Homilies on the Nativity of Christ
From the Fathers of the Church
This is a new collection of homilies and commentaries on the feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, as recorded through the centuries by the choir of the fathers of the Church. Each homily is presented in full, without additional commentary.
The majority of these are already available in English, however, this edition is special in that it is a collection of homilies for one feast, and also in that the translations are both new and straightforward.
Many of the patristic homilies online in English are products of the 19th century, and written in the prose style of that era. While this is a good thing in itself, it is nevertheless a stumbling block for many, and there is nothing which brings me greater joy than to know that someone has read a work of the fathers in full. Other editions are available for many of these, and fine ones at that, from publishers like the Catholic University of America Press. These give immense amounts of commentary and sprawling introductions providing ample context to the works. However, the perspective offered do not always align with the traditions of our given faiths. Further, the academic style of translation is also a hurdle for many (myself included), who resent the use of highly technical words in the translations, and using the same style when translating the Scriptures quoted therein. This has the effect of stifling the ability to read the homilies in a reverential way, for edification.
Thus, these new translations aim to be straightforward, using the traditional and universal King James for scriptural quotations. I do not claim to have produced authoritative translations of these homilies, and Russian originals of all of these homilies (they were all translated from Russian editions) may be found easily online, along with English version of many of them, many of which were referenced in making these new translations.
This is a list of the authors represented in the book (some of these translated homilies are appearing in print for the first time in this book):
St. Gregory the Wonder-worker
St. Athanasius the Great
St. Ephraim the Syrian
St. Basil the Great
St. Gregory the Theologian
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. Ambrose of Milan
St. Amphilochius of Iconium
Eusebius of Alexandria
St. John Chrysostom
Blessed Augustine
St. Theodotus of Ancyra
St. Proclus of Constantinople
Paul of Emessa
St. Leo the Great
St. Gregory the Dialogist (Gregory the Great for Catholics)
St. Sophronius of Jerusalem
St. Theodore the Studite
St. Gregory Palamas
St. Maxim the Greek
With the exception of the last two homilies by Palamas, and Maxim the Greek, all the homilies are of fathers whose sanctity is recognized by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholics.
The book is 327 pages, and will make edifying reading for those who observe the Nativity fast with increased spiritual reading toward the great feast. It will also make a nice gift for any traditional Christian who views Christmas as a spiritual holiday.
Among the fathers, there is a broad range of styles in approaching the Nativity. Some preach in an eloquent and rhetorical style, producing reflections or meditations on the feast. Others, like Chrysostom, use the homilies as a means to teach his listeners, not only what they need to know about the meaning of the feast and its Gospel teachings, but what moral lessons they need to focus upon. Still others, like Proclus (whose English homilies on the Nativity I have not found), use their homilies to expound and clarify Orthodox doctrine and dogmatic teaching through the Nativity. Thus, reading through these homilies will be like looking through a kaleidoscope of the best of historical Christian understanding, veneration, and reflection upon the great feast of the Nativity.
As an example from the text, here is one of the homilies, from St. Leo the Great, Pope of Rome (there is plenty more available from the Amazon preview option):
Let us rejoice in the Lord, beloved, and exult before Him in spirit! For behold, once again the day of our redemption has dawned—the day of deliverance, long promised of old, and salvation, eternal and everlasting. It is a day fitting for us to lift our hearts on high and bow before the divine mystery, accomplished for us by the boundless mercy of God.
The Almighty and All-Merciful God, from the very beginning, when the devil's envy brought death upon us, in His love for us, prepared a means of deliverance from it. He foretold to mortals that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. This proclamation revealed to humanity that the awaited Redeemer would be both God and man, coming clothed in human flesh. And now, when the time appointed for this redemption drew near, our Lord Jesus Christ, without forsaking the glory of the Father, descended from heaven and was incarnate—incarnate in a new manner and by a wondrous birth.
A new manner: for the Invisible became visible, the Infinite deigned to be contained, the Eternal One consented to begin within time. The Lord and Master of all, veiling His unapproachable majesty, took upon Himself the form of a servant. A wondrous birth: conceived in the Virgin, He was born of her without the participation of a father, preserving His Mother’s virginity inviolate. Such a birth befitted the Savior of humankind, that He might possess true human flesh while remaining free from its impurities. Thus, God Himself is declared the Author of this incarnation, as the Archangel testified to the Most Holy Virgin in the Annunciation: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
All this, beloved, was ordained by the supreme Wisdom not without purpose, but to conceal from the devil the salvation that had sprouted for mankind. The Evil One, ignorant of the conception by the Spirit, regarded the Lord as born like other men, according to the ordinary laws of human generation. For when the devil beheld Him bearing human nature, he presumed that His origin was no different from the rest. He did not perceive that the One who subjected Himself to the frailties of human mortality was utterly free from the bonds of original sin.
Thus, our most merciful Savior, from the very beginning of His dispensation for us, concealed the greatness of His divinity under the veil of our weaknesses. By this He confounded the cunning schemes of the deceitful adversary, who could not suspect that the Child born like other infants was indeed the Child come to save the world. For the devil saw Him weak, weeping, wrapped in swaddling clothes, subjected to the painful rite of circumcision, and requiring the offering of purification. Later, in His youth, the adversary observed Him growing and maturing, and even into the years of manhood, he discerned nothing extraordinary. Meanwhile, he surrounded Him with slander, reproach, persecution, insults, and poured out all the fury of his wrath upon Him, subjecting Him to every trial.
Yet, knowing well the poison he had infused into human nature, he could not imagine finding One free from the taint of original sin whose mortal nature was known to him through so many experiences. Thus, the malicious murderer of men persisted in his assault against Him who had nothing in Him of the prince of this world (John 14:30). But while the devil, secure in his delusion, hoped for the universal corruption he had spread, the handwriting of sin was torn from his grasp. He demanded punishment of Him in whom no guilt was found. As a result, the cunning one became ensnared in his own devices, and all his schemes recoiled upon his own head. The strong man was bound, and all the vessels of his house were plundered. Our nature, cleansed from ancient defilement, was restored to its former dignity. Death was abolished by death, and birth was renewed through rebirth. For redemption, breaking the bonds of sinful slavery, replaces carnal birth with the rebirth of the Spirit and grants justification to the sinner through faith.
Consider, all who bear the name of Christian, how great are the blessings accomplished by Christ, our Reconciler! For you, once rejected and cast out of the paradise of delights— you, who were dying in exile, condemned to corruption in dust and ashes— you, from whom all hope of life was taken— through the incarnation of the Son of God, you have been given the power to return to your Creator, to behold your Father, to be made free from slavery, and to become His own rather than a stranger to Him.
Being born in corruptible flesh, you are now reborn by the Holy Spirit and receive by grace what you did not even possess by nature. By the spirit of adoption, you are unhesitatingly able to call God your Father! Freed from guilt before God, you may now strive for the heavenly kingdom, fulfill the will of God with the aid of His grace, imitate the angels on earth, overcome the temptations of the enemy, and confidently hope, after your labors and struggles, to dwell in the mansions of the Heavenly King.
Having such hope, beloved, let us remain steadfast in the faith in which we are established, so that the same tempter, from whose power Jesus Christ has delivered you, may not beguile you with some new deception, thereby dimming the radiant joy of this present day with the cunning lies of his falsehoods.
Glorify God in all His purposes and works, and honor this present feast of the renewal of our nature with holy and zealous service to Him. Receive Christ, who was incarnate for our sake, into your hearts, so that you may be deemed worthy to behold Him as God in His glory and His kingdom.
To Him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory and honor unto the ages of ages. Amen.