Father Gavril Galev: Nativity of Christ – Excerpt from hagiography of the Mother of God
Nativity of Christ
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Your Nativity, Oh Christ our God,
has shone to the world the Light of wisdom!
For by it, those who worshipped the stars,
were taught by a Star to worship You,
the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You,
the Orient from on High. O Lord, glory to You!
(Troparion of the Nativity of Christ)
When the righteous Joseph saw that She was heavy with child, he sank into great confusion and sorrow because he thought that She had broken the covenant of virginity. According to St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Joseph, being all confused, said to the Blessed Virgin:
“What has happened to you, Mary? Are You not a chaste Girl, brought up in the sacred courtyards of the temple? Are You not the Mary who did not even want to look at a man’s face? Where is the palace of Your chastity? Where is Your shy face? “I am ashamed, and You are brave because I cover Your sin.”
But She replied: “If I speak for myself, then I will be vainglorious.” “Be patient, Joseph, so the shepherds will make it manifest to you about Me.” And She said nothing else, other than: “The Lord is alive, Who, so far, has kept Me in perfect virginity, so that I know no sin and no one has come near Me, and the Child which is in me is by the will and action of God.”
Joseph, however, planned to leave Her secretly. But the night before he departed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in Her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bring forth a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. ‘
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, God is with us.’
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife ”(Matthew 1: 20-24).
The following is also known: at the time when the Most-Pure Virgin Mary was expectant, the High Priest and the whole Sanhedrin found out about it. Then they brought the Most-Pure Virgin and the righteous Joseph before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. The High Priest said to the Virgin Mary: “Have you forgotten God, You who were brought up in the Holy of Holies, You who received food from the hands of angels and listened to the singing of angels. What have you done? ”She wept and said,“ Alive is My God, I am clean and I do not know a man. ” Then the High Priest said to Joseph, “What have you done?” Joseph answered: Alive is my God, I am clean from Her. To this the High Priest said: “Because you did not bow your head under the right hand of God to bless your offspring, and secretly met the Virgin, who is dedicated to the Lord as a gift, therefore you are both obliged to drink the water of exposure, that the Lord may make your sin known to all.”
Such a judgment was instituted by God through Moses, described in the fourth book of Moses: if there was a suspicion that someone had committed adultery and did not tell the truth about it, then to that person was given water that carries a curse , this was done by a special priestly act. And after the judgment of God, after drinking that water, there was a kind of exposure (of the sin) in the man who committed adultery, after which the lawlessness was revealed. The High Priest first gave to Joseph to drink of that water and then to Mary, but no exposure of sin occurred. Then the High Priest said to them, “If the Lord did not make manifest your sin, go in peace then.” And Joseph took Virgin Mary, and returned to his house, praising the God of Israel.
When the nine months of the good news (annunciation), announced by the Archangel Gabriel, were fulfilled, in those days a decree was issued by Caesar Augustus to register all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. “It was the first census of Quirinius’ rule in Syria. So they all went to register, everyone in his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was heavy with Child; So it was, that while they were there, the time came for Her to give birth. And She gave birth to her firstborn Son, and She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn ”(Luke 2: 1-7).
Since there was no room for them in the inn because of the multitude of people who came to be registered, the righteous Joseph and the Most-Holy Virgin took refuge in a cave. There, the Most-Pure and Most-Blessed Virgin, at midnight, prayed fervently to God, and being in theistic mind and burning because of the yearning and love for Him, She painlessly gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because She conceived purely, so She likewise gave birth, without losing Her virginity, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “The Virgin conceived, the Virgin carried, the Virgin gave birth, the Virgin remained. “None of the wonders of this world are similar to this.”
Many miracles happen during the Nativity of Christ. At the same hour, when the Lord Christ was born, in the cave a spring of water began to flow, out of the rock, and in Rome a fountain of oil sprang from the earth and flowed into the river Tiber. The idol temple collapsed, many idols were crushed, and three suns appeared in the sky. But the greatest miracle was when the angels descended to earth, singing songs, and they clearly shown themselves to the people.
Thus the holy announcer Gabriel appeared to the three shepherds and announced the joy of the Saviour’s Birth. In doing so, he pointed to a sign of the truth of his announcement, saying, ” And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12). And immediately after this appearance of Archangel Gabriel, they went to Bethlehem, and when they arrived into the cave, they saw the Virgin Mary and the righteous Joseph, and the God-Child wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And they immediately believed that this was Christ the Lord, the expected Saviour, and they told about the appearance of the angel. “And all that heard them were astonished at all that the shepherds recounted. And Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, as they were told ”(Luke 2: 18-20).
(Excerpt from hagiography of the Mother of God)
Fr. Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
