Categories: orthodox-life, feast-days
Date: 22 December 2006 00:26:12
The Nativity services begin tonight at our parish with the service of the Royal Hours. A number of Psalms and prophecies of Christ's birth are read, together with a number of Epistle and Gospel readings and a number of prayers. I am greatly looking forward to participating in this service and, God willing, it may further prepare me for the joyous celebration of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In the Eastern Churches, the celebration of Theophany, the revelation of God to man, on January 6 originally included not only Christ's Baptism (as it still does today) but also Christ's birth and visit of the Magi. The celebration of Christ's birth on December 25 was brought in from the West, and hymns and prayers relating to the arrival and adoration of the Magi moved to this date also.