The Feast of Lord Jesus Christ’s Birthday
The greatest of all festivals, the honorable, and great, and holy festival of the Birth of our Lord Christ, of the holy Virgin Mary is celebrated on Tahesas 29. Now our fathers, the doctors of the Church, are at one in their opinion that the festival of the Holy Nativity should be celebrated on two days, for the Nativity took place in the last part of the night of the twenty-eighth day, and in the first part of the night of the twenty-ninth day. When Paguemen (i.e. the intercalary month) hath six [days], in that year the festival of the Nativity shall be on the eight and twentieth day; but if Paguemen hath five [days] the festival of the Nativity shall be on the nine and twentieth day. And the [doctors] have ordained and commanded that the festival of the Nativity shall be celebrated two days, for it is the chief of the holy festivals. And the Holy Gospel said, “And our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod. And behold there came wise men from the country of the East, and they came into Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star, and have come to worship Him’” (Matthew ii, 1,2). Now these wise men were of the family of Balaam, and they were diviners, and astrologers, and they watched the stars, and held converse with them. And it was written in their books and in the books of Balaam, that Christ, the King of the Jews, was to be born, for he said, “A star shall rise from Jacob and a king from Israel” (Numbers xxiv, 17).
And God in the operation of His wisdom made these diviners to understand, and he made those who were astrologers to believe in Him. And He showed them this star, and when they saw it they rejoiced, for its appearance was different in very many respects from that of the other stars. Now its appearance was this: That star had the form of a virgin embracing a child in her bosom, and it traveled from left to right, and it traveled by day, and disappeared by night. When the wise men traveled, the star traveled; and when they stood still it stood still. And it was visible to them in one place, and was hidden from them in another. When they came into Jerusalem it became hidden, and when it was hidden from them they were exceedingly sorry, and did not know what to do. And then they came into Jerusalem and asked for Him that had been born. And the number of those diviners was three thousand, and their kings were three, and each of them had one thousand and seventy horses. And when Herod heard about the diviners who had come to Jerusalem on account of the King Who had been born, he was dismayed and was afraid for his kingdom, for he heard from the Jews about him, that the Messiah would be born in the flesh. And he gathered together all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, and he said unto them, “Where is the Messiah to be born?” And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for even thus is it written in the prophet: ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Ephrata, thou shalt not be for ever the least important and smallest of the principalities of Judah, for in thee shall be born and go forth a king and a governor who shall supervise My people Israel’” (Matthew ii, 6).
Then Herod summoned unto him the diviners by themselves in secret, and he enquired carefully of them the day when the star appeared unto them. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “When ye have departed enquire carefully about the Child and where He is born, and when ye have found Him come back to me, and tell me so that I may come and worship Him.” Now these words came from him with deceit, for when the wise men had found Him, he determined to kill Him. And when the wise men heard these words from the king, they departed, and that star which they had seen in the East guided them until it brought them to the cave, and it stood over the cave where the Child was; and when they saw Him they rejoiced with great joy. And by the Will of God Joseph and Mary and the Child our Lord Jesus, went out that day to the cave, and at length the diviners found them, for our Lord Christ was reared only at Nazareth. And it was two years after He was born when the diviners came to Him, and when they entered the cave they found the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and they embraced Him, and they opened their treasures and brought and gave Him the gold which was His tribute, for He was a king, and incense because He was God, and myrrh, which was a symbol of His life-giving death. And [the angel] appeared unto them again and told them in a dream not to go back to Herod, but to depart by another road and journey to their own country. And they departed and became preachers and announcers of the appearance of God in the flesh. Concerning this day Isaiah the prophet prophesied, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call his name Emmanuel which is, being interpreted, God with us” (Isaiah vii, 14).
Concerning this virgin the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, saying, “I saw the door of the East. And God said unto me: This shall be a means of exit. None shall enter through it, and none besides the Lord God of Israel shall go out there from” (Ezekiel x, 19). And concerning this virgin Daniel the prophet said, “I saw as it were the Son of man, and a cloud came until it reached the Ancient of Days. And it drew nigh unto Him and ascribed to Him dominion, and sovereignty, and honor, and it made all the people and all he nations worship Him, and His dominion was an everlasting dominion, and there was no end to His kingdom” (Daniel vii). And Isaiah the prophet also said, “God appeared unto me from Zion, having covered Himself with a covering of flesh like unto myself, and He said unto me, Behold the flesh which I will take from the seed of David, the son of Jesse.” And Isaiah the prophet also said, “Behold, I will assuredly make a new heaven and a new earth, and I will dwell in them with those I love, and they shall rejoice for ever.”
And also, “God will make a rod from the root of Jesse to bud, and He will put wisdom, and knowledge, and power therein, and he shall do justice to the poor, and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and he shall slay the perverse with the spirit of his lips.” And Isaiah the prophet also said, “I will set my son to be a sign for the nations, and he shall rule over them, and they shall believe on Him and put their trust in Him, and He shall be for rest and glory, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God.” And Isaiah also said, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. His dominion shall be upon His swathing, and His name shall be called, Great, Counselor, Almighty God, Governor, King of Peace, Everlasting Father who shall come.” And Jeremiah the prophet said, “Thus said the Lord: In those days great light shall rise up for David, and he shall set judgment and integrity in the earth. And God shall deliver those who believe on Him, from Judah and Israel.” And Elisa the prophet said, “God shall come down from heaven, and shall walk about in the market-places of the children of Israel, and He shall teach the people righteousness, and all nations shall be in submission unto Him, except the nation of the alien sons of Abraham.” And Nehemiah prophesied, saying, “God shall come in my own appearance, and His raiment shall be as is my raiment.”
Joel the prophet prophesied, saying, “I see the virgin daughter of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of David become a seat for God, and she shall burn like fire. And I asked the Cherubim concerning her, and I said unto him, ‘Who is this [virgin]?’ And he said unto me, ‘This is the virgin, the seat of God, chosen from among the sons of Adam, and by her He shall redeem the abominable nations, and she shall be a helper and a support of him that shall believe on her.’” And David said in the Psalms, “The Great God said unto me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask Me, I will give Thee the nations for an inheritance, and Thy rule shall be to the ends of the earth. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and like the vessel of the potter Thou shalt smash them. And now, O kings, get ye understanding, and be admonished all ye who judge the earth. Serve ye God with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; strengthen wisdom so that God may not be worth, and that ye may not perish from the way of righteousness. Blessed be all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2). And the prophet also said in the 110th Psalm, “I begot Thee in the womb before the Morning Star. God hath sworn, and He will not repent. Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek” (Psalm 110:3&4).
As he revealed unto Abraham a ram in the thicket, and as water poured out of the rock in the desert, and as the dry rod of Aaron sprouted and blossomed, and as the ass of Balaam spoke, and as water poured out from the jawbone of an ass into the hands of Samson the giant, and water and honey from the bones of a lion, and as the fire burned in the bush before Moses, and the bush was not consumed, even so did our Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, bring froth our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fire of His Godhead did not consume the Virgin Mary.
Salutation to Thy Birth, O Lamp of the darkness.
Ethiopian Synaxarium pages 241-243