Birth And Witnesses

Proxima dominica dilectionem vestram admonuimus, fratres, de diei hujus adventu, in qua diximus nos natalem Domini hodie etiam mundo teste suscipere. Mundus enim testimonium perhibet, dum nascente Christo, et ipse renascitur. Renascitur enim, cum de profundis noctium tenebris partu quodam lucis eruitur. Renascitur, inquam, cum ejus defectio finitur, claritas reparatur. Atque ideo in ortu Christi oportet magis ortum saeculi nos vocare. In hac enim die ad salvanda omnia oritur. Oritur enim die hac lux mundo, defunctis resurrectio, vita mortalibus ac propterea hodie non tam Salvatoris natalis est quam salutis. Nascitur ergo salus omnium Christus, quem regem gentium prophetae testantur: nascitur ex virgine, sicut Isaias declarat dicens: Ecce virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabunt nomen ejus Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum nobiscum Deus. Probat ergo veritatem Domini ordo nascendi. Concepit virgo virilis ignara consortii: impletur uterus nullo libatus amplexu, et Spiritum sanctum castus venter excepit, quem pura membra servarunt, innocens corpus gessit. Videte miraculum matris dominicae. Virgo est, cum concipit, virgo cum parturit, virgo post partum. Gloriosa virginitas, et praeclara fecunditas! Virtus mundi nascitur, et nullus est gemitus parturientis; vacuatur uterus, infans excipitur, nec virginitas violatur. Dignum enim erat ut Deo nascente meritum cresceret castitatis: nec per ejus adventum violaretur integritas, qui venerat sanare corrupta: nec per eum pudicitia corporis laederetur, per quem donatur virginitas baptismatis impudicis. Natus igitur puer ponitur in praesepio, et haec sunt Dei prima cunabula: nec regnator coeli has indignatur angustias, cui habitaculum fuit virgineus venter. Idoneum plane Maria Christo habitaculum, non pro habitu corporis, sed pro gratia originali. Ergo exonerata felici onere Maria matrem se laeta cognoscit; quae se nescit uxorem; et est gloriosa de sobole, quae est ignara de conjuge; atque infantem se genuisse miratur, cum Spiritum sanctum se suscepisse testatur; nec, quia peperit innupta, terretur, quia testimonio utitur virginitatis et sobolis. Soboles enim dominicum Patrem indicat; virginitas stupentium suspicionem excusat. Inde virginitati divinitas testimonium perhibet; hinc naturae secretum. Testimonium, inquam, perhibet divinitas partui virginali. Ut concipiatur enim Christus secundum praenuntiationem Evangelii Spiritus sancti repletur gratia; virtute Dei Patris obumbratur, sicut ad Mariam dictum est: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi, et ideo quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. In nativitate ergo Salvatoris completa est illa divina sententia, quae dicit: Duobus aut tribus testibus stabit omne verbum. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia V, Ante Natale Domini Source: Migne PL 57.235b-238a

We exhorted your love for the Lord's day that is near, which is His advent, concerning which we have said that even the world is a witness of the birthday of the Lord. For the world has its witness, since when Christ was born it was reborn. For it is reborn when from the deep darkness of its nights a light shone forth on account of a certain birth. It is reborn, I say, when its defect comes to an end and brightness is restored. Therefore, with this rising of Christ, we should also declare the rising of the world. For on this day everything rose up for salvation. On this day there is light for the world, resurrection for the dead, life for mortals, and so today is not only the birth of the Saviour but of salvation. Therefore Christ, the salvation of everyone, is born, whom a prophet gives witness to as the king of the nations, born from a virgin, for so Isaiah declares, saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb, and give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which translated is, God is with us. 1 The arrangement of the birth proves the truth of the Lord. A virgin who did not know a consort conceived, without amorous embraces her womb was filled, that chaste womb received the Holy Spirit, which pure members guarded, and an innocent body bore. See the wonder of the mother of the Lord. A virgin when she conceived, a virgin when she gave birth, a virgin after birth. Glorious virginity, wondrous fecundity. The world's virtue is born and she who gives birth does not groan. The womb is emptied, the infant comes out, and virginity is not harmed. For it was right that with God being born the merit of chastity should grow, and the coming of the one who came to heal corruption should do no harm to integrity. Through Him there was no injury to the modesty of the body, Him through whom virginity is given to the soiled by baptism. Thus the boy who is born is placed in a manger, and this is the first cradle of God, nor is this narrowness unworthy of the ruler of heaven, who had the womb of the virgin for a little house. It was fitting indeed that Mary was the dwelling place of Christ, and not for the covering of the body, but because of original grace. Therefore Mary was adorned with a happy burden and joyfully knew herself a mother, she who did not know herself a wife, she who is glorious through her offspring, she who knew not conjugal union, and wondered at the infant she had carried, when she bore witness to the Holy Sprit she had received, and because of the witness given by virginity and children she was not aggrieved when she gave birth unmarried. For the offspring declared a lordly father and dismissed the suspicion of senselessness. Hence Divinity gives witness to virginity , a secret of nature. Divinity, I say, gives witness to the virgin birth. For as Christ was conceived according to the foretelling of the Gospel, by the Holy Spirit filling with grace and with the shadowing power of God the Father, so it was said to Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will shadow you, and therefore what will be born from you is holy, and shall be called the Son of God.' 2 Therefore with the Divine nativity the Saviour completes the Divine sentence that says, 'With two or three witnesses confirm every word.' 3 Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 5, Before the Nativity of the Lord 1 Isaiah 7.14 2 Lk 1.35 3 Mt 18.16, Deut 19.15

Born In Bethlehem

Factum est autem cum essent ibi, impleti sunt dies ut pareret... Bene non solum propter indicium regii stemmatis, sed et propter nominis sacramentum Dominus in Bethleem nascitur. Bethleem namque domus panis interpretatur. Ipse namque est, qui ait: Ego sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendi. Locus ergo in quo Dominus nasceretur domus panis ante vocatus est, quia futurum profecto erat ut ille ibi per materiam carnis appareret, qui electorum mentes interna satietate reficeret. Sed usque hodie, et usque ad consummationem saeculi, Dominus in Nazareth concipi, nasci in Bethleem non desinit, cum quilibet audientium, verbi flore suscepto, domum se aeterni panis efficit. Quotidie in utero virginali, hoc est in animo credentium per fidem concipitur, per baptisma gignitur. Quotidie Dei genitrix Ecclesia suum comitata doctorem, de rota mundanae conversationis quod Galilaea sonat, in civitatem Juda, confessionis, videlicet, et laudis ascendens, censum suae devotionis aeterno regi persolvit. Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber I, Caput II Source: Migne PL 92.330c

And it was while they were there that the days were fulfilled when she should give birth... 1 And this was good, for the Lord was born in Bethlehem not only as a sign of the lineage for the kingdom but even for the name of the sacrament. For Bethlehem translated means 'house of bread,' and He is the one who says, 'I am the bread of life that has come down from heaven.' 2 Therefore the place in which the Lord was to be born was called beforehand the house of bread, because undoubtedly in the future He was to appear there in the flesh, He who refreshes the souls of the elect with internal satisfaction. And even today, and even to the end of the ages, the Lord is conceived in Nazareth and born in Bethlehem, when anyone who hears and takes up the bloom of the word is himself fashioned into a house of the eternal bread. Every day in the virginal womb, that is, in the soul of the faithful, He is conceived by faith and grows by baptism. Every day the mother of God, His own Church, accompanied by the teacher, from the wheel of worldly activity, which is what Galilee means, going into a city of Judah, liberates in confession, with praise going up to the eternal kingdom from the treasury of devotion. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Lk 2.6 2 Jn 6.51

The Praise Of Angels

Dominus noster atque Salvator nascitur in Bethlehem, et multitudo coelestis exceritus laudat Deum et dicit: Gloria in excelsis Deo, et super terram pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Haec autem loquitur multitudo coelestis exercitus, quia jam defecert praebere hominibus auxilium et videbat se opus quod sibi creditum fuerat, implere non posse absque eo qui vere salvare poterat, et praesules quoque ipsos juvare, ut homines salvarentur. Quomodo igitur scriptum est in Evangelio, quod quidam remis sulcantes mare adversus contrarios ventos jam fessi erant, et viginti quinque, sive triginta stadiis laborantes, portum tenere non poterant, et postea Dominus supervenit, et quiescere fecit fluctus tumentes, navemque cujus hinc inde latera tundebantur, ab imminenti discrimine liberavit: sic intellige quoniam et angeli volebant quidem hominibus praebere auxilium, et eis ab aegrotationibus suis tribuere sanitatem, quia omnes sunt apparitores spiritus in ministerium missi propter eos qui consecuti sunt salutem: qui quantum in suis viribus erat, adjuvabant homines. Videbant autem multo inferiorem suam esse medicinam, quam illorum cura poscebat. Porro ut de exemplo possis intelligere quod dicimus, vide mihi urbem in qua aegrotent plurimi, et medicorum frequens adhibeatur manus: sint diversa vulnera, quotidie in emortuam carnem serpens putredo penetret: et tamen medici qui adhibiti sunt ad curandum, nequeant alia ultra invenire medicamina, et artis suae scientia magnitudinem mali vincere; cum haec in talibus nacti sint, eveniat aliquis archiater qui habeat summam in arte notitiam, et illi qui prius sanare nequiverant cernentes magistri manu putredines cessare vulnerum, non invideant, non livore crucientur, sed in laudes erumpant archiatri, et praedicent Deum qui et sibi et aegrotantibus tantae scientiae hominem miserit. In hanc ergo similitudinem et multitudo exercitus angelorum audita est dicens: Gloria in excelsis Deo, et super terram pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis. Origenes, Homiliae in Lucam, Homilia XIII, Interprete Sancto Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.1830c-1831a

Our Lord and Saviour is born in Bethlehem and a multitude of the heavenly host praises God and says: 'Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.' 1 And the multitude of the heavenly host says this because it has wearied itself in giving help to men, and it saw that the labour which it believed to be its own cannot be completed without Him who truly can save, even Him who is also the master who helps them so that men might be saved. Recall how is it written in the Gospel that certain men plying the oars were wearied in their struggle against contrary winds, and they laboured for twenty five or thirty stades and were not able to reach port, and later the Lord intervened and quietened the churning waves of the sea that were beating at the sides of the boat, and freed them from their pressing plight. 2 So understand that the angels wished to help men and bring them from sickness to health, because 'they are all ministering spirits sent to minister to them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation,' 3 as much as it is in them to help men. But they saw how inferior their own medicine is for what the cure requires. Perhaps by an example you shall be able to understand what I am saying. Imagine a city in which there are many sick people and the hands of physicians are frequently employed. There are many wounds and every day the worm enters into dying bodies, and however much the physicians exert themselves in healing they can do no more than their art allows them and as their knowledge can prevail over the evil, and when into such a situation the chief physician comes, he who knows everything about the art, when they see the hand of the master close up the festering wounds of those who they were not able to heal before, they are not envious, they are not distressed by it, but they burst out in praise of the chief physician and tell of God who has sent a man of such great knowledge to them and the sick. In this way, then, hear the host of angels saying, 'Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.' Origen, Homilies on Luke, from Homily 13, Translated by Saint Jerome 1 Lk 2.13-14 2 Jn 6.19-21 3 Heb 1.14

Shepherds And Bishops

Καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἀπῆλθον ἀπ' αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν οἱ ἄγγελοι, οἱ ποιμένες ἐλάλουν πρὸς ἀλλήλους: διέλθωμεν δὴ ἕως Βηθλέεμ καὶ ἴδωμεν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο τὸ γεγονὸς ὃ ὁ Kύριος ἐγνώρισεν ἡμῖν. Kαὶ ἦλθαν σπεύσαντες, καὶ ἀνεῦραν τήν τε Μαριὰμ καὶ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ καὶ τὸ βρέφος κείμενον ἐν τῇ φάτνῃ: ἰδόντες δὲ ἐγνώρισαν περὶ τοῦ ῥήματος τοῦ λαληθέντος αὐτοῖς περὶ τοῦ παιδίου τούτου. Kαὶ πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐθαύμασαν περὶ τῶν λαληθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν ποιμένων πρὸς αὐτούς. Οἱ ποιμένες οὗτοι σύμβολόν εἰσι τῶν πνευματικῶν ποιμένων, τῶν ἀρχιερέων· δεῖ οὖν τοὺς ἀρχιερῖς φυλάσσειν τὴν ποίμνην αὐτῶν καὶ ἀγραυλεῖν, τουτέστιν, ᾄδειν πνευματικά τινα, καὶ διδάσκειν τὸν λαὸν, καὶ οὕτως ἀξιωθήσονται θείων θεαμάτων καὶ ἀκουσμάτων. Βηθλεὲμ δὲ ἑρμηνεύεται οἶκος τοῦ ἄρτου· τίς δὲ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ οἰκος τοῦ ἄρτου, ἤ ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἄρτος ἀπόκειται; Ἔργον οὖν ἐστι τοῖς λογικοῖς ποιμέσιν ἐπιζτεῖν οὐράνιον ἄρτον· καὶ μεθ' ὃ ἴδωσι τὸν ἄρτον, ὀφείλουσι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις κηρύττειν· ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ ποιμένες ἰδόντες τὸ βρέφος, διελάλησαν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν, Κεφαλὴ Β' Source: Migne PG 123.724c-725a

And after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord has revealed to us.' And they went with all speed and found Mary and Joseph and the infant laying in the manger. And looking, they understood the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard, they wondered at the things that were told to them by the shepherds. 1 These shepherds are a figure of spiritual shepherds and spiritual leaders. Therefore bishops must guard their flock and dwell in the fields, that is, they must sing spiritually and teach the people, even so that they will become worthy of receiving heavenly visions and voices. Bethlehem means 'house of bread,' and what else is the house of bread but the Church in which the bread is placed? Thus the work of the rational shepherd is to seek the heavenly bread, which when they have looked upon, they are obliged to preach to others, just as the shepherds who having looked upon the infant, spoke of him to others. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Luke, Chapter 2 1 Lk 2.15-20

The Boy And The King

Quis est ille: Puer pauper et sapiens, qui melior est rege sene et stulto? Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui puer dictus est propter innocentiam et simplicitatem, quia peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus. Iste puer cum esset dives factus est pauper pro nostra salute. Iste veraciter est sapiens, quia in ipso habitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter. Quis est ille rex senex et stultus? Diabolus, qui pene ab ipso mundi exordio regnavit in genere humano, et ideo senex vocatur, et vere stultus est rex, quia qunato plures decipit, tanto sibi poenam accumulat. In regno quippe hujus regis senis et stulti, id est, diaboli, natus est puer optimus, Dominus videlicet Jesus Christus, qui factus est Rex regum, et Domnius dominantium. Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Ecclesiasten, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 172.340a-b

Why is it said: 'A boy who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish' ? 1 Our Lord Jesus Christ is called a boy on account of innocence and simplicity, because He did not commit sin, nor was cunning to be found in His mouth. 2 This boy when He was rich was made poor for our salvation. He is the one who truly is wise, because in Him all the fullness of divinity dwells bodily. 3 Who is the old and foolish king? The devil, who indeed has ruled over the human race from the beginning of this world, and therefore is named old, and certainly he is a foolish king because the more he deceives, the more he heaps up punishment for himself. In the kingdom of this old and foolish king the best of boys is born, obviously our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. 4 Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4 1 Eccl 4.13 2 1 Pet 2.22 3 Colos 2.19 4 Apoc 17.14, 19,16

New And Wonderful

Τίς ἡ καινὴ καὶ παράδοξος αὕτη μυσταγωγία; Τίς ἡ παντοδύναμος καὶ φθαρτοποιὸς τῆς θείας Προνοίας εὐμένεια; Τί τὸ δεινὸν καὶ πάνσοφον κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου στρατήγημα; Ἠλευθέρωται κόσμος διὰ παρθένου, ὁ διὰ ταύτης τὸ πρὶν ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν πεσών. Διὰ παρθενικοῦ τοκετοῦ τεταρτάρωται δαιμόνων ἀοράτων τὰ τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα συστήματα. Σύμμορφος τοῖς δούλοις ὁ Δεσπότης γέγονεν, ἵνα οἱ δοῦλοι γένωνται σύμμορφοι πάλιν Θεοῦ. Ὤ βῆθλεὲμ πόλις ἡγιασμένη, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συγκεκληρωμένη. Ὦ φάτνη, ὦ φάτνη συμμέτοχε τῶν Χερουβὶμ, καὶ ὁμότιμε τῶν Σεραφίμ. Ὁ γὰρ αἰωνίως ὑπ' ἐκεὶνων τῶν θρόνων ἐποχούμενος θεϊκῶς, νῦν ἐν σοὶ σωματικῶς πάλιν αὐλίζεται. Ὦ Μαρία, Ὦ Μαρία, ἡ τὸν ἀπάντων Δημιουρὸν πρωτότοκον κεκτημένη. Ὦ ἀνθρωπότης, ἡ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον σωματικῶς οὐσιώσασα, καὶ τῶν ἐπουρανίων καὶ νοετῶν δυνάμεων ἐν τούτῳ τῶ μέρει προτετιμημένη. Οὐ γὰρ ἠξίωσε Χριστὸς μορφωθῆναι πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἀρχαγγέλων μορφὰς, οὔτε μὴν πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἀρχῶν, καὶ δυνάμεων, καὶ ἐξουσιῶν ἀτρέπτους εἰκόνας, ἀλλὰ πρὸς σὲ τὴν κατενεχθεῖσαν ἐπὶ τροπὴν, καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζώοις παρασυμβεβλημένην. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑγιαίνοντες οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν ἰατροῦ· ἡ δὲ νόσῳ συχνῇ κατασχεθεῖσα, τηλικούτου καὶ τοιούτου τετύχηκεν ἰατροῦ, ὡς μείζονος τῆς ὑγείας εὐτυχής ἐστι σωτηρίας, τοῦ νοσήματος δραπετεύσαντος. Ἀλλὰ ποῦ νῦν ὁ δυσμενὴς καὶ ἀβρόντητος· ὁ ἀλάστωρ καὶ παμμίαρος δράκων, ὁ μετεωρίζειν εἰς ὕψος τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θρόνον ἐπαγγειλάμενος; Ἀμφιλοχίος Ἐπισκόπος Ἰκονίου, Λογός Α´, Εἰς Τὰ Γενέθλια Τοῦ Μεγάλου Θεοῦ Καὶ Σωτῆρος Ὑμων Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ Source: Migne 39.39d-41b

What is this new and wonderful heavenly teaching? What is this almighty and mortal-making benevolence of Divine Providence? What grand subtlety and plan against the devil? The world is liberated by a virgin, that which was previously crushed beneath sin by a virgin. By a virgin's giving birth a whole great mass of unseen demons has been cast headlong into Tartarus. The Lord has been fashioned to be like His servants, so that His servants might again be made like God. O holy city of Bethlehem, you have become a common inheritance for men. O manger, O manger, fellow participant with the Cherubim and sharing the honour of the Seraphim. For He who is eternally seated above those celestial thrones, 1 is now laid on you in the flesh. O Mary, Mary, for your first born son you have the Creator of all things. O humanity, which the Word of God has made its corporeal substance and for this is more highly honoured than the heavenly and intellectual powers. For Christ did not take on the form of an archangel, 2 nor the changeless images of principalities and virtues and powers, but He has come down to your changeable nature, which has been compared to the brute animals. 3 There is no work for a physician with the healthy, 4 but there is much to occupy him with the sick, and only with such a great physician does it happen that when the sickness is expelled, there comes about a greater salvation superior to health. Where now that wicked enemy, that wretched and abominable dragon, who said that he would set up his throne in the heights? 5 Amphilocius of Iconium, from from Sermon 1, On The Birth of our Almighty God and Saviour Jesus Christ 1 Ps 79.2 2 Heb 2.16 3 Ps 48.13 4 Mt 9.12 5 Isaiah 14.13

Night, Dawn And Day

Maria diluculum. Diluculum, de quo dicitur, Osee: Quasi diluculum praeparatus est egressus ejus. Diluculum dicitur. Ortus Mariae fuit diluculum diei gratiae: quia usque ad ipsam duravit nox quam prima mater in mundum introduxit. Et hujus diluculi principium fuit obscurum per originale, sed cito illuminatum, scilicet in sanctificationes sicut supra dictum est de aurora. Ortus vero Christi fuit plena dies. Unde tunc canitur illud Isaise: Populus qui ambulabat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam. Ideo etiam tunc dictum est pastoribus: Natus est vobis hodie Salvator, etc. Et dictum est hodie cum esset nox: quia de illa nocte praedixerat Psalmista: Nox sicut dies illuminabitur, etc. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, De Laudibus Beatae Mariae Virginis, Liber Septimus, De Appellationibus Mariae, Caput VIII Source: Here, p219

Mary As Daybreak The daybreak of which Hosea says, 'As the daybreak His going forth is prepared.' 1 Mary was the dawn arising for the grace of the day, because until her the night which our first mother brought about prevailed. And the beginning of this dawn was the darkness that was, but suddenly it was illuminated, that is, into sanctification, as was previously said about the dawn. But Christ was the fullness of the day. Whence it is sung in Isaiah: 'The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.' 2 Therefore it was said to the shepherds, 'Today a Saviour is born to you.' 3 And it was said 'today' when it was night, because of that night the Psalmist foretold, 'Night shall be illuminated like the day.' 4 Saint Albert The Great, On the Praises of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Book 7, On The Names of Mary, Chapter 8 1 Hosea 6.3 2 Isaiah 9.2 3 Lk 2.11 4 Ps 138.12

Humility And The Nativity

Invenietis, inquit, infantem pannis involutum, et positum in praesepio. Et post pauca: Venerunt, ait evangelista, festinantes, et invenerunt Mariam, et Joseph, et infantem positum in praesepio. Quid est quod sola ab angelo commendari videtur humilitas, nec tamen sola a pastoribus inveniri? Forte specialius commendat angelus humilitatem, quia ruentibus caeteris per superbiam, ipse in humilitate stetisset. Aut propterea certe coelitus annuntiatur humilitas, quod haec quasi propria virtus divinae exhibenda sit majestati. Sola tamen non potuit inveniri, quia semper gratia datur humilibus. Invenerunt ergo Mariam, et Joseph, et infantem positum in praesepio. Sicut enim Salvatoris infantia manifestam praetendit humilitatem, sic per Virginem continentia, justitia per Joseph virum justum, cujus laus est in Evangelio, non incongrue designatur. Sane continentiam deberi carni quis nesciat? Justitia vero virtus est, quod suum est cuique tribuens: et haec erga proximos est necessaria. Porro humilitas Deo nos reconciliat, Deo facit esse subjectos, Deo placet in nobis; sicut ait Virgo beata: Respexit humilitatem ancillae suae. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Nativitate Domini, Sermo IV, De eo quod pastores invenerunt Mariam et Joseph, et infantem positum in praesepio Source: Migne PL 183.126d-127b

'You shall find,' he said, 'a child in swaddling cloths, placed in a manger.' And a little after the evangelist says, 'They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph and the infant placed in a manger.' 1 Why is it that it seems that humility was alone commended by the angel, which is not only found in the shepherds? Perhaps the angels commends it so especially because when others fell through pride, he stood in humility. 2 Or certainly humility is declared heavenly, because this is the proper virtue that should be shown before the Divine majesty. But He cannot be found with that alone, because grace is always given to the humble. 3 Therefore they found Mary and Joseph and the child placed in the manager. For as even the infancy of the Saviour showed forth a manifest humility, so through the Virgin there was continence, and through Joseph righteousness, he whose praise in the Gospel is not inappropriately set down. 4 Who does not know that continence is for the flesh? But justice is that which gives to each his due, and this is necessary in the treatment of neighbours. Humility, however, reconciles us to God, it makes us subject to God, it makes God pleased with us. As the blessed Virgin said; 'He has looked on the humility of His handmaid.' 5 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On The Nativity of the Lord, from Sermon 4, On the Shepherds' finding of Mary And Joseph and the Child placed in the Manger. 1 Lk 2.12,16 2 1 Tim 3.6 3 James 4.6 4 Mt 1.19 5 Lk 1.48

Receiving The Nativity

Ergo, fratres, natalem Domini suscepturi exornemus nos puris et nitidis indumentis. Animae autem loquor indumenta, non carnis. Carnis enim indumentum vilis amictus est; animae vestimentum corpus est pretiosum. Illud humanis manibus densatum est; istud Dei manibus institutum est: atque ideo majoris est sollicitudinis Dei opus sine macula custodire, quam opera hominum impolluta servare. Mundanum enim vestimentum, si sordidum fuerit, potest illud fullo conductis eluere; animae autem vestimentum, si semel inquinatum fuerit, nisi propriis et assiduis operibus vix lavatur. Nihil ei prodest manus artificis, nihil fullonis operatio: conscientiae enim membra polluta aqua abluere potest, non potest tamen mundare. Haec sunt animae vestimenta pretiosa quae Marcus evangelista in Salvatore collaudat, dicens: Et vestimenta ejus facta sunt fulgentia, candida nimis velut nix, qualia fullo super terram non potest facere. Laudatur igitur Christi vestimentum, quia nitebat, non textura, sed gratia: laudatur indumentum, non quod staminum subtilitate densatum est, sed quod corporis integritate conceptum: laudatur vestimentum, non quod mulierum manus texuit, sed quod Mariae virginitas procreavit. Et ideo in eo magnificatur candoris gratia, quia immaculatum illud non artificis cura praestiterat. Qualia fullo, inquit, super terram non potest facere. Non potest plane fullo Christi facere vestimentum; fullo enim praestare potest nitorem, munditiam, puritatem, praestare tamen non potest virginitatem, justitiam, bonitatem. Illud enim in arte est operis, istud in natura virtutis. Haec enim in Christo Domino S. Evangelista virtutum indumenta collaudat, quae et beatus David pari sententia praedicavit dicens: Myrrha, et gutta, et casia a vestimentis tuis pretiosis. His enim aromatum odoribus sanctarum significantur indumenta virtutum. Ergo, fratres, natalem Domini suscepturi ab omni conscientiam nostram faece mundemus. Accuremus nos non sericis vestibus, sed operibus pretiosis. Vestimenta enim nitida membra operire possunt, conscientiam mundare non possunt: nisi quod majoris est verecundiae nitidum membris incedere, et pollutum sensibus ambulare. Interioris igitur prius hominis ornemus affectum, ut exterioris quoque hominis sit amictus ornatus. Spirituales maculas abluamus, ut carnalia in nobis fulgeant vestimenta. Nihil autem prodest fulgere vestibus et sordere flagitiis. Ubi enim conscientia tenebrosa est, totum corpus obscuratum est. Habemus autem, quo conscientiae maculas abluamus: scriptum est enim Date eleemosynam, et omnia munda sint vobis. Bonum eleemosynae mandatum, per quod manibus operamur, ut corde mundemur. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia IV, ante Natale Domini Source: Migne PL 57.233c-236a

Therefore, brothers, let us receive the nativity of the Lord with ourselves adorned with pure and bright vestments. I speak of the covering of the soul, not the flesh. The covering of the flesh is common clothing, the soul's vestment is the more precious body. The former is fixed together by human hands, the latter is established by the hands of God, and therefore there should be greater care to guard the work of God from defilement than to preserve the works of men from soiling. For if a clean vestment becomes dirty, it may be cleaned by the action of a fuller, but the vestment of the soul, if once it is defiled, cannot be washed but with its own assiduous works. The hand of the maker profits nothing, nor the labour of the fuller, but polluted members are washed with the water of conscience, else they cannot be cleansed. These are the precious vestments of the soul which Mark the evangelist praised in the Saviour, saying, 'And His vestments were made bright, as white as snow, which no fuller on the earth can make.' 1 Therefore the vestment of Christ is praised because it shone, but not for its texture, but because of grace. The covering is not praised because of the subtle tightness of the weave, but because of the pure conception of body. The vestment is not praised because of the skill of the women who wove it, but because the virginity of Mary fashioned it. Therefore in Him is magnified the grace of brightness, because that immaculate one was not produced by the care of a craftsman. 'Which no fuller on the earth can make,' it says. It is not possible that a fuller could make the vestment of Christ, for though a fuller is able to produce brightness nd cleanliness, and free from dirt, he cannot bring forth virginity, righteousness and goodness. For the former is in the art of the worker, the latter is of the nature of virtue. This is the covering of virtue that the blessed Evangelist praises, and which even the blessed David foretells with fitting meaning: 'Myrrh and aloes and cassia from his precious vestments.' 2 The covering of virtue is signified by these aromatic odours. Therefore, brothers, in our reception of the nativity of the Lord let us cleanse our conscience of all filth. Let us not show care for silk garments but for precious works. Shining vestments can cover limbs but they cannot cleanse the conscience. Unless one walks more with modesty than with glittering limbs, one walks with a polluted mind. Therefore first adorn the interior state of man, so that the exterior of a man may also be finely clothed. Let us wash away spiritual faults so that the vestment of flesh may shine in us. It profits nothing to glitter with clothing and to be foul with sins. When the conscience is shadowed the whole body is darkened. And we have that by which we may wash clean the stains of conscience. It is written: 'Give alms and everything shall be clean to you.' 3 This good commandment of alms-giving, which we work with our hands, makes the heart clean. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 4, Before the Nativity of the Lord 1 Mk 9.2 2 Ps 44.9 3 Lk 11.41

The Son And The Sun

Habentes ergo tantae spei fiduciam, dilectissimi, in fide qua fundati estis stabiles permanete, ne idem ille temptator, cuius iam a vobis dominationem christus exclusit, aliquibus vos iterum seducat insidiis, et haec ipsa praesentis diei gaudia fallaciae suae arte corrumpat, inludens simplicioribus animis de quorumdam persuasione pestifera, quibus hic dies sollemnitatis nostrae, non tam de nativitate Christi, quam de novi, ut dicunt, solis ortu videatur honorabilis. Quorum corda vastis tenebris obvoluta, et ab omni incremento verae lucis aliena sunt. Trahuntur enim adhuc stultissimis gentilitatis erroribus, et quia supra id quod carnali intuentur aspectu, nequeunt aciem mentis erigere, ministra mundi luminaria divino honore venerantur. Absit ab animis christianis impia superstitio prodigiosum que mendacium. Ultra omnem modum distant a sempiterno temporalia, ab incorporeo corporea, a dominatore subiecta, quae etsi mirandam habent pulchritudinem, adorandam tamen non habent deitatem. Illa ergo virtus, illa sapientia, illa est colenda maiestas, quae universitatem mundi creavit ex nihilo, et in quas voluit formas atque mensuras terrenam caelestem que substantiam omnipotenti ratione produxit. Sol, luna et sidera sint commoda utentibus, sint speciosa cernentibus, sed ita ut de illis gratiae referantur auctori, et adoretur Deus, qui condidit, non creatura, quae servit. Laudate igitur Deum, dilectissimi, in omnibus operibus eius atque iudiciis. Sit in vobis indubitata credulitas virgineae integritatis et partus. Reformationis humanae sacrum divinum que mysterium sancto atque sincero honorate famulatu. Amplectimini Christum in nostra carne nascentem, ut eumdem Deum gloriae videre mereamini in sua maiestate regnantem, qui cum Patre et cum Spiritu Sancto manet in unitate deitatis in saecula saeculorum. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XXII, In Nativitate Domini Source: Migne PL 54.198b-199a

Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved, remain firm in the faith in which you have been established, lest that same tempter whose domination over you Christ has already cast out, seduce you again with any of his wiles and corrupt even the joys of the present day by his deceitful art, misleading simpler souls with the pestilential idea of some to whom this day of our solemnity seems to derive its honour, not so much from the nativity of Christ, but, as they say, from the rising of the new sun. Such hearts are wrapped in great darkness and are estranged from any increase in the perception of the true light. For they are still drawn away by the most foolish errors of paganism, and because they cannot lift the acuity of the mind above that which they see with carnal sight, they venerate with divine honours the luminaries that minister to the world. May wicked superstitions and egregious lies be far from Christian souls. Temporal things are separated from the Eternal by all measure, and likewise corporeal things from the incorporeal, and things governed from Him who governs, which even if they may possess an admirable beauty, yet have no divinity to be adored. That power, then, that wisdom, that majesty, is to be adored which created everything out of nothing and by His almighty reason made into what forms and dimensions He willed the substance of the earth and sky. The sun and the moon and the stars may be useful to us, they may be most fair to look on, but only if we give thanks to their Maker for them and worship God who made them, not the created thing which serves. Thus praise God, dearly beloved, in all His works and judgments. May there be in you an undoubting belief in the Virgin's integrity and the birth. Honour the sacred and Divine mystery of man's restoration with holy and sincere service. Embrace Christ born in our flesh, that you may merit to see the same God of glory reigning in His majesty, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit remains in the unity of the Godhead for ever and ever. Amen. Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 22, On The Nativity Of The Lord

Various Escapes

Adorato autem Domino, magi, et omni devotione completa, secundum admonitionem somnii non eodem quo venerant itinere revertuntur. Oportebat enim ut jam in Christum credentes non per antiquae conversationis semitas ambularent, sed novam ingressi viam a relictis erroribus abstinerent. Tum ut etiam Herodis vacuarentur insidiae, qui in puerum Jesum impietatem doli per simulationem disponebat officii. Unde quia spes istius erat soluta commenti, in majorem furorem iracundia regis ardescit. Nam recolens tempus quod indicaverant magi, in omnes Bethleem pueros rabiem crudelitatis effundit, et caede generali universae civitatis illius in aeternam gloriam transituram trucidat infantiam; aestimans fore ut, nullo illic parvulo non occiso, occideretur et Christus. At ille, qui sanguinem suum pro mundi redemptione fundendum in aliam differret aetatem, Aegypto se parentum ministerio subvectus intulerat, repetens scilicet Hebraeae gentis antique cunabula, et principatum veri Joseph majoris providentiae potestate disponens, ut illam diriorem omni inedia famem qua Aegyptiorum mentes veritatis inopia laborabant, veniens de caelo panis vitae et cibus rationis auferret; nec sine illa regione pararetur singularis hostiae sacramentum, in qua primum occisione agni, salutiferum crucis signum et pascha Domini fuerat praeformatum. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XXXIII, In Epiphaniae solemnitate III Source: Migne PL 54.242c-243b

When the wise men had adored the Lord and completed all their devotions, according to the warning of a dream, they do not return by the same road by which they had come. For it was not befitting for them who now believed in Christ to walk the paths of their old way of life, but having entered a new way to avoid the errors they had left. Which indeed confounded Herod's plot, who under the appearance of duty was inclined to a wicked crime against the infant Jesus. Hence when his hope in his design unravelled, the anger of the king rose to a greater fury. For considering the time which the wise men had indicated, he poured out his cruel rage on all the male children of Bethlehem, and in a general massacre in the whole of that city slew the infants who thus passed to their eternal glory, thinking that, if every single babe was killed there, Christ too would be slain. But He who was delaying the shedding of His own blood for the world's redemption until another time, was carried and brought into Egypt by the aid of His parents, and thus sought the ancient cradle of the Hebrew race, and by the power of a greater providence took up the princely office of the true Joseph, in that He, the Bread of Life that came down from heaven 1 and the Food of reason, removed that worst of all famines, the lack of truth, in which the minds of the Egyptians were labouring. Nor without a stay in that land would the mystery of that unique victim have been complete, in which by the first slaying of the lamb was prefigured the saving sign of the Cross and the Lord's Passover. Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 33, On The Epiphany 1 Jn 6.59

Word And Man

Verbum igitur Dei Deus, Filius Dei, qui in principio erat apud Deum, per quem facta sunt omnia et sine quo factum est nihil, propter liberandum ab aeterna morte hominem, factus est homo: ita se ad susceptionem humilitatis nostrae sine diminutione suae majestatis inclinans, ut manens quod erat, assumensque quod non erat, veram servi formam ei formae in qua Deo Patri est aequalis uniret, et tanto foedere naturam utramque consereret, ut nec inferiorem consumeret glorificatio, nec superiorem minueret adsumptio. Salva igitur proprietate utriusque substantiae et in unam coeunte personam, suscipitur a maiestate humilitas, a virtute infirmitas, ab aeternitate mortalitas, et ad dependendum conditionis nostrae debitum, natura inviolabilis naturae est infusa passibili, Deusque verus homo verus in unitatem domini temperatur, ut quod nostris remediis congruebat, unus atque idem Dei hominumque mediator et mori posset ex uno et resurgere posset ex altero. Merito virgineae integritati nihil corruptionis intulit partus salutis, quia custodia fuit pudoris editio veritatis. Talis ergo, dilectissimi, nativitas decuit Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam Christum, qua nobis et humanitate congrueret et divinitate praecelleret. Nisi enim esset Deus verus, non afferret remedium, nisi esset homo verus, non praeberet exemplum. Ab exultantibus angelis nascente Domino gloria in excelsis Deo canitur, et pax in terra bonae voluntatis hominibus nuntiatur. Vident enim caelestem Hierusalem ex omnibus mundi gentibus fabricari de quo inenarrabili divinae pietatis opere quantum laetari debet humilitas hominum, cum tantum gaudeat sublimitas angelorum? Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XXI, In Nativitate Domini Source: Migne PL 54.191c-192b

Therefore the Word of God, God Himself, the Son of God, who in the beginning was with God, through whom all things were made and without whom was nothing made, 1 with the purpose of liberating man from eternal death, was made man. So He lowered Himself to take on our humility without decrease in His own majesty, that remaining what He was and assuming what He was not, He might unite the true form of a slave to that form in which He is equal to God the Father, 2 and by such compact join both natures, so that the inferior was not swallowed up in its glorification, nor the superior diminished by what it has taken up. Therefore with preservation of the properties of both substances which came together in one person, humility was taken up by majesty, weakness by strength, mortality by eternity, and for the paying of the debt of our condition, passible nature was infused with inviolable nature, and true God and true man were combined in the unity of the Lord, so that, as was fitting for our remedy, there be one and the same Mediator between God and men, 3 that it be possible both die with the one and rise again with the other. Rightly, therefore, the birth of salvation brought no corruption to the Virgin's purity, because the bringing forth of Truth was the keeping of chastity. Such then, most beloved, was the nativity which was fitting for the Power of God and Christ the Wisdom of God, by which He might join with us in humanity and excel us in Divinity. For unless He were true God He could not bring a remedy, unless He were true Man He could not give an example. Therefore the exulting angels at the birth of the Lord sing: 'Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth to men of good will.' 4 For they see that the heavenly Jerusalem is being built up out of all the peoples of the world, and concerning this indescribable work of Divine love, how great should be the rejoicing of the humbleness of men, when the joy of the angels above is so great? Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 21, On The Nativity Of The Lord 1 Jn 1.1-3 2 Philip 2.6 3 1 Tim 2.5 4 Lk 2.14

The Troubles Of The Nativity

Audiens autem Herodes rex turbatus, est omnis Jerosolyma cum eo. Existimans illum regem fore terrenum, quasi de successore regni turbatus est. Semper enim grandis potestas majori timori subjecta est. Sicut ramum arborum in excelso positarum, etiam si lenis aura flaverit, movet: sic et sublimes homines in culmine dignitatum exsistentes etiam levis nuntii fama conturbat. Humiles autem, sicut in convalle, plerumque in tranquillitate consistunt. Aut ideo turbabatur, audiens regem natum Judaeos ex genere Judaeorum, cum esset ipse genere Idumaeus, ne, regno revoluto iterum ad Judaeos, et ipse a Judaeis expellerentur, et semen ejus post ipsum praecideretur a regno. Puto quod non tantum Herodes a semetipso turbantur, quantum diabolus in Herode. Herdoes enim timebat, quod suspicabatur: diabolus autem timebat, quod vere sciebat. Herodes hominem aestimabat, diabolus Deum cognoscebat. Audierat enim jam angelos aere clamantes Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Ideo quanto magis testes addebantur pro Christo, tanto magis destructionem potestatis sua diabolus timebat. Unusquisque ergo eorum zelo proprio turbabatur, et secundum suam naturam sui regni successorem timebat: Herodes terrenum, diabolus autem caelestem. Nam nec Herdoes terreretur, si caelestem regem nasci suspicatus fuisset, nec diabolus, si terrenem. Vis scire, quia non tantum ipse turbabatur, quantum diabolus in eo? Ecce et Judaicus populus turbabatur, qui magis de auditu isto gaudere debuerat, quia rex Judaeus surgere dicebatur, designatus a Deo. Sed turbabantur, quia de adventu justi non poterant iniqui guadere. Aut certe turbabantur timentes ne forte iratus Herodes Judaico regi, genus ejus vexaret. Nam quemadmodum, certantibus ventis, mare concutitur, sic regibus adversantibus sibi, populus regni vexantur. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia I Source: Migne PG 56.639

When king Herod heard he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 1 He was troubled because he judged Him to be a worldly king, a successor to his kingdom. Great power is always subject to great fear. As the branches of trees set on a height are moved even by a light breeze, so highly placed men in elevated places are troubled by the least word of rumour. The humble, as set in a valley, commonly remain at peace. Or perhaps he was thus troubled by hearing that a Jewish king from the Jews had been born, when he was of the people of Idumaea, lest the kingdom be returned again to the Jews and He be expelled from the Jews and his lineage be cast out of the kingdom. I think that Herod was not only troubled in himself but the devil in him was troubled just as much. Herod feared because he suspected, but the devil feared because He knew the truth. Herod judged Him to be a man, the devil knew Him to be God. For he had already heard the angels crying out 'Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.' 2 So as more witnesses were added for Christ, so much more did the devil fear for the ruin of his power. Each of them then was troubled according to his jealousy and each according to his nature feared a successor to his kingdom. Herod feared a terrestrial king, the devil feared a heavenly one. For Herod would not have feared if a heavenly king had been born, nor the devil if it were a terrestrial one. You wish to know how it was that not only was he troubled so much and the devil in him? Behold, even the Jewish people were troubled, who by the hearing of this should have rather rejoiced, because it was said that the king of the Jews had risen, marked out by God. But they were troubled, because those who are iniquitous cannot rejoice at the coming of a righteous man. Or certainly they were troubled because they feared that with Herod angered because of a Jewish king he would become a trouble to his people. For as contending winds stir up the sea, so do opposed kings cause trouble to the people of the kingdom. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 1 1 Mt 2.3 2 Lk 2.14

A Winter's Tale

Etiamsi ego taceam, fratres, tempus nos admonet quod Domini Christi natalis in proximo est. Nam praedicationem meam praevenit dierum extrema conclusio. Ipsis enim angustiis suis mundus loquitur imminere aliquid, quo in melius reparetur, et expectatione festina desiderat, ut tenebras suas splendioris solis candor illuminet. Dum enim cursum suum brevitate horarum concludi meruit, spe quadam annum suum indicat reformari. Haec igitur expectatio creaturae, etiam nos expectare persuadet, ut peccatorum nostrorum tenebras novus sol Christus ortus illuminet, et longam in nobis caliginem delictorum justitiae sol nativitatis suae vigore discutiat: nec patiatur cursum vitae nostrae tenebris vitae concludi, sed virtutis suae gratia dilatari. Igitur quia natalem Domini etiam mundo indicante cognoscimus, faciamus et nos, quod mundus facere consuevit: hoc est, sicut in illa die mundus spatia suae lucis extendit, ita et nostram justitiam protendamus: et sicut diei illius claritas pauperibus et divitibus communis est, ita et nostra liberalitas peregrinas et indigentibus sit communis: et sicut tunc mundus noctium suarum recidit caliginem, ita et nos avaritiae nostrae tenebras amputemus; atque ad instar hiberni temporis, sicut in segetibus solis vapore resoluto gelu nutriuntur semina, ita et in pectoribus nostris resoluta duritie justitiae semen tepefactum Salvatoris radio coalescat. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia IV, Ante Natale Domini Source: Migne PL 57.233a-c

Even if I were to be silent, brothers, the time admonishes us that the nativity of our Lord Christ is near. The utter end of days anticipates my preaching. And in its sparsity the world speaks that something is imminent, by which it shall restored to what is better, and with an eager expectation it desires it, that the brightness of the sun might illuminate its darkness with its splendour. For while the brief course of the year has come to its end, a certain hope hints at its refashioning. Therefore let us also be persuaded to hope with this expectation of created things, that the rising of the new sun of Christ will illuminate the darkness of our sins and the birth of the sun of righteousness dissipate with its power the lengthy darkness of the wickedness in us, that it suffer not the course of our life to end in darkness but enlarge it with the power of His grace. Therefore, because we know that the world points to the birthday of the Lord, let us act as the world is accustomed to act, that is, that in that day in which the world extends its span with light, so even we give greater scope to our righteousness, and as the light of that day is common to the poor and to the rich, so our generosity is common to the vagrant and to the needy, and as the world reduces the darkness of its nights, so we cut off the darkness of our avarice, and as in the season of winter the vapour of the sun melts the snow for the nourishment of the seeds of crops, so even in our heart the rays of the Saviour warm from its hardness the tepid seed of righteousness. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 4, On The Nativity Of The Lord

Receiving Christ

Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδέξατο αὐτὸ εἰς τὰς ἀγκάλας αὐτοῦ... Εἰσεφέρετο μὲν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ὁ Χριστὸς βρέφος ὦν ἕτι βραχὺ τε καὶ ὑπομάζιον, καὶ τὰ ὠρισμένα τῷ νόμῳ προσῆγε, ζεῦγος τρυγόνων καὶ δύο νεοσσούς περιστερῶν· σωφροσύνης τε καὶ πραότητος ὁ τύπος, οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ βίου διαφορᾶς, ὦν ἀμφοτέρων νομοθέτης, γάμου τε καὶ ἀγαμίας. Εἴποις γὰρ ἂν τοὺς μὲν εὐζώνους καὶ πνευματικωτέρους καὶ τὸν μονήρη βίον ἐπανῃρημένους, εἶναι τὰς περιστεράς· τοὺς δὲ παιδοποιίας καὶ τῆς ἄλλης οἰκονομίας πεποιημένους πρόνοιαν, τρυγόνας. Ὁ δέ γε μακάριος Συμεὼν, προφητικῇ χάριτι τετιμημένος, δέχεται μὲν εἰς ἀγκάλας αὐτὸν, θυμηδίας τε τῆς ἀνωτάτω πιμπλάμενος, εὐλογεῖ τὸν Θεὸν, λέγων· Νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, Δέσποτα. Πόθεν ἀπολύεις; Ἐκ τοῦ βιωτικοῦ σκάμματος· λύτρα γὰρ καὶ δεσμωτήριον ὁ βίος. Ὁ γὰρ μέλλων εἰρήνην ποιεῖν τῷ κόσμῳ παρεγένετο, ὁ συνάπτῶν τὸν οὐρανὸν τῇ γῇ, ὁ κατασκευάζων τὴν γῆν οὐρανὸν διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας. Ὅτι εἶδον τὸ σωτήριόν σου, δ' ἠτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν. Προητοίμαστο γὰρ τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον καὶ πρὸ αὐτῆς τοῦ κόσμου καταβολῆς· πεφανέρωται δὲ ἐν ἐσχάτοις τοῦ αἰῶνος καιροῖς· γέγονε δὲ φῶς ἐν σκότει καὶ πεπλανημένοις καὶ ὑπὸ χεῖρα πεσοῦσι διαβολικὴν· κέκληνται γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς πρὸς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ὃς ἐστι φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς δόξαν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γεγόνασι τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑβρισταὶ καὶ ἀπειθεῖς καὶ ἀσυνεσίας ἔμπλεῳ τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχοντες, ἀλλ' οὖν σέσωσται τὸ κατάλειμμα, καὶ δεδόξασται διὰ Χριστοῦ. Ἀπαρχὴ δὲ τούτων οἱ θεσπέσιοι γεγόνασι μαθηταὶ, ὦν ἡ τῆς εὐκλείας φαιδρότης, ὅλην περιαστράπτει τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν· δόξα δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως τοῦ Ἰσταὴλ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτι προὴλθεν ἐξ αὐτῶν κατὰ σάρκα, καίτοι Θεὸς ὤν ἐπὶ πάντας καὶ προαιώνιος. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ' B' Source: Migne PG 72.504b-505a

And he received Him in his arms... 1 Christ was carried to the temple, while yet little and unweaned, and what was commanded by the law was offered, a pair of turtle doves and two young doves. These were types of temperance and meekness, and not only this but they indicated two different types of life, both of which are of the legislator God, that is, marriage and celibacy. One is able to say that the more advanced and spiritual are the lovers of the solitary life and are the doves, and those who produce children and give themselves to thought for works are the turtle doves. And the blessed prophet Simeon, adorned with prophetic grace, receives Jesus into his arms, and full with an excess of joy, he blesses God, saying: 'Now dismiss your servant, O Lord.' Why 'dismiss'. From his mundane station, for this life is a prison and redemption is to be freed from it. For He who shall give peace to the world has come, who binds heaven to earth, who with the teaching of his Gospel shall transform earth into heaven. 'Because I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all your people.' For the mystery of Christ was prepared before the foundation of the world, and made manifest in the later time of the world. He was a light to those in darkness and who were deceived and fallen beneath the hand of the devil. So they were called by God the Father to the knowledge of the Son, who is the true light, and also a glory to Israel. For even if some were insolent and disobedient and bore unwise minds, yet a remnant were to be saved and glorified in Christ. 2 The first of these were the holy disciples, who were enlightened by that bright splendour of all beneath heaven. And indeed Christ is the glory of Israel, because He came from it according to the flesh, even He who is God over and before everything. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Luke, Chap 2 1 Lk 2.28 2 Rom 9.27

Seeing The Light

Ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει, εἶδε φῶς μέγα... Σκότος ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὸ αἰσθητὸν καλεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν· διὸ καὶ ἐπὴγαγε· Τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου, φῶη ἔλαμψεν αὐτοῖς. Εἴτα δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ αὐτοὶ ζητήσαντες εὗριον, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῖς ἄνωθεν ἐφάνη, φησίν· Αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς ἀνέτειλε καὶ ἔλαμψεν. Οὐκ αὐτοὶ πρότερον τῷ φωτὶ προσέδραμον· καὶ γὰρ ἐν σκότει τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἧν πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐβάδιζον ἐν σκότει, ἀλλ' ἐκάθηντο, ὅπερ συμεῖον ἧν τοῦ μὴ ἐλπίζειν αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάττεσθαι. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.372d-373a

A people sitting in darkness have seen a great light... 1 He does not speak of a material darkness here, but of error and wickedness, therefore he adds: 'On those sitting in a land and in the shadow of death a light has shone.' By which it is shown that they were not seekers who found it, but God on high revealed it, The light rose and shone forth, he says. Not that they hurried to the light before, for before the coming of Christ the things of men were in darkness, and they did not walk in darkness, but they sat, as a sign that they had no hope for a change for themselves. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 4.16

The Firstborn Son

Primogenitus est in multis fratribus, quia quotquot receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, quorum recte primogenitus appellatur, quia omnes adoptionis filios, etiam illos qui incarnationis eius tempora nascendo praecesserunt, dignitate praegreditur. Si quidem illi possunt cum Ioanne veracissime testari, quia qui post nos venit, ante nos factus est, id est, post nos quidem in mundo genitus, sed merito virtutis et regni primogenitus omnium nostrum iure vocatus. Qui et in ipsa divina nativitate non inconvenienter potest primogenitus dici, quia priusquam creaturam faciendo gigneret aliquam, coaeternum sibi Pater aeternus genuit Filium; priusquam verbo veritatis adoptionis sibi filios redimendo gigneret aliquos, coaeternum sibi Pater aeternus genuit Verbum: unde ipsum Verbum, ipse Dei Filius, videlicet virtus et sapientia loquitur: Ego ex ore Altissimi prodivi, primogenita ante omnem creaturam. Peperit ergo Maria Filium suum primogenitum, id est, suae substantiae filium; peperit eum qui et ante omnem creaturam Deus de Deo natus erat, et in ea qua creatus est humanitate omnem merito creaturam praeibat. Sanctus Beda, Homila V In Vigilia Nativitatis Domini Source: Migne PL 94.33d-34b

Firstborn He is among many brothers, because as many as received Him, He gave them the power to be sons of God, 1 among whom He is rightly called the firstborn, because all the sons of adoption, even those who preceded the time of His incarnation by their own birth, He precedes in dignity. Certainly if with John they are able to testify most truly that He who came after us, was before us, 2 that is: indeed He was born after us in the world, but by the merit of virtue and kingship he is rightly called the firstborn of all of us. He who even in that Divine nativity is not inappropiately said to be firstborn, because before the making of any created thing He was generated, the eternal Father begetting the coeternal Son. Before, with the word of truth, for redemption, He produced sons for His adoption, the eternal Father begot the coeternal Son, whence the Word, the Son of God, truly virtue and wisdom says: 'I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, first begotten of all creatures.' 3 Therefore Mary bore her own first born son, that is, the son of her substance, and God bore Him who was born before every creature, God from God, and through her created man He preceded in merit every created thing. Saint Bede, On The Vigil Of The Nativity of the Lord 1 Jn 1.12 2 Jn 1.15 3 Sirach 24.5

Sons And Wealth

Vidimus certe divitias salutis et vitae; vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre. Quaeris, a quo Patre? Et Filius Altissimi vocabitur. Manifestum est quis Altissimus sit. Sed ne quis remaneat locus dissimulationis, Quod ex te nascitur Sanctum ait angelus Gabriel ad Mariam, vocabitur Filius Dei vere sanctum! Non dabis, Domine, Sanctum tuum videre corruptionem, quod nec Matri quidem abstulit incorruptionem. Crescunt miracula, multiplicantur divitiae, thesaurus aperitur. Quae generat, et mater et virgo est; qui generatur, et Deus et homo est. Sed nunquid dabitur sanctum canibus, aut margaritae porcis? Abscondatur certe thesaurus noster in agro, et pecunia nostra in sacculo reponatur. Operiatur conceptus sine semine Matris desponsatione, partus sine dolore, vagitibus parvuli, et moerore. Abscondatur et parturientis incorruptio legali purificatione; infantis innocentia solita circumcisione. Absconde, inquam, absconde, Maria, novi solis fulgorem; pone in praesepio, involve pannis infantem: nam et ipsi panni divitiae nostrae sunt. Pretiosiores siquidem panni Salvatoris omni purpura, et gloriosius hoc praesepe auratis regum soliis; ditior denique Christi paupertas cunctis opibus, cunctisque thesauris. Quid enim humilitate ditius, quid pretiosus invenitur, qua nimirum regnum coelorum emitur, et divina gratia acquiritur? sicut scriptum est: Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum; et apud apostolum: Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam. Habes commendatam a Deo humilitatem in nativitate. In hac enim exinanivit semetipsum, formam servi accipiens, et habitu inventus ut homo. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermo IV. De medicina laevae, et deliciis dexterae Excelsi, Sermones de Tempore Source: Migne PL 183.102c-103a

Certainly we have seen the riches of salvation and life, we have seen His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father. 1 Do you ask: from what Father? 'And he shall be called the son of the Most High.' 2 Manifest it is who is the Most High. But lest there remain some space for confusion, 'That which is born from you is holy,' said the angel Gabriel to Mary, 'He shall be called the Son Of God.' 3 O truly holy. 'You shall not give your holy one to see corruption, O Lord' 4 nor shall you take away any incorruption from the mother. The wonder increases, wealth is multiplied, the treasury is opened. She who begets is mother and virgin, He who is begotten is God and man. But shall that which is holy be given to dogs, or pearls to swine? 5 Certainly the treasure is hidden in the field and our wealth is placed in a sack. A conception without seed was worked in the mother, a birth without grief, without cries of child and sorrow. The incorruption of the birth was hidden by legal purification, the innocence of the infant by accustomed circumcision. Hide, I say, hide, Mary, the light of a new son. Place him in the manger, wrap him in swaddling clothes, for even those swaddling clothes are our wealth. More precious are the swaddling clothes of the Saviour than every purple, and more glorious the manger than the golden thrones of kings, and finally more rich is the poverty of Christ than every wealth and every treasure. For what is more rich than humility, what more precious can be found, what else can buy the kingdom of heaven and acquire Divine grace? So it is written: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven,' 6 And in the Apostle: 'God resists the proud, He gives grace to the humble.' 7 You have humility commended by God in the nativity. In which he emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant, and He was found in the form of a man. 8 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons Concerning Various Things, from Sermon 4, On the medicine of the left hand, and the delights of the right hand of the Most High 1 Jn 1.14 2 Lk 1.32 3 Lk 1.35 4 Ps 15.10 5 Mt 7.6 6 Mt 5.3 7 James 4.6

Reasons For Joy

Nimis dulce quod natus est; nimium salubre quod datus est, Cum audis etiam tibi natum, gaude. Cum audis etiam tibi datum, multo magis laetare. Sed inter patrem et natum, et inter datorem et datum, secundum divinam naturam non contingat tibi ullam tibi credere differentiam. Unius enim substantiae sunt secundum deitatis essentiam pater et natus, dator et datus. Tantus est ille qui datus est quantus est ille a quo datus est. Et qualis est ille qui genitus est, talis est ille a quo genitus est. Non praecessit tempore genitor; non est genitore genitus interior. Ejusdemque naturae, potentiae et majestatis creditur et praedicatur Spiritus sanctus, quo superveniente suscepit Verbum Dei sanctissimae et semper Virginis uterus, cujus singularem partum universus hodie recolit mundus. Tantae enim rei tamque divinissimi mysterii et ineffabilis sacramenti gratia, non solum in terris exsultant justi;sed etiam summae divinitatis in excelsis tripudiant ministri. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo I, De Nativitate Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.993a-b

Exceedingly delightful is what is born, very wholesome is that which has been given. Indeed when you hear what has been born for you, be glad, when you hear what has been given to you, much more rejoice. But between the Father and the child, and between the giver and the given, let it not occur to you to think that there is some difference in the Divine nature. For the Father and the Child, the giver and the given, are of one substance according to the essence of Divinity. He who is given is as great as He from whom He is given. And as He who is born is He from whom he was begotten. He who begot did not precede in time, nor is He who was begotten inferior to Him who begot. And the Holy Spirit is believed and preached to be of the same nature and power and majesty, by whose coming the womb of the most holy and always Virgin Mary received the Word of God, whose singular birth the whole world reflects on today. For of such a thing and so Divine a mystery and by the grace of ineffable sacrament, not only do the righteous exult on earth, but indeed in the heights the ministers of the highest Divinity rejoice. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 1, On The Nativity of The Lord

Birth And Sanctity

Ideoque, et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. Ad distinctionem nostrae santitatis, Jesus singulariter sanctus nasciturus asseritur. Nos quippe et si sancti efficimur, non tamen nascimur, quia ipsa naturae corruptibilis conditione constringimur. Ut merito cum Propheta gementes singuli dicamus: Ecce enim in inquitatibus conceptus sum, et in delictis peperit me mater mea. Ille autem solus veraciter sanctus est qui, ut ipsam conditionem naturae corruptibilis vinceret, ex commistione carnalis copulae conceptus non est. Sanctum, inquit, vocabitur Filius Dei. Quid hic dicis, Nestorinae, qui beatam Mariam Dei negans esse genitricem, apertam niteris impugnare veritatem? Ecce Deum dixit superventurum, Dei Filium nasciturum. Quomodo ergo aut Dei Filius non est, aut quae Deum edidit, quomodo Θεοτόκος, id est, Dei genitrix non esse potest? Sanctus Beda,In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber Primus Source: Migne PL 92.319a-b

Therefore since what will be born of you is holy, He shall be called the Son of God. 1 In distinction to our sanctity, it is asserted that Jesus alone shall be born holy. For we, even if we are made holy, are not born so, because we are constrained by the condition of our corruptible nature. So rightly, groaning with the Prophet, each one of us may say, 'Behold, I was conceived in iniquity and in sin my mother birthed me.' 2 He alone is truly holy who, that He conquer that condition of corruptible nature, was not conceived by the mixing of carnal copulation. 'Holy,' he says, 'He shall be called the Son of God.' And what do you say, Nestorian, who denying the blessed Mary to be mother, endeavour to impugn the manifest truth? Behold, he said, God shall come, the Son of God shall be born. How, then, is He not the Son of God, or how can it be that she from whom God came forth, is not Theotokos, that is, the Mother of God? Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 1 1 Lk 1.35 2 Ps 50.7