Feast of the Nativity of the Lord at the Romanian Patriarchate

December 2013

Every year, on 25 December, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of the Lord. On the day of this glorious feast the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Patriarchal Cathedral by His Beatitude Daniel, Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrudgea, Locum Tenens of the Throne of Caesarea of Cappadocchia and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, assisted by a group of priests and deacons, in the presence of many faithful who have come to attend this great feast.

After reading the Holy Gospel, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon in which he spoke about the importance of the feast of the Nativity of the Lord: “Although the Gospel text is relatively short, it shows us a lot of spiritual meanings of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. First of all we see those close to Him, those related to Jesus, who are not sensitive, hospital and generous enough. Christ, our Lord, does not find room in a house, but is born in a cave which sheltered animals too. But God sends great people from long distances who were looking at the stars and who suddenly noticed that a wonderful star appeared different from all the other ones, showing that a Great Emperor was born somewhere in the world. Thus, we see that king Herod is afraid of Infant Jesus, while the three magi from the East come from very long distances and bring gifts”.

The gifts of the magi are full of spiritual significance, the Patriarch of Romania said, showing that: “The gold was the symbol of the royal house, the gift offered to the emperor. The frankincense is brought to God in the temple when people pray. Frankincense was brought to Jerusalem and the high priest censed the Holy of the Holies once a year, while all the other days it was an altar of censing and the priests brought frankincense as a sign of praising God. The myrrh is a precious gift, having been made up of spices and used for preparing certain medicines, especially for embalming the dead mixed with aloe. Thus, gold shows that Infant Jesus is an emperor, frankincense that He is God and High Priest or Hierarch, while the myrrh shows that He will pass through death and then will defeat death through Resurrection.

The Nativity of the Lord represents a blessing for the family

The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also shown that the Nativity of the Lord represents a blessing for the family: “All children are blessed in the God-the-Child or Infant Jesus of Bethlehem. Nobody can be man unless he was a child and nobody can be man unless he loves children. Jesus Christ had no children, but He had his disciples as spiritual sons. This paternal love for all children is the sign of the maturity of man’s love and especially the child is the result of the blessing of the family. This is why once Infant Jesus is born the family is blessed too. He is not born from a biological father. Joseph is only His adoptive father, because the conception and birth have been done through the work of the Holy Spirit from Virgin Mary. It was not well for this infant to have only mother, but He had to feel the father’s love too. This is why Joseph appears to the people as Jesus’ father, protective and guardian. This fact shows the blessing that God shows to the family. Today, the Christian family is much more persecuted by a consuming, materialist, and individualist mentality. Some parents would like to have children and they do not have them, while some other ones can have children but they do not want them. Certain mothers kill the children before they are born. Therefore, the feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, calls us to pay more attention to children and to the families with children as blessing not only for family, but also for all people. Thus, Infant Jesus is a blessing for all humankind, but especially for parents and children.”

To end with his speech, the Patriarch of Romania conveyed best wishes to all those who were celebrating their name day.

On the first day of Christmas, the Pastoral letter of the Primate of our Church at the Nativity of the Lord, entitled Nativity of the Lord, the joy of heaven and earth, was read in all the places of worship of the Archdiocese of Bucharest.

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