In natale domini nostri Jesu Christi

On the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. When from wintry cold a warm spring bursts forth, then the earth puts forth green grass, the trees are adorned with blooming shoots, the air is brightened as it is illuminated by the sun, and the whole chorus of birds, flying through the ether, resounds with melodies. Then also those dwelling in the mountains, both herdsmen and shepherds, coming out from their huts, adjust their eyes to the beauty of the air, and, imitating the many-toned calls of the sweet-voiced birds with reeds, they delight the senses of their dumb sheep, leading the lambs to the grass with gentle step. Then also the farmer, having sharpened his sickle in the hut by the rock, goes to the vineyard to cut the barren branch of the vine. Then also seafaring sailors, seeing the sea calm, leaving the dry land, entrusting their souls to wood and water and wind, skimming over the backs of the sea, fly fearlessly. And in a word, to avoid lengthening my discourse in the prologue, every art and every pursuit made for the need of life by men, when the calm air shines forth, has its movement unhindered toward the impulse of labor. Come then, since for us the heavenly spring, Christ, has risen from the virgin womb, and has scattered the cold and stormy mists of the devil, and has awakened the sleeping hearts of men with his divine rays from the smoke of ignorance, let us spur our mind toward the heavenly and blessed glory.

But the birth of Christ, flashing forth divinity, halts the course of my tongue and draws it to itself. For when I bring before my eyes the infant born of the Virgin, and the Virgin without a man, and remaining a virgin after childbirth, I examine the deed, and finding no explanation, I seal the matter with faith. For how is it not truly wondrous and surpassing all understanding, that a virgin should give birth and be found a virgin after the birth? That she gave birth, the infant she bore proved; and that after bearing she remained a virgin, the very nature of her body taught. Behold, then, a mystery both visible and invisible, grasped and not grasped, touched and not found. For who has not seen and held both the infant and the mother? Yet who, seeing the mother a virgin and the infant the child of a virgin, discovers the mystery by examining it? O mystery truly heavenly and earthly, grasped and not grasped, seen and not apparent! For such also was Christ, born today, heavenly and earthly, grasped and not grasped, seen and invisible: heavenly according to the nature of his divinity, earthly according to the condition of his humanity, seen according to the flesh, invisible according to the spirit, grasped according to the flesh, ungraspable according to the Word. But Christ, being almighty God, appeared, born into his own world as he willed.

The Virgin’s travail astonishes my mind even more: that a Virgin, not descending from heaven, but seen to be from the seed of David, not being from spirit, but composed of body and soul, should conceive in her womb; and the swelling of her belly accused the deed, and the sower of the infant within was not visible. For he dwells in heaven, and he mysteriously wrought the infant in the Virgin’s womb. He was born through nature, and the midwives felt both the nature giving birth and the infant, and they found no corruption, as in other women; for it was God who was coming forth through her. O bush, which Moses saw burning on the mountain and not being consumed! O Virgin Mary, giving birth and not being corrupted! O stone, which Daniel saw cut from a mountain without a human hand! O virgin mother of a virgin infant, and holy child of an unwed mother! Where are the curious? Let them tell us: how did the Virgin give birth to an infant without a man, and having given birth, was not corrupted?

If the manner is inscrutable, because the offspring is from the Spirit, much more inscrutable is the ineffable generation of the Word from the Father. But you believe, yet you observe that she who gave birth was not corrupted; but you accuse God, saying: If the incorruptible Father, having begotten His Son, according to your folly, was corrupted, much more the Virgin, being of a corruptible nature, would have been corrupted in giving birth. If you yourself testify that the Virgin, having given birth, was not corrupted, much more believe that the incorruptible Father, having begotten the incorruptible Son, was not corrupted. But leaving aside these vain talkers, let us run up to the theological heralds. Now Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod. The evangelist necessarily notes both the place and the time, so that he who disbelieves the fleshly birth of the Savior, having sought the place and the time, may find the reality of the truth. For the time, by examining the reign of Herod in the chronicles, and the place, by seeking the signification of Bethlehem, he will find. For if in worldly contracts both consuls are written, and months are numbered, and days are indicated, and cities are inscribed for the accuracy of what is said, how much more must it be, when the salvation of the whole world was born, that the accuracy of the place and the time be known to those later! And Matthew thus narrates the fleshly birth of Christ; Luke, for the accuracy of the times, adds also the census then first taken. For he speaks thus:

In the fortieth year under Caesar Augustus, a decree went out from Augustus that the whole inhabited world be registered. This was the first census. And Joseph also went up from Galilee into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to register together with Mary, his betrothed, who was pregnant. Luke notes the first census that had taken place, both precisely indicating the time and, from the manifest, revealing a hidden mystery of the greatest kind. For he calls it the first and compulsory census, that the man had been born. For Christ having been born, and flesh henceforth being deified, and the devil being cast out, and death being dissolved, it was necessary that the names of the righteous and faithful be registered in the books of the heavens, below with Caesar commanding, above with the Father commanding the angels. Therefore the Lord also, announcing this good news to his disciples, said: Do not rejoice that the demons are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are inscribed in the heavens. – When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived, saying, Where is the born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and we came to worship him. Alas! I am overcome by the wonders, I am constrained by the visions, and my tongue finds nothing to say first, nor what to leave out. If I examine his birth, I am amazed, that before the child comes forth from nature, it performs signs.

For is it not the greatest sign, that a virgin remained a virgin after giving birth, and that the heaven, though silent, spoke through a star? And to those thirsting to see the one who was born, it sends a star as a fellow traveler and shows the longed-for infant. And Matthew mentions magi coming from the east; Luke mentions an angel, for he says: And shepherds were spending the night in the fields, keeping night watches over their flock. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were seized with great fear. And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people, that Christ the Lord was born to us today in the city of David. And suddenly, together with the angel, there came a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men. Christ was born; the earthly is joined to the heavenly; angels dance with men; shepherds spend the night in the fields, and magi worship; the heaven is illuminated, and the earth bears its bright fruit at a manger. And then was fulfilled what was written on the earth: Truth has arisen from the earth. For Truth is Christ, who says: I am the way and the truth. From the earth, that is, from the virgin, he arose in the flesh. And I inquire whence the magi, having been taught about the star, used it as a guide for the discovery of the sought-for child. For it is not, as some have imagined, saying the star was a wandering star, and that the magi were not seeking a true child.

How, then, if the star were a deceiver, would it have revealed the truth, Christ? For having reached that point, it stopped its course. And how, if the Magi were not proceeding in truth, would they have brought to him such offerings from their own labors, offerings that indicated his divinity and humanity, and fulfilled the prophetic saying, "He shall live, and gold of Arabia shall be given to him"? Nor again, as the mythologists say, is there a star that rises for each of the men who are born—those who do not even know the astrology mythologized among the Greeks. But do such people even consider these to be Christians? To them we will say: O philosophers, if this were what you claim, tell us how, when Adam and Eve were the only two human beings, the sky was filled with the same stars? And when the flood occurred, and all men died by water, were the same stars present, not having fallen, and with the same chorus of stars existing, was Noah alone with his three sons and their wives? But one must attend to the Scriptures and understand the mysteries. For there was a certain prophet Balaam, whom the king of the Moabites summoned to curse Israel as they were departing from the land of Egypt—since those whom he blessed were blessed, and those whom he cursed were cursed. Having come near the encampment of Israel, and having gone up to the peak of the mountain, and having observed Israel encamped, he took up his parable and prophesied, saying: "A star will rise from Jacob, and a man will arise from Israel; and he will crush the leaders of Moab, and he will plunder the sons of Ammon.

These Magi, then, springing from the race of Balaam the prophet, following his books and prophecies, and understanding that when a star would rise, then the man would also arise—clearly the King of the Jews, who would not only crush the rulers of Moab but also thin and winnow all the kingdoms of the devil according to Daniel—watched for the time. And having observed the star, strange beyond the others, rising, they knew it to be the one prophesied long ago, and following it, having found the child who was born, they rejoiced, having found the fulfillment of the things again prophesied. Now understand for me, hearer, that the Magi are types of the nations turning from the impiety of error, guided not by perfect light, but by a gleam of light through John, as through a star, guided to Christ born in the flesh. For see that the star came as far as the child and stopped its course. For John, like a star, having shone with his proclamation and pointed out Christ, saying, "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," ceased his course; for he said, "He must increase, and I must decrease." And the Magi, it says, came and found the child and the mother, and falling down, they worshiped him. For those approaching Christ from a pagan life must first fall from the height of impiety, and thus, as if rising from the ground, confess the fleshly birth of Christ, and then gradually look up to his heavenly divinity.

And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh: gold as to a king, frankincense as to God, myrrh as to one subject to suffering for our sake. And Christ received the gifts, not because he himself had need, but benefiting those who brought them. For receiving gold, he turned them away from love of money; receiving frankincense, he freed them from idolatry; and receiving myrrh, he wiped away the deadness of their soul. But if we must also consider another mystery, let us examine it precisely. They offer gold and myrrh to the newborn. Since it was written concerning him, "Every knee of the heavenly, earthly, and subterranean beings will bow to him," in their offerings they prefigured the future, indicating by the gold the doxology of the heavenly angels, by the frankincense the genuflection of earthly men, and by the myrrh the supplication of souls held in Hades. Since the one approaching Christ must possess three virtues, which the Apostle declares—faith, hope, love—opening the treasures of their heart, they offered faith, gleaming like gold; hope, fragrant like frankincense; and love, binding together the members of the Church like myrrh. And having been instructed in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed by another road to their own country. For it was necessary that those who had once approached Christ should not retrace the same steps of impiety, but, having practiced pure faith and conduct, and having escaped the man-slaying serpent, should withdraw into the inheritance of Christ. For to him belongs the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.