The Holy Night of the Nativity of Christ is a feast when hope is born into this world together with the Divine Infant, and when each one of us has a true chance of salvation. The miracle of the appearance of the Son of God in the world was the first step towards the salvation of the immortal soul. On the threshold of the Nativity, Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky, cleric of the Church of the Holy Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, Moscow, talks about how Christians celebrate this important feast with benefit for the soul.
Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky. Radiovera.ru
—Father Alexander, how do the clergy prepare for the Nativity of Christ? Is there anything special about such preparation compared to preparation for other Orthodox festivals?
—The anticipation of the feast reigns in the families of priests, as, I hope, in the families of all Orthodox Christians. Of course, we try to celebrate this festival together with our family. As for the clergy, this feast is preceded by many services. And this is very good: at the end of the Nativity Fast, we really have more work in the church, and there are more people. We help the faithful experience this feast as something special. In effect, our civil year begins with it. And it is very important, because we spend the whole coming year under the shadow of the Nativity of Christ.
—Is there anything special about the service schedule or the preparations for the Christmas services?
—The atmosphere of Christmas night is created—the night when the earth met the Savior. Of course, churches are decorated in a special way. In the middle of the church we usually have a Nativity scene woven from fir twigs, where an icon of the Nativity is laid, and all this is decorated with lights. And the whole church is somewhat reminiscent of the manger in which this great event took place. Of course, everyone adorns the territory adjacent to the church as best they can, so that people can have this sense of the festive occasion as they approach the church.
—Are there more children in church on this feast than on other feasts?
—Perhaps we have more children on Pascha. But Pascha is a special, radiant and loud festival. On the Nativity, the joy is quieter and humbler. But this inner feeling is in no way inferior to the joy that we have at Pascha. And we have very, very many children at our services. In every church where there is more than one priest, morning services are celebrated on the Nativity as well. For example, we have a night service and two morning services, because one morning service cannot accommodate all the parishioners. And the late morning Liturgy is the children’s Liturgy, as it were; several hundred children attend it.
—You said that the church looks like the manger. But where was Jesus Christ born: in a barn or in a cave? Is it a discrepancy?
—No, there is no discrepancy here: the barn was in a cave. Sometimes a barn is a detached house built on purpose. And there was a cave equipped to a barn in Bethlehem. It was so convenient that shepherds drove their sheep there in bad weather—that is, it was a natural cave that was adapted as a barn. We know that shepherds were the first to come to adore Christ. An angel announced to them that the long-awaited Savior had been born into the world. They decided to go and look because it was very close to where they were keeping watch, tending their flock.
—The shepherds arrived first, then the Magi came...
—The Magi came much later. As we know, when Christ was born, a star appeared, which the Magi, stargazers, saw in the sky. And they had a long way to go from their country to bow down before the Christ Child. Their journey reputedly took more than one year. In addition, the Gospel does not say that the Magi came to the cave where Christ had been born. There is no mention in the Gospel of the place where the Magi adored Him. It simply says that a star appeared above that place, indicating Christ’s whereabouts. And what was this place? It was a house of some kind. The Magi entered and adored the Baby with great joy, and offered Him gifts. There is no indication in the Gospel as to what kind of place it was.
—Icons and illustrations simultaneously depict the newborn Baby, and shepherds with the Magi. That’s probably why we have such associations.
—Yes, the association arises that it all happened on the same day.
—Father Alexander, how would you advise laypeople to celebrate the Nativity properly? And how should we spend Christmas Eve in order to feel this day keenly?
—First and foremost, you should necessarily come to the Christmas Eve service, which begins in the evening of January 5. The best thing is to participate in the festive preparatory services. And it applies not only to the Nativity of Christ, but also to any major feast of the Church: to attend the evening service, where the feast’s action itself is concentrated. The morning Liturgy is not only a feast, but also the conclusion of this feast, which began the day before. Thus, the Nativity of Christ does not start on Christmas Eve, but on the eve of Christmas Eve. This is very important, very interesting and informative.
If you listen attentively to the chants at the service and to the texts that are read, and maybe prepare in advance and take these texts with you, you will have a far better understanding of what is happening and why all this is happening. It is very important to attend the service dedicated to Christmas Eve, then to attend the evening service or the night service of the Nativity itself after inquiring about its time at a particular church.
—Do you think the Nativity is a happy feast or a sad one? This fate was predestined to Jesus Christ, that by His death on the Cross He would redeem us and grant us eternal life.
—We rejoice in having witnessed the coming of the promised Messiah into the world. After all, it was announced to our fore-parents Adam and Eve that the Son of God, the Redeemer, and the Savior of the world would come. And since those times, people had lived in anticipation; in every generation they had expected that soon they would witness the coming of the Savior into the world. Centuries would pass, but He was still not born... And you and I have witnessed such a miracle. Now we are witnessing this amazing event—the coming of the Savior into the world; so this is certainly a festive occasion for us.
—And we experience it again every year…
—Yes. As for any person’s birthday, if we look at it from this perspective, then a person is born to die. Sooner or later, that deplorable day of his death will come. And it will surely be sad for all those who love him and those around him. His life, the way he will live it, will show what it (death) is for him.
But when a baby is born into the world, we congratulate his parents and are all happy that a family has become fuller. Therefore, beyond all doubt, this is a feast of joy. The events that are coming and which we will liturgically experience throughout the year (and the Church year includes all the events of the Savior’s life on earth) will come later. And we will approach each feast in a special way. So we are given such a joy to experience all these events over and over again with eyewitnesses every year. And I once again call on everyone not to shy away from the services that are dedicated to the major feasts of our Church year. This participation is vital for each one of us: it is not enough just to know that on a particular day there is a great feast in the Church—you need to put aside all your household chores, important work, and be sure to join those celebrating this event.
—Father Alexander, please tell us why this star appeared precisely to the Magi to herald the Birth of Christ? Is there any symbolism in this?
—The star in heavens appeared to everyone, but the Magi were the first to see it because they looked at the sky. And people mostly look at the ground and rarely raise their eyes to heaven. They do not understand, much less know how to discern the signs of heaven. People had been looking forward to something unusual.
The Magi were witnesses of the appearance of this star, but they did not know that it was Christ. They only knew that some special person had been born on earth. The star that appeared in the sky was different in its beauty from all the stars they knew—such a star in their minds could only herald the birth of a king. And they didn’t know yet that the King of the World had come. They came to the royal palace in Jerusalem and began to ask, “Where is the newborn king?” It’s logical: This is a palace, so that’s where the king should be. The Magi, stargazers, represent learned people.
But we also know that the shepherds saw this star too. They represent simple people, not learned ones; but the Lord revealed Himself to them as well. God revealed to both of them a sign of the coming of the Savior into the world, because He came to earth for both of them. And all of us, from the simple to the learned, are called to meet the newborn Christ, to be with Him all the days of our lives, to die with Him, to be resurrected with Him, and to spend an eternity with Him. That’s what we’re all called to do.
—There are twelve days between Christmas and Theophany. These two feasts are connected by Christmastide. Why is this period so highlighted, despite the fact that the Baptism of the Lord took place many years later, and not immediately after Christ’s Birth?
—In the early Church the Nativity and the Baptism of the Lord were not separated: it was a single feast called Theophany. Later, they were slightly separated. And the days between them testify to the joy that continues in us after such an event we participated in. Every Church feast has an afterfeast period: these are the days when we still remember the event this feast is dedicated to. For example, the afterfeast of Pascha lasts from Bright Sunday to Ascension—for forty days we commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord, and all our church services are dedicated to it.
Here, too, we have these holy days: they are popularly called Christmastide so that we should not switch to our earthly affairs, but should keep the feeling of the feast. The Church reminds us of the greatness of this event, so that it should be imprinted on our hearts more strongly.
Thirty years of the Savior’s life on earth passed between the Nativity and Theophany. He embarked on His public ministry at the age of thirty and came to St. John at the Jordan for Baptism. Such a time interval does not matter. I repeat: we mark all the years of our Savior’s life in one year. We have everything in one year. Therefore, some events are close in the calendar—for example, the Nativity and the Circumcision of the Lord, which actually took place a few days later. And the other feasts are at a different time.
—How should Christians spend these holy days properly and with special benefit for the soul? Besides attending services, are there any other particular moments that the faithful should remember to do?
—I believe this is the time when you should visit your relatives, especially elderly ones and those who live far away. Go to them and share the joy of the Birth of Christ with them. It will be good to serve somebody so that other people can also experience this feast: for instance, those who live in rural areas and cannot always get to church. Take them to church for one of these Christmastide services, so that they too can feel the joy of the Nativity. These are the ways to serve your neighbor.
In general, any great Church feast presupposes that a Christian goes to do good works after the service. We shouldn’t be idle on Sunday—don’t do anything for yourself, but do something useful for someone else. That’s what’s important! Give joy to someone no one cares about. Come to people with a present so that the feast can enter their home. That’s the best way to spend these holy days.
