Orthodox holiday "Nativity of Christ

The feast of Nativity of Christ is a great Christian holiday, one of the twelve main Orthodox holidays that the church celebrates with special triumph.

The holiday is established in honor of the birth on Earth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God Himself Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, incarnate, became a man in order to save people from the destruction of the whole world.

The bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ plays an important role, both in the life of every Orthodox Christian or Catholic, and for the Church itself. According to St. John Chrysostom II, Christmas, which is celebrated on December 25 according to the Julian calendar or on January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar, is the beginning of all major church holidays. He said that the Epiphany, and Easter, and the Ascension of the Lord, as well as Pentecost, originate in this holiday.

From old retellings, a conscientious Christian knows that the prophets of the Old Testament knew about the appearance of the Son of the Lord on Earth. And this miracle was expected for several centuries. This is how the Nativity of Christ was predicted, and the history of the holiday itself dates back to the fourth century BC.

So how did it all start?

The appearance of the Son of the Lord happened on a cold winter night. Mary and Joseph then went from Palestine to Jerusalem. According to long-standing sources, a population census was taking place at that time. The Romans had to register at their place of residence, and the Jews at their place of birth. Mary and David, descendants of King David, were on their way to Bethlehem, southwest of Jerusalem. When Mary began labor pains, they were near the cave in which there was a cattle stall. Joseph went to look for a midwife. But when he returned, he saw that the Baby had already been born, and the cave was filled with light of such power that his eyes could not bear it. And only after a while the light went out. So Mary gave birth to the God-man - on the straw among the manger, but illuminated by God's light.

Adoration of the Shepherds and the Gifts of the Magi

The first to know about the birth of Jesus Christ were the shepherds who were on duty at night near their flock. An angel appeared to them and brought the good news of the birth of the Son of God. The Magi, however, were informed of the joyous event by a bright star that rose over Bethlehem. They followed the light of this star and came to the cave.
Once in the cave, the Magi approached the Infant and knelt before the future Savior of mankind. They brought Him gifts: twenty-eight gold plates, incense and myrrh. The Magi offered the gold to Him as a king, incense as to God, and myrrh as a person who was to die. The Jews buried their dead with myrrh so that the body would remain incorrupt. Small balls the size of an olive were filled with incense and strung on a string - seventy-one balls in all.

The murders of babies

King Herod of Judah awaited the birth of the wonderful Child with great fear, because he thought that He would claim his throne. Therefore, Herod ordered the wise men to return to Jerusalem and inform him about the place where Mary and the Child are. But the Magi did not do this, because they received a revelation in a dream - a warning about the tsar's treachery and advice not to return to the despotic ruler. Herod, not waiting for the Magi, gave the order to his soldiers to surround Bethlehem and kill all the babies. Warriors broke into houses, took newborn babies from their mothers and killed them. On that day, according to legend, more than fourteen thousand babies died. But they never found the Son of God, because Mary and Joseph had a vision in which an angel of God warned them of the danger and ordered them to immediately leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt, which they did on the same night.

Date and time of birth of Jesus Christ

The date of birth of the Son of the Lord has long been a controversial issue for historians and theologians. An attempt to establish this moment according to the dates of events that accompanied the birth of Jesus did not lead theologians to any particular date. For the first time, the mention of December 25 as the date of birth of Jesus Christ is found in the annals of Sextus Julius Africanus, dated 221. Why is the date of the Nativity of Christ determined by this number? Because the date and time of Christ's death are precisely known from the Gospel, and He had to be on Earth for the full number of years. From this it could be concluded that Jesus Christ was conceived on March 25th. Adding nine months to this day, we received the date of the Nativity of Christ - December 25

Establishing a celebration

Due to the fact that the first Christians were Jews, they did not celebrate the Nativity of Christ. Because, according to their worldview, this day is "the day of the beginning of sorrow and suffering." For them, Easter was more important. But when the Greeks entered the Christian communities, based on their customs, they began to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. At first, on the day of the already existing Christian feast of the Epiphany, both the birth and the baptism of Jesus were celebrated. But from the beginning of the seventh century, Christmas began to be celebrated separately and the history of the holiday reached a new level.

According to legend, shortly before her Dormition, the Mother of God transferred the blessed gifts of the Magi to the Jerusalem Church, where they were kept for a long time and passed down from generation to generation. Then the gifts of the Magi came to Byzantium. In 400, the Byzantine king Arkady moved them to the new capital, Constantinople, to consecrate the city. There they were kept in the treasury of the emperors. In 1433, after the capture of the city of Constantinople, the Turkish Sultan Muhammad II allowed his wife Maro (Mary), who was a Christian by faith, to take the treasures. After the fall of Byzantium, she sent the gifts of the Magi to Athos, to the monastery of Paul. They are still kept in the Athos monastery, only sometimes they are taken out of the monastery - they illuminate the water with gold bars and drive out the evil force.

Holiday traditions

The traditions of celebrating the bright day of Christmas are rooted in the distant past. Before the holiday there is a forty-day fast. On Christmas Eve, the fast is especially severe. Also on this day, evening worship takes place. On Christmas Day in Ukraine and other Orthodox countries, godchildren bring to their baptized the so-called "supper", which consists of kutya. After the first star rises in heaven, you can sit at the table, where there must be twelve lean meals - according to the number of apostles. Meals should be lean, because on the eve of Christmas, you cannot eat animal food yet. Before the festive dinner, everyone at the table reads a prayer that praises our God Jesus Christ.

On the eve of the holidays, people decorate their home with fir branches. It is the spruce branches that signify eternal life. They also bring a spruce tree into the house and decorate it with bright toys that symbolize the fruits on the paradise tree. On this day, it is customary among Christians to give gifts to each other.

In ancient times, on this day, young people dressed up in merry costumes, gathered in groups, erected the Star of Bethlehem on the poles, and with merry carol songs went from house to house, notifying the owners that Christ was born. They wished the owners of peace in the house, a good harvest and other benefits, and they, in turn, thanked for the carol and gave various treats. Unfortunately, this tradition has survived only in the villages.

Divine essence is holy

Every year Christians around the world look forward to the holiday - the Nativity of Christ. In every corner of the globe, where they bow down to the name of Christ, the majestic birthday of the Savior is celebrated.

The Nativity of Christ is the beginning of a new era for humanity on earth. The Omnipotent Lord, by His Great mercy to people, took on a human likeness in order to help humanity to renew the almost extinguished light in the hearts of people, to remind them of the essence of the word of Truth, lost in a sinful life. The Creator, having come to Earth in the form of a man, united heaven and earth, concluding a New Testament with humanity - the Testament of Love.

The prophets bequeathed that the King of the world will come to Earth, who will correct everything that mankind has done on earth. But those who knew about this did not expect that he would be born in a modest, quiet place among livestock, because, as is known from the Gospel, there was no place for a holy family among people in Bethlehem. So today, people do not always have a place in their souls for God - the desire to accept the bright birth of the Savior in their hearts.

Most people wait for the majestic, pompous act of the coming of God into their lives, but He comes quietly, invisibly. And He comes to those people who really want to change their lives, to make their hearts soft in obedience to the Majestic Power, which is the Eternal Love, which holds the Universe in its palms.

May the Lord help all who are thirsty to have pure hearts filled with Holy gifts. So that they can accept the birth of the Savior in their lives and inform everyone the good news, as the angels preached about the coming of God to earth:

Christ is Born! We praise Him!