through all of Palestine is explained by the fact that the Romans were recorded according to their place of residence, while the Jews - according to their place of origin. Joseph and Mary, as you know, were descendants of King David, originally from Bethlehem, located seven kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. It is known that representatives of this dynasty were deprived of the throne as early as the 6th century. BC. and led the lives of private citizens, without advertising their origin.

In addition to the brief gospel testimonies about the Nativity of Christ, a number of details of the birth of the Savior are contained in two apocryphal sources: the Proto-Gospel of James and the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. According to these apocrypha, Mary felt the onset of childbirth and Joseph went to look for a midwife. Returning to her, he saw that the birth had already taken place, and a light of such strength shone in the cave that they were not able to endure it, and only after a while the light disappeared and the Baby appeared.

According to Cyprian of Carthage, Mary "did not need any services from her grandmother, but she herself was both a parent and a servant of birth, and therefore gives reverent care to her baby." He writes that the birth of Christ occurred before Joseph brought the midwife - Salome. At the same time, Salome is mentioned in the apocrypha as having witnessed the miracle of preserving the virginity of the Virgin. Her image also entered the iconography of the Nativity of Christ.

Adoration of Shepherds and Magi

The news of the birth of the Savior reached the shepherds who were on duty at night near their flock. An angel appeared to them and informed them about this - and it was the shepherds who first came to bow to the One who was born that night.

With a miraculous star, the Nativity of Christ was announced to the magi, the "star-talkers" - in fact, in their person, the entire former pagan world knelt before the true Savior of the world. The Magi found the place where the Savior was born, and "fell down worshiped Him" ​​(Matt. 2:11). They brought Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold is like a king, frankincense is like God, myrrh is like “having a taste of death, for the Jews bury the dead with myrrh so that the body remains incorruptible,” as Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria interprets Holy Scripture.

He also writes: "They (magi - Auth.) from the prophecy of Balaam learned that the Lord and God and King and that He has to die for us. But listen to this prophecy. “He lay down,” he says, “rested like a lion” (Numbers 24:9). "Lion" denotes royal dignity, and "lay down" - mortification.

Massacre of the innocents

The Jewish king Herod associated serious fears with the Nativity of Christ, since he believed that a new king had come into the world, who would take the royal throne from him. So he told the Magi to return from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to tell him where the Child was. But the Magi received a revelation in a dream - not to return to the despotic ruler. And so they did. Herod was furious and gave the order to kill all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem and its environs. Bethlehem was surrounded by troops, as if in wartime, soldiers following orders broke into houses, snatched babies from their mothers' hands, threw them to the ground, trampled them, beat their heads against stones, lifted them on spears, cut them with sword blows.

“A voice is heard in Rama, weeping and sobbing, and a great cry; Rachel weeps for her children and does not want to be consoled, for they are not.” Evangelist Matthew testifies, Matt. 2:18.

14 thousand - this is the number of children killed. However, Herod failed to carry out his plan. Saint Joseph the Betrothed received a revelation in a dream to flee to Egypt with Mary and the Child. Which was saddled that same night.

Blessed Theophialact of Bulgaria, explaining the Gospel of Matthew, writes: “Moreover, the babies did not die, but were honored with great gifts. For everyone who endures evil here endures either for the forgiveness of sins or for the increase of crowns. So these children will be more crowned.”

Saint John Chrysostom interpreted this monstrous event as follows: “If someone took some copper coins from you and gave you gold coins in return, would you really consider yourself offended or destitute? On the contrary, would you not say that this man is your benefactor?

Time and date of Christmas

Attempts to establish the year of the Nativity of Christ according to the dates of related events (the years of the reign of emperors and kings) did not lead to any specific single date. Apparently, the historical Jesus Christ was born between 7 and 5 AD. BC e. The date December 25 is first given by Sextus Julius Africanus in his chronicle, written in 221. In various modern studies, the dates of the birth of Jesus are in the interval between 12 BC. e. before 7 AD BC, when the only known census was conducted during the period described.

Establishment of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ

The first Christians were Jews and did not celebrate Christmas (according to the Jewish worldview, the birth of a person is “the beginning of sorrows and pains”). For Christians, the feast of the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) has been and is more important from a doctrinal point of view. After the Greeks (and other Hellenistic peoples) entered the Christian communities, under the influence of Hellenistic customs, the celebration of the Nativity of Christ was also begun. The ancient Christian feast of the Epiphany on January 6 ideologically combined both Christmas and the Epiphany of the Lord, which later became different holidays. Christmas has been celebrated separately since the 4th century.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. Christmas is one of the twelve feasts and is preceded by a forty-day fast.

For the first time, the feast of the Nativity of Christ is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria. At the time of John Chrysostom, as can be seen from his conversations, December 25 was determined as the day of the holiday in the East.

The feast of the Nativity of Christ is preceded by a forty-day fast, known as Rozhdestvensky or Filippov. The eve or the day before the feast of the Nativity is called Christmas Eve or Sochevnik, since, according to the church charter, on this day it is supposed to eat sochivo, that is, dried grains soaked in water. According to custom, the fast of this day is kept until the evening star. Already in the IV century. it was decided how to celebrate the eve of the holiday if it falls on a Sunday. At this time, the royal hours are performed, so called because they are supposed to proclaim many years to the king, the entire reigning house and all Orthodox Christians. During the hours, the church remembers various Old Testament prophecies and events related to the Nativity of Christ. In the afternoon, the liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated, unless the eve happens on Saturday or Sunday, when the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated. The All-Night Vigil begins with Great Compline, at which the church expresses its spiritual joy about the Nativity of Christ by singing the prophetic song: "For God is with us."

Christmas is one of the important celebrations in the life of a Christian believer. The whole family takes part in it, not excluding children. Curious children are interested in knowing the history of this event, and the duty of Orthodox parents is to satisfy this pious intention.

The history of the Christmas holiday for children should be simple and easy, because the traditional biblical story is somewhat difficult for early perception.

Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.

When is Christmas celebrated

Orthodox Christians celebrate the Nativity of Christ on January 7, and the day before, on January 6, they celebrate Christmas Eve. These are especially solemn days in churches - as elsewhere on winter holidays, they decorate Christmas trees, put up nativity scenes telling about the birth of Christ. There is a pious tradition in some churches to put on children's performances and performances dedicated to this holiday.

However, not always and not all Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Catholics celebrate this day earlier, on December 25th. Our church also used to celebrate Christmas before the New Year, but with the transition to a new style, the date was set to January 7th and remained constant.

In fact, no one knows exactly when Christ was born. Scholars who study the Bible have calculated this date, and it has been established as it is today. But for a believer, there is not too much difference how exactly January 7 corresponds to the biblical date of the birth of Christ - it is on this day that the whole church triumphs, rejoices and rejoices. It is on this day that we are called to share the joy with the Church.

About other Great Orthodox holidays:

About Christmas for children

The parents of little Jesus were called Mary and Joseph. The Lord entrusted them with a great mission - to give birth and raise the Savior of mankind.

Before the birth, God-fearing parents went to Bethlehem, because the emperor gave a decree to conduct a census, and every inhabitant had to arrive in his native city (Joseph's father was from Bethlehem). The father and mother of Jesus had to spend the night in a cave, as all the hotels in the city were completely packed. Here Mary gave birth to God's son. The baby was placed in a manger filled with hay for the cattle.

At this time, wise wise men (shepherds) with a flock passed nearby. They saw a dazzling light and an angel appeared, who announced the birth of the Savior of mankind. The heavenly messenger told where the baby was and ordered to visit him with special gifts.

As a church law, Christmas was introduced by John Chrysostom in 386. The Council of Constantinople, on behalf of Basil the Great, set the day for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ - December 25th.

The explanation for this choice is based on the tradition of the prophets that Jesus was to live on earth for a full number of years. The date of Christ's death was known to everyone, 9 months were taken away from it and the time of conception was calculated. On the day of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and said that in 9 months she would give birth to a son from the Holy Spirit.

Having counted nine months from this date, the clergy agreed that December 25 is the date of the birth of the Savior.

The Orthodox holiday of Christmas is the celebration of a new era in human history. Residents of the entire globe try at this time to give special love to each other, imitating the Almighty. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son for the eternal life of everyone who believes in Him. (John 3:16-21)

How to celebrate Christmas

Since Christmas is a great Christian holiday, of course, it should be celebrated in the temple. The service on this day is especially solemn and majestic, joyful. Children also do not get bored in the temple - it is customary to give them sweets, treats, sweets. Of course, you need to set the children in a prayerful mood, but you don’t need to overdo it. Let the children feel the bright joy of this day, and not the strict control of their parents over their behavior in the temple.

Caroling at Christmas.

Telling children about Christmas, like any other Christian holiday, adults themselves need to be imbued with the joy and light of this day. It is completely pointless to tell children about the holiday when adults themselves do not believe in a miracle and do not feel the special features of this day.

Read about other Orthodox traditions:

Both adults and children will be interested to know about the preparation and holding of this bright day:

• Preparing for the meeting of Christmas is a rather long Christmas post. According to the Charter of our Church, children under 7 do not have to fast, and for older children, some abstinence will only benefit. Of course, a child should not be deprived of meat and dairy products for a long time, which are so necessary during a period of active growth. But the rejection of sweets, from watching TV, the restriction on the Internet is quite capable of withstanding already teenagers.

Children's fasting should in no case be in the form of coercion. Children in adolescence strongly rebel against any pressure, and in matters of faith this is completely unacceptable.

• On Christmas Day itself and Christmas Eve, it is customary to go to church. You can dress up beautifully so that the appearance of a person also expresses triumph. Temples, beautifully decorated with lights, decorated Christmas trees and other Christmas paraphernalia, will not cause boredom even for small children.
• Since Soviet times, the practice of decorating a Christmas tree for the New Year has taken root. Today, however, many believers leave this joyful work for Christmas. This is due to the fact that the secular New Year falls on the last week of Advent. It is wrong to deprive children of a festive decorated Christmas tree with gifts under it, but in Orthodox families the main emphasis should not be on the New Year, but on Christmas.
• A wonderful Christmas tradition is to celebrate the holiday with the family at the festive table. On Christmas Eve, a fasting table is laid in the evening, and the very next day, after the solemn service, the whole family gathers for a plentiful and satisfying dinner.
• A tradition that came from the pagan past of the Slavs is caroling. Nowadays, this tradition is not becoming so popular, but even at the beginning of the last century, mummers went to almost every house on Christmas. People dressed up in colorful costumes and went from house to house singing Christmas songs and carols. Of course, the children were very fond of such caroling.

Miracles for the holidays

There is a belief that on this day the Heavenly Gates open, which fulfill the most secret and good desires, and also save from the materialistic vision of reality.

• One girl began to attend church after a significant dream in which the postcard read: "Hurry to the Savior!" She regarded it as the highest instruction, changed her own worldview and now lives according to Christian canons.
• During the carol, the boy, descending the frozen stairs, slipped and fell with the back of his head on the edge of the step. After such an injury, they rarely survive, but he managed to avoid death and a serious injury to the skull. The boy felt the unparalleled love of the Lord when he was able to get up. Soon, miraculously saved from death, he realized that he should thank God, and began to go to the temple.
• The woman had been sick since childhood, the doctors said that the chance of carrying a child was approaching zero. At Christmas, the girl walked with her friends, there was an unusual silence around. At this time, the woman heard a strong voice, saying that she was expecting a child. Two months later she met a good man and soon gave birth.

More about Orthodox miracles:

The bright holiday of Christmas is especially loved by Christian families. Children get delicious sweets and get the opportunity to dress up in interesting costumes. An unusual atmosphere reigns in the house, glorifying the appearance of the Savior of mankind, who accepted death in order to atone for all sins.

How to get kids to love Christmas

It is not enough for children of any age to simply tell what the essence of this day is. Children learn the world sensually, through emotions and impressions. Therefore, the best way to convey the joy of Christ to a child is to acquire it yourself.

Children celebrating Christmas

If parents or close influential relatives themselves go to church, fast, and engage in their own spiritual life, this cannot but be reflected in the souls of children. Even if at some time the child moves away from the church and from God (most often this happens in adolescence), the sprouts planted in childhood will give a result.

It is necessary to cultivate faith in God and to church a child at any age very carefully, in no case breaking or exerting excessive pressure.

Christmas holidays are an excellent opportunity to combine joyful festivities and spiritual education. On ordinary days, children are often bored at worship services, especially if the habit of going there regularly has not been instilled from early childhood. But Christmas services are a great way to show your child that church doesn't have to be boring.

Children who go to the temple with their parents from an early age are much less likely to leave as a teenager. But it is very important that the child has his own, personal spiritual need to come to the temple for Christmas, and not spend this day in another place. If a child refuses to go to church with his parents, do not force him. At an early age, this will still give some result and the child will simply submit to the will of the parents. However, at an older age, such a child is more likely to leave the temple.

A wonderful Christmas tradition loved by both children and adults is gifts. In Soviet times, everyone was used to giving gifts for the New Year, but in believing families this is more often done at Christmas.

Interesting:

In gifts for Christmas, in addition to the desire to please others, symbolism can also be traced: the Magi, having come to bow to the newborn Christ, also carried their gifts to him.

Since the long fast ends with the celebration of Christmas, this day can be spent not only in worship, but also in worldly joys. Even not very religious people love and celebrate Christmas, so on this day it is customary to visit or receive guests at home.

There is nothing shameful to sit down with loved ones at the table and celebrate the holiday. Fun competitions with awards and gifts are often arranged for children. It is only important not to forget what is celebrated on this day, and to celebrate the holiday within reason.

Watch a video about Christmas

In the modern church calendar, many holidays are more than one and a half thousand years old, and some, like Sunday and Holy Easter, date back to the first days of Christianity. In religious consciousness, they are usually represented as days of prayerful remembrance of sacred events from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, glorification of the saints of God, and the main meaning of church holidays should be seen in the experience of these events.

In order to highlight the history of the establishment and significance in the ancient Church of one of the great holidays - the feast of the Nativity of Christ, it must be said that Christian writing of the 1st and 2nd centuries does not give any indication of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at that time. And while in the second half of the 2nd century, Christians, in addition to Sunday and the feast of Easter, already had the feasts of Pentecost and Theophany, the day of the Nativity of Christ was as if forgotten. How can one explain the forgetfulness of a day so glorious and important for the salvation of mankind?

There is no doubt that the Most Holy Virgin Mary Herself remembered that holy night when She gave birth to the Savior of the world. Righteous Joseph also remembered her. The relatives of Christ according to the flesh also knew this day. But outside the family circle of these persons, information about the birthday of Christ the Savior did not go out. Even the Evangelist Luke, who wrote his gospel, as he himself says, “after a thorough study of everything from the beginning” (1, 3) and used the reports of eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word (2), does not specify this day, although, as can be seen from his Gospels, many of the chronological data associated with this event were well known. So, he reports that the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary was in the sixth month after the conception of John the Baptist (24.26), that the Blessed Virgin after that visited the righteous Elizabeth and stayed with her for about three months (), that on the eighth day after her birth she was circumcised (2 , 21), and after the completion of the days of purification, he was brought to the temple (22). But he does not mention the day of the birth of Christ, around which all these dates are formed. He does not name him even when he describes the event of the Nativity of Christ itself, although he gives such details as the fact that the event took place during the census and that this census was the first in the reign of Quirinius Syria (1–2).

This silence of the Apostle Luke, like other evangelists, was not accidental. Obviously, there were serious circumstances in the preaching of the apostles that prompted them not to talk about it. The fact is that the main contingent of members of the Church in the 1st century and at the beginning of the 2nd century was the diaspora, i.e. the Jews of the Diaspora, who voluntarily or forcibly left their homeland long before the birth of Christ and settled in Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, on the Greek islands and in the capital of the empire, in Rome. In the history of the spread of Christianity, this part of Israel formed a kind of bridge between Christianity and paganism that arose in the depths of the Old Testament Judaism. The Diaspora differed from Palestinian Jewry in a much larger culture, due to the constant contact of its members with the Greco-Roman world. On the other hand, a characteristic feature of the religious life of the diaspora was its attachment to the pious customs of their ancestors. Life in a foreign land forced these people to be especially vigilant in matters of faith, so as not to mix with the pagans and not become one themselves.

One of the peculiarities of Old Testament Judaism was the peculiar view of the Jews on childbearing: the Jews saw in childbearing Jehovah's special care for His people. The Jewish idea of ​​childbearing was affected by faith in the oath that God swore to Abraham (). Therefore, the birth of some righteous people from among the Jewish people is noted in the Bible as going beyond the norms of ordinary conception. So, Isaac was conceived when “Abraham and Sarah were old and in advanced years, and Sarah’s usual women ceased” (), John the Baptist was born from Elizabeth, who “was barren” ().

Jews and Gentiles had different attitudes towards birthdays. The pagans celebrated the birthday, accompanying it with a hearty meal, all kinds of satiety and fun. The Jews did not celebrate birthdays. There are three mentions of birthday celebrations in the Bible, but who are they who celebrated their birthday? These are Pharaoh (), Antiochus () and Herod (;), whose names went down in history as a synonym for tyranny and misanthropy. The evangelists put Herod's celebration of his birthday in direct connection with the shedding of the blood of the greatest of those born - John the Baptist.

The Old Testament righteous acted differently. Abraham made a big feast, but not on Isaac's birthday, but when the baby was weaned (). Anna, having nursed her son Samuel, took three bullocks, one ephah of flour and a skin of wine, came to the house of the Lord, and killed the bullock, and “brought the boy to Elijah and said: ... I give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, to serve the Lord. And she bowed to the Lord there "(). Righteous Zechariah celebrated the birth of the Forerunner not with a feast, but with a song of thanksgiving to God: “Blessed is the Lord of Israel” (JI k. 1, 68–79). Finally, the Most Holy Virgin Mary herself showed the highest example of reverence in this. When the shepherds, having bowed to the born Baby, told about the appearance of an angel to them and about the heavenly hymn they had heard, Mary, while “all those who heard were amazed at what the shepherds told them, ... kept all these words, composing in her heart” (2, 18–19).

To what has been said about the view of the Jews on childbearing, it must also be added that among the Jews, more than among other nations, the consciousness of the innate sinfulness of man was developed, and therefore many of them saw in this day the beginning and guilt of all the sorrows and sufferings of man. The psalmist David said: “I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother bore me in sin” (). Righteous Job expressed the same thought: “Who will be born clean from the unclean? No one" ().

The view of Old Testament Judaism on the birthday could not but be reflected in the views of the first Christians, who mainly consisted of the diaspora. They, according to the custom of their pious ancestors, did not celebrate their birthdays. It is significant that even in the 3rd century, he admonishes Christians not to celebrate a birthday. At the same time, Origen refers to the righteous Job and the prophet Jeremiah, who, in the consciousness of their sinfulness, mourned the day of their birth (;). He says that although after the birth of Christ, no Christian can complain like Job, for among Christians children already receive remission of sins in baptism, nevertheless, the vain pagan custom should be avoided, for only sinners celebrate their birthday, and the saints grieve on this day, because due to original sin there can be no joy on this day.

Christians called the day of the death of their martyrs a birthday. “We are celebrating,” says the martyrdom of St. Polycarp of Smyrna, - the birthday of the martyrs in memory of those who suffered, and in the edification and strengthening of those who suffer. That is why the silence of the evangelists about the birthday of Jesus Christ was natural. This or that commemoration of this day by them in the conditions of constant contact of the diaspora with paganism could either inspire in the minds of neophytes a touch of pagan ideas about this day, or, conversely, push the more stubborn customs of the fathers towards Old Testament Judaism.

By virtue of all of the above, the Christians of the first two centuries did not have the feast of the Nativity of Christ. “To the Savior’s birthday,” Prof. F. Smirnov, - in the early days of Christianity, they did not attach much importance, preferably over other days, and while the celebration of the day of death with the days of suffering differed from the earliest times and was dedicated to the remembrance of sacred events, the birthday of Jesus Christ seemed to have been forgotten , and in Christian societies there seemed to be no need to celebrate this day.

By the beginning of the 3rd century, the environment in which Christian preaching was taking place had changed. At this time, a significant part of the members of the Church were people who had already been born into Christianity. Through them, Christianity spread widely among the pagans. For this part of the members of the Church, the negative view of the diaspora on the birthday was incomprehensible. And when Origen was still exhorting Christians not to celebrate the birthday, Clement of Alexandria († about 210) wrote that there are people who carefully try to determine not only the year, but also the day of our Savior's birth. From these words of Clement it is clear that in his time among Christians there was already a keen interest in the birthday of Christ.

Scholars agree that the celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 was first established in Rome, but as to the time of establishment, different opinions have been expressed in this regard. The famous German eorthologist (specialist in the study of holidays) Usener claimed that the celebration was established by Pope Liberius in 353. Harnack and Achelis agreed with Usener. Duchenne, on the other hand, believed that the Roman celebrated Christmas on December 25 as early as 336. But there is evidence that allows us to lower this date by another century, more precisely, by the time of St. Hippolyta, Antipope of Rome. I mean the interpretation of St. Hippolytus on the book of the prophet Daniel, where he writes that Christ was born on Wednesday, December 25, in the 42nd year of the reign of Augustus. From these words, St. Hippolytus, it can be assumed that in Rome already at the beginning of the 3rd century, December 25 was known as the day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. One ancient service on the Nativity of Christ has come down to us. It says [the following]. “From midnight, troparia and readings begin: [first] troparion, tone of the 2nd “I will be born in Bethlehem”, verse [psalm] “I will burp my heart”, the first reading is [from the book] of Genesis: “In the beginning create heaven” ( you will find on Holy Saturday);

second troparion, tone 4 “Rejoice, righteous heavens”, verse [psalm [“All tongues, clap your hands”, second reading - [from the book] of the prophet Isaiah: “And put the Lord to speak to Ahaz ... [to the words] take Ephraim away from Judah, king of Assyria";

third troparion, tone 5 “The grace of God appears, saving”, verse [psalm] “Great is the Lord and highly praised”, the third reading is [from the book] of Exodus: “Be in the morning watch” (you will find it on Great Saturday) ;

troparion the fourth, tone 5 “Be filled with what was spoken by the prophet”, verse [psalm [“God, have mercy on us and bless us”, fourth reading - [from the book] of the prophet Micah: “And you, Bethlehem, the house of Ephrath, food is small ... [before the words] will stand below in the sons of men”;

troparion fifth, tone of the 5th “Videch in the den of the manger”, verse [psalm] “God, Thy court is king”, [fifth] reading - [from the book] Proverbs - “Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David ... [to the words] and hryvnia gold about your neck";

troparion sixth, tone 8 “Today the heavens rejoice and rejoice”, verse [psalm] “Thou hast pleased, O Lord, Thy land”, [sixth] reading - [from the book] of Isaiah: “Yes, they were burned by fire, for the Child was born to us, the Son, and given to us ... [to the words] the jealousy of the Lord of Hosts create this ”;

troparion of the seventh, tone of the 8th “Where did you come from, Vols-vi”, verse [psalm] “His foundations on the mountains of the saints”, seventh reading - [from the book] of the prophet Isaiah: “And a rod will come out of the root of Jesse ... [to the words ] like a lot of water covers the sea” [I, 1–9];

troparion eighth, tone 3 “To the Born of the Virgin”, verse [psalm] “Thy mercy, O Lord”, eighth reading - [from the book] of the prophet Isaiah: » ;

troparion ninth, tone 8 “I will appear to Christ, stars”, verse [psalm] “Speak the Lord to my Lord: sit at my right hand”, [ninth] reading [from the book] of the prophet Isaiah: and all the tongues are as if they are nothing, and are imputed in nothing ”;

troparion tenth, tone 2 “King of the Jews and Redeemer”, verse [of the psalm] “Confess to the Lord, for it is good”, tenth reading - [from the book] of the prophet Isaiah: “My servant Jacob, I will receive and; My chosen Israel ... [before words] I am the Lord God, this is My name ”;

troparion eleventh, tone of the 6th "City, which thou hast loved", verse [psalm] "Remember, Lord, David", [eleventh] reading - [from the book] of the prophet Daniel:

after that, the prokeimenon is said “Rise, Lord, into thy rest”, verse [psalm] “Remember, Lord, David”, the Gospel [from] Luke: no place for them in the monastery ";

after the Gospel, let them pronounce the litany and prayer, and finish matins.

Here is the whole service, which was performed from midnight until morning on the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Although it is set out in a monument, the formation of which dates back to the 7th century, but, as established by science, the “main layer” of this monument dates back to the 5th-6th centuries. The cited rite of the Christmas night service, by its origin, must be attributed to an even earlier time: Indeed, it contains neither the biblical songs of the canon, nor the laudatory psalms, which were known to the entire Church already in the 4th century as indispensable elements of the morning service. The service consists of 12 readings of the Holy Scriptures, preceded by the singing of troparions. This is the type of early Christian worship referred to by Clement of Alexandria, when he says that the followers of Basilides also celebrated the day of baptism, spending the previous night reading the Scriptures.

One more detail is curious, which speaks of the deep antiquity of this Christmas service. In it, all readings from the Old Testament Scriptures are called by their own name - "reading", while the gospel reading is not designated by this term. There is no doubt that the Gospel, like other biblical books during this divine service, was offered to the attention of the worshipers through reading, but the absence of the term "reading" when it comes to the Gospel, obviously, is an echo of the liturgical practice of the apostolic time, where the Old Testament books, as well as and the apostolic letters to the Churches were actually read (;), but the Gospel did not constitute reading in the proper sense of the word, but was a living oral gospel.

What does the considered most ancient service on the Nativity of Christ speak about? Here one has to regret that the troparia preceding the reading in the monument are not completely given, but only their first words are given. Therefore, it is impossible to say anything about their content, but the meaning of the twelve readings will be quite clear, given the situation in which Christianity spread in the first centuries after Christ.

At the time when Christ the Savior came to earth, the civilized world, where the Gospel was to be preached, was pagan. Roman emperors were worshiped as deities, and the empire itself was a kind of embodiment of the pagan worldview. Ultimately, the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream fell and crumbled to dust, but this did not happen because his clay and iron feet could not withstand the weight of his golden head and silver torso. The catastrophe occurred from the blow that struck him with a stone, which itself came off the mountain (). Christianity, as soon as it moved beyond the local Palestinian religious movement and became widely known as a new religion, collided with the paganism that existed before it. An ideological struggle ensued between Christianity and paganism, culminating in the victory of the former over the latter. In the midst of this ideological struggle, a selection of readings from the Holy Scriptures in the most ancient Christmas service was made.

The first reading, consisting of the first three chapters of the book of Genesis, tells of God's creation of the universe, the creation of man, his fall into sin, and the promise of a Redeemer to him.

The second reading - from the book of the prophet Isaiah, which says that "The virgin in the womb will receive and give birth to the Son, and they will call His name: Immanuel" (), was a direct development of what was said in the first [reading] about the promised Savior ().

This was followed by the third reading - from the book of Exodus - about the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea. Why this reading was supposed to be explained at the very beginning of the parimia: “Be in the morning watch, and the Lord looked at the Egyptian regiment in a pillar of fire and cloud” (). After in the first reading it was said about the creation of the world and, in particular, the luminaries of heaven, this reading explained that behind the visible phenomenon in the sky, which was a pillar of fire and cloud, the right hand of God acted to provide for people. Pari-miya, thus, pointed to the failure of paganism, deifying the phenomena of nature.

This was followed by the fourth reading - from the prophet Micah, which told that the Savior of the world, who would be born in Bethlehem, would defeat Assur and Nimrod and deliver His land from Assur's yoke. Nimrod and Assur are the founders of the most ancient pagan kingdoms in Mesopotamia (). It is easy to guess that these names in this case mean paganism. In the words of the prophet - “He will deliver from Assur when he comes to our land and when he enters our borders” () - pointed to the victory of Christianity over paganism.

The fifth reading of the passage from the first chapter of the book of Proverbs essentially serves for this book itself as an explanation of the instructive value of parables as such. Therefore, at first glance it seems that this passage does not seem to be directly related to the remembered event of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. In fact, he was related to a number of readings listened to in the prayer meeting, both those that preceded this proverb and those that follow after it, which are actually prophetic. Indeed, if the creation of the world and man, as mentioned in the first proverb, and the miraculous passage of the Jews across the Red Sea, as discussed in the third reading, are incomprehensible to the human mind, then the prophecies turn out to be the more mysterious phenomenon. They can be understood by a person if he has “the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord” (). Therefore, before proceeding to a series of prophetic parimias, the listeners were offered this instructive reading.

Then there were five readings (sixth - tenth) from the book of the prophet Isaiah, which indicated that the Savior coming into the world would be born as a baby, that He would come from the Jewish people and be a descendant of Jesse, the ancestor of the dynasty of the kings of Israel. In short, these readings, together with the previous one from the book of the prophet Micah, specified the historical setting in which the event of the Savior's coming into the world took place.

The eleventh reading - from the book of the prophet Daniel, was not actually prophetic, nevertheless, its choice for this service and its place at the end of all Old Testament readings had a certain meaning. By this reading, she indicated that the worship of pagan gods was put to shame even before the birth of Christ, and, conversely, the true worship of God, which the Church teaches, was already in those distant times marked by the special intercession of God.

The twelfth reading - from the Gospel of the Apostle Luke, with its indication of the specific time of the Savior's coming into the world in the reign of Emperor Augustus and in the reign of Quirinius Syria, served as a confirmation of all previously read prophecies about this.

So, in the considered readings, the idea is carried out that the Baby Jesus, who was born in the reign of Augustus in Bethlehem of Judea, is the Deliverer of the world promised to people and predicted by the prophets. Through Him, the peoples who were in the darkness of paganism saw the great light of true knowledge of God. Not the gods invented by the pagans, but He, real, historical, is the Savior of mankind.

The assertion in the ancient Christian celebration of the day of the Nativity of Christ of the historicity of Jesus Christ also clearly appears in the ancient hymns. I mean, first of all, the Menologion of the Syrian Church, published for the first time by the English scholar W. Wright. It indicates: on December 26 - the memory of the First Martyr Deacon Stephen, on the 27th - the apostles John and James of Zebedee, and on the 28th - the apostles Peter and Paul. This monument belongs to the years 411-412, but the composition of the listed Christmas memories is of an earlier origin. They are mentioned by St. Gregory of Nyssa in a homily to St. Basil the Great, when he says: “So, in the Epiphany of the Only Begotten Son, through the blessed birth from the Virgin, the world received not only the holy cathedral, but also the holy of holies and the cathedral of cathedrals. Let's calculate it. The apostles and the prophets were the first to form a spiritual choir, and these are Stephen, Peter, James, John, Paul. They are also meant by the “Apostolic Ordinances”, where, after pointing to the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany, it says: “Let them not work in the days of the apostles, for they have become your teachers in Christ and have vouchsafed you the Spirit. On the day of Stephen the First Martyr and other holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own life, let them not work.

There is a calendar similar to this in the manuscript of the Leningrad State Public Library. Saltykov-Shchedrin (cipher Porf. No. 11). Although this manuscript belongs to the 9th century, but, as can be seen from the entry in it of its scribe, he used some kind of “victim”, obviously from prescription, the original. In this Monthly Word, on December 27, the memory of the first martyr Deacon Stephen is laid, on the 28th - the memory of the apostles Peter and Paul, and on the 29th - the apostles John and James of Zebedee. These are the same memories as in Wright's menologion (the discrepancy in numbers is a phenomenon characteristic of the ancient menologions). In addition to Wright's hymns, this commemoration of the saints is laid down on January 1 without indicating their names; from the hymns cited here, it is clear to these saints that they “trample the flesh of torturers and beasts.” Here, apparently, the apostolic men who suffered for Christ are meant: St. Ignatius the God-bearer, torn to pieces by beasts, and St. Polycarp of Smyrna, burned at the stake.

The composition of these ancient Christmas memories is not accidental. The first of these saints, the martyr Deacon Stephen, according to the Depistor, saw “the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (), and testified to his vision by martyrdom (6, 8-15; 7, 1-60). Three of the apostles: Peter, James and John - witnessed the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor (; ; ) and His prayer for the cup of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane (; ). The fourth - the apostle Paul [still being Saul] - heard His calling voice from heaven when he went to Damascus, "breathing with threats and murder against the disciples of Christ" (). Of the Fathers of the Church, “who trampled the flesh with torments and beasts,” Bishop Ignatius received the flock of Antioch from Euodius, the successor of the Apostle Peter, so that only 11 years separated his archpastorship from the Apostle Peter. St. Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian. Honoring in connection with the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, the memory of these apostles and the first martyrs - the disciples of the apostles, pointed to them as people who knew Jesus Christ personally or heard about Him from the lips of His witnesses. The main goal of celebrating the Nativity of Christ during St. Hippolyta.

In the IV century, the celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 spread in the Eastern Churches. Shortly after the First Ecumenical Council (about 333), Emperor Constantine built a temple in Bethlehem, under the altar of which there was a cave in which the Lord was born. Emperor's mother St. Elena also built a church in honor of the Mother of God and St. Joseph the Betrothed at the place where, according to legend, the shepherds were when the angel announced to them the birth of the Savior (). In these holy places, according to our ancient Russian pilgrim hegumen Daniel, located one from the other at a distance of about one verst, soon after their construction, Christmas festivities began to take place, which by the end of the 4th century managed to acquire the character of all-Palestinian Christmas celebrations.

From the description of the journey through the Holy Land by Sylvia Acvitanki, it can be seen that on the eve of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the patriarch with his clergy came to Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Many Palestinian hermits also flocked here. Divine services were performed from evening until late at night, then at night the patriarch and many of the people and hermits returned to Jerusalem, and the presbyters, clergy and monastics assigned to the Bethlehem holy places remained in the Bethlehem temple until dawn, singing spiritual songs and antiphons. The Patriarch, arriving in Jerusalem at dawn, continued the service in the Church of the Holy Resurrection. Then, after a short rest, a liturgy was served on Golgotha. This was the service on December 25th. On the 26th and 27th, the same solemn service relied again on Calvary, on the 28th - on the Mount of Olives, on the 29th a procession was made to the country church of St. Lazarus, on the 30th - again in the Church of the Resurrection and on the 31st - at Holy Cross on Calvary. In Bethlehem itself, the solemn divine service was performed for eight days, that is, including January 1 16 .

Just as the Western Church in the third century saw in the celebration of the Nativity of Christ a denunciation of the vanity of paganism, so the Eastern defenders of Orthodoxy saw in it the affirmation of the dogma of the incarnation of the Son of God. This new meaning of the holiday is beautifully reflected in the hymns of St. Ephraim the Syrian. In them the holy hymnographer confesses the Divine nature of the born Christ, the Son of God. He says that the womb of the immaculate Virgin was inhabited by the One Whom the whole world cannot contain, God was at the entrance and appeared as a man at the exit, that the very incarnation of the Son of God took place in order to heal the damaged nature. Christ, according to St. Ephraim, deigned to be born in the month when it is customary to give absolution to slaves. By His appearance in the flesh, He freed mankind from slavery to sin. He sees the divinity of Christ in the very fact of glorifying His birth by the best of rational creatures. Archangel Gabriel announced His conception; the prophets Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, David predicted His coming; the angels announced his birth; the wise men bowed to Him and brought gifts; innocent babies confessed Him. Nature: seasons, weeks and days - consecrated by the incarnation of God. He blessed His Most Pure Mother Herself, for whom Christ was “both child, and betrothed, and Son and God.”

Introduced in the 4th century in the East, the feast of the Nativity of Christ in the following centuries retained the significance of the feast of the triumph of the confession of the Orthodox faith in the fight against the Nestorian heresy, and then against Monothelitism. This significance of the holiday was well expressed at the end of the 5th century by St. Roman Sladkopevets in his kontakion "The Virgin Today Gives Birth to the Pre-Essential". In this poetic work, consisting of 25 stanzas, of which only two have been preserved in modern worship, designated as kontakion and ikos, Ven. The novel reveals the Orthodox teaching about Christ the Savior as a perfect God and a perfect Man. He offers to the spiritual gaze of Christians a nativity scene, where in a manger lies Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Blessed Virgin, bending over the Infant lying in the manger and being filled with maternal feelings for Him, reverently reflects on the mystery, incomprehensible to the mind, how “The Mother’s Father became Her Son” and “Keep babies like a baby, reclining in a manger.” Here come the wise men of the East - astrologers - and seeing the swaddled Baby in the manger, they prostrate before Him and ask Him to accept their gifts, as He accepts the Trisagionic Song of the Seraphim. The Most Pure Virgin herself asks Her Son about the same, for She needs these gifts, for She must flee to Egypt for the sake of saving His human nature from the hands of the prophet-killer and child-killer Herod. At the same time, she asks Christ to be merciful to everyone living on earth: “Not only as Your Mother, My Merciful Child, and not because I feed You with milk, who created milk, but as the Mother of all, I pray You for everyone, for through I have become thee of all my kind, both a mouth and a delight.” In the 5th and subsequent centuries, on the day of the Nativity of Christ, these words affirmed the confession in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ of a perfect God and a perfect Man and His Most Pure Mother as the Mother of God.

At the turn of the 7th-8th centuries, Rev. Cosmas Mayumsky wrote a canon for the Nativity of Christ, in which he confessed two wills in the Lord Jesus Christ as a denunciation of the Monothelite heresy. In his canon, the holy hymnographer emphasizes the perception by the Son of God of all human nature, except for sin. He says that the Creator, seeing a perishing man, whom He created with His own hands, descends to earth and receives from the Virgin all human nature, becomes “conformed to mortal humiliation” and “participation of the flesh of a bitterness”, but being “earthly”, remained God. The “immaterial formerly” takes on “whitened flesh” in order to attract the fallen primordial to itself.

Besides St. Ephraim the Syrian, Rev. Roman the Melodist and St. Cosmas of Mayumsky, sacred hymns for the feast of the Nativity of Christ were composed by St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Andrew of Crete, aka Jerusalem, St. Herman, Patriarch of Constantinople, Rev. John of Damascus, the nun Cassia and other hymn-singers, confessing in these hymns the Orthodox teaching about Christ the Savior. Thus, by the 10th century, that Christmas service was created, which God deigns to hear on December 25th.

It remains to say a few words about the Nativity Fast. The Advent fast has its origins in the ancient Christian custom of fasting on the eve of great holidays, in order to partake of the Holy Mysteries on the holiday itself.

Such a one-day ancient fast has been preserved to this day on the eve of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. By virtue of this custom, as soon as the feast of the Nativity of Christ was established, fasting appeared before it.

But the pious striving for the achievement of fasting was not limited to one day. From the word of St. John Chrysostom in memory of the martyr Phylogeny, which took place on December 20, it is clear that in his time the Nativity fast began on December 20 and, thus, was already five days old, while some Christians were not limited to this period, increasing the fast beyond December 20. So from a five-day fast it grew into a weekly, then into a three-week. Some began to fast, as in Great Lent, for forty days, that is, from November 14th. Such a post is found already in the Hypotiposis of St. Theodora the Studite († 826) . With the introduction of individual monasteries, like the monastery of St. Theodore the Studite, a forty-day fast, in many places the former practice is still preserved. Diversity in the practice of the Advent fast in the Eastern Orthodox Church existed until Patriarch Luke Chrysoverg (1156–1169), when it was established that all Christians should fast before the feast of the Nativity of Christ for 40 days.

Many centuries have passed since the feast of the Nativity of Christ was established. Paganism as a worldview of the ancient world and heresy, a product of religious rationalism, were forgotten. The feast of the Nativity of Christ continues to exist, and every year a Christian waits with reverence and trepidation for the day when he hears the joyful song: “Thy Nativity, Christ our God, exalt the world with the light of reason,” for in those who were born in Bethlehem in the reign of Augustus and in the reign of The Syrian Quirinius Baby Jesus justified the aspirations of all earthly people, and the teaching He brought to earth won victory over “philosophy and empty deceit” in history ().

On January 7, the Orthodox world celebrates the Nativity of Christ - the great twelfth holiday that marked the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. What underlies the gospel story about the birth of the Savior, how the date of Christmas was calculated and why it was “forgotten” in the first century of Christianity - the Russian Planet understood.

Story

Evangelists Luke and Matthew write about the Nativity of Christ in the following way: in those days, in all his empire, which included Palestine, Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be made. You had to sign up in the city where you come from - and then Joseph and Mary, who was already pregnant at that moment, went from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David (because Joseph was from the house and family of David). While they were there, the time came for Mary to give birth. She gave birth to a Son, and Joseph called him the name Jesus, as the angel commanded him to do earlier. The baby was swaddled and put in a cattle feeder, a nursery - because there was no place for them in the hotel. According to legend, Mary and Joseph were forced to stop in a cave where the shepherds drove their cattle.

At night, the news of the birth of the Savior reached the shepherds. An angel appeared to them and said: “Do not be afraid: I proclaim to you great joy, which will be for all people. Today was born the Savior of the world - Christ the Lord! And here is a sign for you: you will find the Baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Following the angel, a numerous heavenly army appeared, praising God - and when it departed back to heaven, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem. There they found the cave where Mary, Joseph, and the Child were, and they told the Holy Family what had been proclaimed to them.

The Evangelist Matthew also cites the story of the worship of the Magi from the East. A star in the east told them about the Nativity of the Savior: having come to Bethlehem, the Magi presented the baby Jesus with gifts - gold, incense and myrrh (gold - as a King, incense - as God, myrrh - as a sign of impending death, because it was customary to anoint the dead with oil on myrrh).

Then Herod, the king of the Jews, learned about the birth of the Messiah. Wanting to destroy it, King Herod ordered to kill all babies under the age of two years. But Joseph received a warning about the danger in a dream, and the Holy Family managed to flee to Egypt, where they stayed until the death of Herod.

Establishment of a holiday

The first mention of Christmas dates back to the beginning of the 3rd century. By that time, the tradition of the most important Christian holidays had already developed, among which were the Resurrection of Christ, Ascension to Heaven, Epiphany and Pentecost. The fact that Christmas did not appear in this early tradition is associated with the Jewish worldview, according to which the birth of a person meant the beginning of pains and sorrows.

But, even having appeared in the church calendar in the 3rd century, Christmas was not the holiday that it is today. Initially, Christians had a single feast of the Epiphany, where they recalled three gospel events at once: Christmas, the adoration of the Magi and the baptism of the Savior. And only in the IV century, Christmas and Epiphany were separated on different days (at the same time, the feast of Epiphany is still called Epiphany).

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' conducts a solemn service on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Photo: Sergey Pyatakov / RIA Novosti

There are several versions of why Christmas was “allocated” in the church calendar on December 25 (or January 7 in the new style). Theologians often calculated this date based on the gospel information about the annunciation of Mary about the birth of the Savior. According to the Bible, the angel preached to her six months after the conception of John the Baptist (it is celebrated at the end of September according to the old style). Six months were added to the date of conception and the date of the Annunciation was obtained, then another nine months were added to it and thus the day of Christmas was established.

However, there was also a "political" version of the Christmas date. The Roman "Chronograph" of 354 marks December 25 as the day of the pagan holiday of the "birth of the new Sun" - in addition, at the end of December, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia. The establishment of the feast of the Nativity of Christ these days was also necessary in order to kill the established pagan traditions and root the Christian way of thinking, some historians believe.

Christmas traditions

In Rus', they began to celebrate Christmas, most likely immediately after the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir. At the end of the 17th century, the tradition of the crib theater, which came from Poland, was born in Russia - when gospel scenes were played in a special box-den, which personified the cave where Christ was born. By the way, there is no mention of the cave itself in the canonical texts of the Gospel (in Scripture, only the manger where the baby Christ was laid is mentioned). The cave became part of the legend, having come to us from the apocrypha "Protoevangelium of James" and the writings of the 2nd century martyr Justin the Philosopher.

Meaning of Christmas

Saint John Chrysostom called Christmas the beginning of the whole Christian faith. According to him, all subsequent evangelical events come from this holiday and have their basis, starting with the Theophany and ending with the Resurrection of Christ, His Ascension and Pentecost. It is no coincidence that Christmas divided the history of mankind into two eras - before and after it.

“God appeared before us… so that not a single person could say that God is so great and far away that there is no attack on Him,” wrote Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh in his Christmas sermon in the 20th century. – He became one of us in our humiliation and in our deprivation... He became related to us - through His love, through His understanding, through His forgiveness and mercy, - He became related to those whom others repelled from themselves, because they were sinners. He did not come to the righteous, He came to love and seek sinners. Christ became Man so that all of us, all without a trace - including those who have lost all faith in themselves - know that God believes in us, believes in us in our fall, believes in us when we have lost faith in each other and in himself, he believes in such a way that he is not afraid to become one of us. God believes in us, God stands guard over our human dignity.”