On this present light-bearing night we again spiritually relive the joy of the world’s finding of its Saviour. Again in our thoughts we gaze upon the Son of the Living God who lies in a manger of the cave of Bethlehem. Again we hear in our hearts the voice of the angels giving praise to the Creator and Redeemer: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men’ (Lk. 2:14).
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
Today, the Church invites us to rejoice and sing: "Christ is born! Give ye glory! Christ cometh from heaven!! Greet ye Him!" Let us then glorify Christ our God, Who descended to earth so as to elevate us, delivering us from sinful death! Everything is now full of great joy, for Christ gives us peace—between man and God, and man and his own conscience: "…and on earth peace among men of good will."
St. John Chrysostom
Rating: 8,5|Votes: 24
Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed; He had the power; He descended; He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.
Rating: 6|Votes: 2
Today’s Gospel reading is taken from the Beginning of the New Testament, from the first chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew. This reading begins with a long list of Hebrew names that give the family tree of Jesus on the human side. All in all, some 47 names are mentioned – the great, the near great, and the not so great.
St. Gregory Palamas
Rating: 10|Votes: 5
Impossible to recount is Christ’s descent according to His divinity, but His ancestry according to His human nature can be traced, since He who deigned to become Son of Man in order to save mankind was the offspring of men. And it is this genealogy of His that two of the evangelists, Matthew and Luke, recorded.
