Posts
December
2012
The
Celebration of the Feast of the Nativity
The cycle starts with a fast of forty days that precedes the
feast. It is called the Nativity fast or
Advent. For the faithful, it is a time to purify both soul
and body to enter properly into and
partake of the great spiritual reality of Christ's Coming,
much like the preparation for the fast
of the Lord's Resurrection.
The beginning of the fast on November 15 is not liturgically
marked by any hymns, but five
days later, on the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of
the Theotokos, we hear the first
announcement from the nine "Irmoi" of the
Christmas Canon: "Christ is born, glorify Him!"
This period includes other special preparatory days
announcing the approaching Nativity: St
Andrew's Day, November 30; St Nicholas Day, December 6; the
Sunday of the Forefathers; and
the Sunday of the Fathers.
December 20th begins the Forefeast of the Nativity. The
liturgical structure is similar to
the Holy Week preceding Pascha. The Orthodox Church sees the
birth of the Son of God as the
beginning of the saving ministry which will lead Him, for
the sake of man’s salvation, to the
ultimate sacrifice of the Cross.
On the eve of the Nativity, the Royal Hours are read and the
Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the
Great is served with Vespers. At these services the Old
Testament prophecies of Christ's birth
are chanted.
The Vigil of Christmas begins with Great Compline because
Vespers has already been served. At
Compline there is the singing of the Troparion and Kontakion
of the feast with special hymns
glorifying the Saviour's birth. There are also the special
long litanies of intercession and the
solemn blessing of the five loaves of bread together with
the wheat, wine, and oil. The faithful
partake of the bread soaked in the wine and are also
anointed with the oil. This part of the
festal vigil, which is done on all great feasts, is called
in Slavonic the litya and in
Greek artoklasia, or the breaking of the bread.
The order of Matins is that of a great feast. Here, for the
first time, the full Canon "Christ is
born," is sung while the faithful venerate the Nativity
icon.
Concluding the celebration of the Nativity of Christ is the
Liturgy. It begins with psalms of
glorification and praise instead of the three normal
Antiphons. The troparion and kontakion
mark the entrance with the Book of the Gospels. The
baptismal line from Galatians 3:27 once
again replaces the Thrice-Holy. The Epistle reading is from
Galatians 4:4-7, the Gospel reading
is the familiar Christmas story from Matthew (2:1-12), and
then the liturgy continues in the
normal fashion.
