A Star Shone Forth

Καὶ ἔλαθεν τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἡ παρθενία Μαρίας καὶ ὁ τοκετὸς αὐτῆς, ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ θάνατος τοῦ Κυρίου· τρία μυστήρια κραυγῆς, ἅτινα ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπράχθη. Πῶς οὖν ἐφανερώθη τοῖς αἰῶσιν; Ἀστὴρ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἔλαμψεν ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ἀνεκλάλητον ἦν καὶ ξενισμὸν παρεῖχεν ἡ καινότης αὐτοῦ, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα ἄστρα ἅμα ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ χορὸς ἐγένετο τῷ ἀστέρι, αὐτὸς δὲ ἦν ὑπερβάλλων τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ´πάντα· ταραχή τε ἦν,  πόθεν ἡ καινότης ἡ ἀνόμοιος αὐτοῖς. Ὅθεν ἐλύετο πᾶσα μαγεία καὶ´πᾶς δεσμὸς ἠφανίζετο κακίας· ἄγνοια καθῃρεῖτο, παλαιὰ βασιλεία διεφθείρετο θεοῦ ἀνθρωπίνως φανερουμένου εἰς καινότητα ἀϊδίου ζωῆς· ἀρχὴν δὲ ἐλάμβανεν τὸ παρὰ θεῷ ἀπηρτισμένον.  Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Ἐφεσιους

And hidden from the prince of this world was the virginity of Mary, and her child, and the death of the Lord; three loud crying mysteries, in silence wrought by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven brighter than all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, and its strangeness and its novelty. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was greater than them all. And there was agitation as to whence this new and unfamiliar thing came. Hence every kind of bewitchment was destroyed and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was washed away and the old kingdom ruined, God being manifested as man for the renewal of eternal life, and now that took a beginning which by God had been prepared. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians