The Heavenly Evangelist points out to the shepherds of Bethlehem the following sign of the coming of the Saviour into the world: the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. For he says to them thus: "You will find the child in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:1112). Perhaps someone will think that it is not a great sign to see a swaddled child, for it is customary for every newborn child to be wrapped. It would be a great sign if an angel, as a witness and a clear testimony of the Nativity of Christ, showed something unusual, as, for example, a star in the east to the Magi, or as the Sibyl showed Augustus in the sun a maiden holding a child in her arms. But if anyone wants to look with a spiritual eye at the sacraments performed in that wrapped Infant, he will see and know that the sign indicated by the angel to the shepherds: "The Infant wrapped in a manger," is a great sign. For this Infant is He Whose Nativity revealed to the world the light of the knowledge of God, clearer than the stars and the sun, and His swaddling clothes wider than the clouds, His manger wider than the heavens, for in them lay the incomprehensible Christ God. Thus, let us turn our mental gaze to the infancy of Christ. For He Who created the worlds and prepared salvation for us from eternity, Who appeared on earth as a child to renew the decrepitude of our nature: "Ye shall find," said the angel, "the child."

Perhaps someone could be of the opinion that Christ was to come into the world not as a child, but as a giant, according to the prophecy of David, who thus predicted the coming of the Messiah: "And he as a Bridegroom proceedeth out of his palace" (Psalm 18:6) (i.e., from the womb of the Most-Pure Virgin), "rejoices like a giant to run the race" (Psalm 18:6) [2]. That is why the angel may also say: "You will find a child, and not a giant." But if we reflect on the infancy of Christ, we will find another reason for such words of the angel. Just as the Nativity of Christ was not like an ordinary human birth, but was extraordinary and supernatural, so His infancy is unusual and unlike the infancy of other infants. All newborn babies are weak and senseless; they have no strength in themselves and do nothing until, after a long time of their growth, their strength and intelligence begin to manifest themselves and grow with them. And this newborn Infant, our Lord Jesus Christ, is born with both strength and understanding. That is why the angel also points to such a Child, Who is born both with invincible power and with ineffable wisdom, as a miracle, unique in its kind and never before seen in the world. As for His invincible strength and power, the Church has not kept silent about it on this feast day when it sings together with the prophet Isaiah: "Mighty God, Lord, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Somewhere it is said that a lion is known by its claws. The lion of the tribe of Judah, Christ, from His childhood (i.e., from His infancy) reveals Himself, "as the Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle" (Psalm 23:8). Let us pay attention to how great is the strength and strength of the newborn Infant. As soon as the news of His Nativity began to spread, "Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" (Matt. 2:3). The Child does not yet speak, but already terrifies those who have called their names on earth; He is still in swaddling clothes, but He has already filled the tormentors with terror; He was still in a manger, and had already shaken him who sat on the royal throne.

One of the most skilful physicians relates that those who have to be great, eminent, and glorious in the world, or kings and brave warriors, those, according to him, are apt from their earliest fingernails (i.e., infancy) to foretell their future power and their future deeds. At the same time, the same physician says that Pericles had not yet been born [3], but had already frightened the Greeks with dreams; Alexander had not yet been born [4], but was already called by all the son of Jupiter [5] and the lord of the kingdom. And in another place it is narrated that ants brought grains of wheat and put them into the mouth of Medes, king of Phrygia, when he was still a child, during his sleep, thus indicating his future innumerable riches. In the same way, our King and Master, the newborn Infant, already in His childhood shows clear indications of His future powers and deeds. The future riches that are prepared for those who love Him are indicated by the sign that, according to His dispensation, gold, frankincense, and myrrh are brought to Him from the farthest lands. His future victory over death and the devil and His triumph over all hell is foreshadowed by the fact that He shakes and confuses Herod and all Jerusalem. His power over the visible and invisible world, which will be granted to His humanity, and of which He will say in due time: "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (Matt. 28:18), is foreshadowed by the fact that, according to His will, angels and shepherds serve His Nativity, and the kings of the East worship, according to the prophecy of David: "And all the kingdoms of the earth shall worship Him" (Psalm 71:11). For this prophecy had already been fulfilled, when He, as King of kings, was honored by the three earthly kings with worship and gifts. The Primate of the Church of Hippo, Blessed Augustine [7] puts it beautifully thus: "Such are the signs of Thy nativity, O Lord Jesus: before the waves of the sea are smoothed under Thy feet, when Thou walkest on the sea; before the winds are stilled by Thy commandment; before the dead rise by Thy word; before the sun is darkened at the moment of Thy death, and the earth at Thy resurrection from the tomb is shaken, and the heavens are opened at Thy ascension; before all this and other miraculous things Thou hast accomplished, before that Thou hast still been carried by Thy Mother's hands, and at the same time Thou hast revealed Thyself as the Lord of all the world." Such is the strength and power of the newborn Infant, our Lord Jesus Christ, that even in His childhood He clearly reveals Himself as an almighty Lord: "The strength of God is great, verily the power of God is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). For in the small and feeble members of infants we see the great power of Jesus Christ, to which the Church points when she likens the newborn Lord to a lamb, and when she calls Him a lamb, glorifying Him in an unsedentary prayer for the worship of the shepherds with these words: "They see this lamb without blemish, fallen in the womb of Marina, singing: Rejoice, mother of the lamb and shepherd" [8].

Here, Christ, born of the Virgin, is likened to a lamb, and is called a lamb. But what strength is there in the lamb, what power? The force is truly invincible, as we see from the following. Once John the Theologian saw in his revelation various beasts and serpents, which came out of various places - from the sea, from the abyss and from the desert, with many terrible heads and open mouths full of deadly poison - and whose very appearance was very terrible! They all rebel against the one Lamb, as the Scripture says: "They shall make war with the Lamb" (Rev. 17:14). Perhaps, looking at this struggle of those serpents and beasts with the Lamb, someone will think that even one of the weakest beasts will immediately take and tear the Lamb to pieces, so that the great beasts will have no one to fight with. But look at the power of the Lamb: He is so heavily armed against them, that all that power of the beast suddenly, according to His action, falls and goes into the earth, as it is written: "The Lamb will overcome them, for He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings" (Rev. 17:14). Oh, Truly this is the great power of the Lamb! This Lamb signifies the Son of God; and serpents and beasts signify demons and their servants. Here is a thing worthy of reflection: why did the angel, having shown under these images the struggle of the Son of God with His enemies, not call Him by His real name, brought from heaven during the Annunciation to the Most-Pure Virgin and given at His circumcision? Why did He not say, "These shall fight with Jesus Christ," but said, "These shall fight with the Lamb?" He rests on the hay like a lamb, and already breaks mental serpents and beasts like reeds, crushes them like earthen vessels. It is well written in the prophecy: "And they called his name Magershelal-hash-baz; for before a child knows how to say, 'My father, my mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be carried before the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 8:34) [9]. This newborn Lamb does not wait for the time when He will become a lion, and it will be said of Him: "This conqueror is a lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5). This Child does not wait for the time when He will grow in strength like a giant. This Child does not wait for the time when His young members will receive strength like Sampson's [10]. But before He begins to suck the breasts of His Mother, He defeats His enemies. Before He can pronounce His name or the name of His Most-Pure Mother with His lips, He exterminates from the book of life the names of the unworthy. Before this Child begins to acquire, as He grows, manly power, He deposes the mighty from their thrones: "The Lamb shall overcome them; for He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings" (Rev. 17:14). Such is the strength of our Lamb, such is the invincible power of the Divine Child, with which He is born!

And He is born together with the mind, for He Who has strength and strength in His infancy also has the mind. "Great is our Lord, and great is His might, and His understanding is immeasurable" (Psalm 146:5). Is there any infant to whom it would be appropriate to apply the following words: "Learned more than the elderly" (Psalm 118:100)? Only to the Divine Infant can these words be applied. Ordinary infants at birth do not understand anything until the time of their growth, and even when they grow up, they need teaching in order that they may understand. This Divine Infant, as before His Nativity was Wisdom itself, so also in His Nativity is the depth of wisdom and the understanding of Divinity (Romans 11:33). In His infancy He is subject to the conditions of time, but by Wisdom He is eternal. A Child is also born to us, and under the image of the Ancient of Days, i.e. a very old man, the Prophet Daniel (Dan. 7:913) [11], the Child, and (together) the Father, as the prophet Isaiah says now on His Nativity: "The Father of the age to come" (Isaiah 9:6). This name "Father" befits not children, but men, and no one has ever called an infant feeding on his mother's milk father. Nevertheless, the prophet, without mincing words, calls the born Christ father. Why? To show that in that deified Infant there is the same understanding, the same wisdom as in the Father of the old day. Like some wise father in relation to his children, so does this Heavenly Infant, born of the Most-Pure Mother of God, act with us. And this is the sign by which we are convinced that the Saviour has now been born for us: for in His infancy He is a father to us. In what way is He a father to us? Let us listen to how it happens: being born Himself, He at the same time regenerates us from death to life in no other way than the Gospel father of the prodigal son, who was previously dead and then came to life. That father, in order to revive his dead son to life, fell on his neck and kissed him. This fatherly kiss was a sign to the son that his sins, which were the cause of his spiritual death, were forgiven, for through sin comes death; and after sins, these causes of death, were taken away from the sinner through forgiveness, immediately the dead man came to life. For just as there is a day after the night has passed, so after the removal of the gloomy sinful death from man, the grace of God begins to shine, which is life for the soul. Truly it is true that Christ our Saviour kissed us in His Nativity, that He regenerated us who died in sins to life by His grace, and through this He is for us an all-wise father in His infancy. And in order to understand that Christ our Saviour kissed us in His Nativity, let us pay attention to how in the book of the Song of Songs a certain God-loving person so ardently expresses the desire for union with God: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth!" (Song of Songs 1:1) [12]. Do we want to know who desires God's kiss? Let us listen to St. Ambrose [13], who says that our nature, our flesh, it is precisely this nature that desires to attain through the incarnation of the Son of God God's love and closeness to God, so that it may be able to behold Him as if face to face and kiss Him as if from mouth to mouth with a holy kiss. This teacher puts it this way: "Let us understand that (that God-loving face in the book of Song of Songs) is the flesh that in the person of Adam was soaked in the venom of the serpent and rotted from the stench of sin. She, having learned from many prophecies that God will come, Who, having abolished the flattery of the serpent, will pour out the grace of the Holy Spirit, prays, saying: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth!" And St. Chrysostom thus says on behalf of the church gathered from the pagans: "I, the Church of the Gentiles, do not so much want Him to speak to me through Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and through other prophets, how much I want Him to converse with me Himself. Therefore, let Him Himself appear, and I will speak to Him lip to mouth. Let Him come and kiss me with the kiss of His mouth. I hear Jeremiah speaking of Him thus: "Evil is the heart (of man) above all things and utterly corrupted; and who shall know him" (Jeremiah 17:9) [14]? I desire Him Himself to appear and kiss me with the kiss of His mouth. I hear Amos speaking of Him thus: "Behold, a man stood on the adamantine fence, and in His hand was adamant" (Amos 7:7) [15]. But I seek Him Himself, that He may come and kiss me with the kiss of His mouth." From these words of the holy teachers it is clearly revealed that the kiss of God with our nature is the incarnation of the Son of God. For just as in kissing the lips are attached to the lips, so in the Incarnation of the Savior the nature of God was added to human nature and united with it. Thus, in His Nativity, Christ our Saviour, as a Father, kissed us, as David prophesied when He said: "Righteousness and the world kiss each other" (Psalm 84:11), in which passage the interpreter Euthymius (Zigaben) [16] understands by the world the nature of God, for God alone is the righteous Judge, and by righteousness the human nature in Christ, by reason of the true meekness inherent in this nature. Of these two natures it is said because they have kissed each other, because they have in Christ a close union, agreement and concord.

It is also true that through this kiss Christ our Saviour regenerated us in His Nativity from the death of sin to the life of Divine grace. In the 2nd Book of Kings (2 Kings 4:2830, 3435) we read the following. When the Somanite wife asked the prophet Elisha, who was on Mount Carmel, to enter her house and resurrect her dead son, the prophet did not immediately go himself, but first sent his servant Gehazi with his rod, so that he would put this rod on the face of the child, but the deceased did not utter a voice and did not listen to Gehazi. When the prophet himself came to the dead man, he put his mouth to his mouth and blew on him, and behold, the lad opened his eyes. Notice how the dead child is given life through the application of the prophet's mouth to his lips, as is the case with kissing. Truly there was a kiss, when the lips were put to the lips of the lad, and through the kiss of these lips the dead was raised. This was the transformation of Christ's incarnation. Death, having entered the world through sin, kidnapped the first child Adam, who had barely begun to live. Woman, human nature, calls out to God with tenderness: "Lord! Bow down the heavens, and come down" (Psalm 143:5); "Thy face shall shine, and we shall be saved" (Psalm 79:4). The Lord God does not come immediately, but, just as Elisha sent his servant, so the Lord first sends His servants, the prophets, with the rod of the law, so that they may lay this rod on the lad, on the generation of Adam; but this lad had not yet come to life, people were still in darkness and the shadow of death [17]. When the Lord Himself came in His incarnation and, as it is said, put the mouth of His Divinity to the lips of mankind, and kissed us with the kiss of His lips, then the lad immediately arose, the dead rose (the Resurrection of the Theotokos before the great doxology) – from death we were reborn to life in the Nativity of Christ. It's like such an old story. A good friend, seeing that his beloved friend has been wounded by the poisonous sword of the enemy, diligently cares how to heal him of the mortal wound. But now the physicians tell him that the wound is incurable, for the sword, filled with poison, not only wounded the flesh and produced a great wound, but with the same poison damaged the whole body, so that death awaits his friend in any case, unless someone atones for him with his health in this way: let him put his mouth to his wound and suck the poison out of it: "Then your friend," say the doctors, "would easily be healed, but he who sucked out the poison would in any case die." Hearing this, the true lover of friends, despite the fact that his own life was not bitter to him, nevertheless, loving his friend more than himself, and preferring his health to his own life, healed his friend in the above-mentioned way - through the application of his lips to his wound he sucked out the poison, and by his death granted his friend health. Likewise, the Lord our God has done to us, wounded by the poisonous sword of sin of the warrior of hell. No one could heal us from the wound and deliver us from death without first taking away from us the mortal harm. There was no such perfect physician until He Himself, the Most High, Who sits on the Cherubim, the perfect Physician and Creator of souls and bodies, put His mouth, that is, His Son; for just as the Holy Spirit is called in the Scriptures the Father's finger: "I am with the finger of God," says the Lord, "I cast out demons" (Luke 11:20), so God the Son is called the Father's mouth, as it is written: "By the spirit of His mouth is all their army" (Psalm 32:6). And so, I say, the Lord God put His mouth, that is, His beloved Son, out of love for the human race, for the wound of our nature: God so loved the world, that He also gave it His only begotten Son (John 3:16). What kind of mouth do I understand? God the Son, united with our wounded nature, took upon Himself that sinful poison: Who took away the sins of the world, He bore our sins and healed us, laying down His health for us. Through this He regenerated us to a life of grace through His kiss, that is, through the Incarnation, and thus, in His infancy, He showed Himself as our Saviour, our all-wise Father, a skilful Physician and a most beloved Friend. Look, then, at the infancy of Christ, how Christ is born: both with invincible power and with incomprehensible wisdom. And rightly the angel points out to the pastors as a sign of the coming into the world of the Saviour, the Infant, an extraordinary Infant and unlike other infants in His birth: a strong and intelligent Infant, a strong and all-wise Child. This is a sign for you: you will find the Child, and the Child wrapped, for even the swaddling clothes of That Child are full of mysteries. St. Ambrose says: "Christ is wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be delivered from the rags of death. In this lies the mystery of Christ's swaddling clothes, so that we may cast off the coarse rags of corruption, in which death has clothed us." Let us delve carefully into the words of Ambrose. Why did he not say "one rag", but "rags thou hast loosened!" I believe that he means here Adam's rags, for Adam, after his fall, had two rags: leaf and leather. Deciduous - in paradise, which Adam and Eve made for themselves: "they sewed fig leaves, and made for themselves girdles" (Gen. 3:7). And the rags of leather are outside of paradise, when God made for Adam and his wife "garments of skins" and clothed them in these garments (Genesis 3:21). Both of these rags were mortal, for those leaves were from the tree that brought death to man; For some of the teachers of the church believe that the tree from which Adam was forbidden to eat fruit was a fig tree. And the skin was from a slain beast. The rags of leaves signified Adam's disobedience, through which he fell away from God, like a leaf from a tree, and the leather rags were a sign of love of flesh, or wordless lust. Christ, the new Adam, was wrapped in swaddling clothes in order to release man from both rags, namely: from disobedience and from wordless lusts, for His holy swaddling clothes mysteriously depict both obedience and purity, - they depict obedience, as the above-mentioned teacher of the Church, St. Ambrose, explains.

"Look at the mystery," he says, "out of the virgin's womb came both the servant and (together) the Lord: a servant to work, for whoever girds himself with swaddling clothes will gird himself up for service; But the Lord is in order to rule. Good is the service which has acquired His name, which is above every name: for what is disgrace to some is glory to Christ." Let us pay attention to these words. Whoever girds himself with swaddling clothes will gird himself for service. Thus, in the swaddling clothes is expressed the obedience of Christ, since he who does and serves is a novice. And it is proper for a novice to gird himself up, according to the command of a certain master in the Gospel: "Prepare for me to have supper, and gird yourself, serve me" (Luke 17:8). And our Lord took upon Himself the rank of novice, for He says of Himself: "They will not come to serve Me, but I will serve them"[18]; He will gird Himself with swaddling clothes to serve us, according to the words of the Gospel: "Verily I say unto you, He shall gird Himself up, and shall seat them, and when He shall come to serve them" (Luke 12:37). And by His obedient service He heals Adam's disobedience. The old Adam was disobedient, but the new Adam was "obedient even unto death" (Phil. 2:8). In this way, with the swaddling clothes of Christ's obedience, the rags of Adam's disobedience are resolved. As for purity, we will see it mysteriously depicted in the swaddling clothes of the Lord, if we reflect on why the old Adam was covered with leather clothes, and the new Adam with linen (as it is reliably known) swaddling clothes, previously prepared by the Most-Pure Mother of God for this. It often happens among people that the outer garment corresponds to the inner thought and disposition of a person, so that through the outer garment the inner heart of a person is clearly revealed (2 Cor. 4:16). On the day named in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the proud Herod [19] put on a royal garment, and did not this garment correspond to his inner arrogance? Truly it corresponded, as the Scriptures say: "sitting on the seat" (before the people with pride), "speaking to them" (Acts 12:21). Through the proud garment of conscience, inner pride was clearly revealed. The humble and God-fearing Queen Esther [20] at one time also dressed in the appurtenance of royal dignity, not out of pride, but on the occasion of the danger that threatened the Jewish people; and after three days, when she had finished praying, she took off her sorrowful garments and put on her festive garments (Est. 45). Were not these last garments of her in accordance with her bright soul and her good and pure intention? Of course, they corresponded, as the Scripture says: "And having become magnificent, she called upon the all-seeing God and Saviour" (Est. 5:1), so that her outward beauty corresponded to her inner, spiritual beauty. Let us also remember Adam. When he sinned in paradise, he became from a man as a wild beast: a beast, for he stole the forbidden fruit; and wild because he then began to run and hide himself, like a beast in the wilderness. Such an animal arrangement had to correspond to his animal, leather clothing, so that the internal disposition and external clothing corresponded to each other. St. Gregory of Nyssa (in the life of Moses) understands this in the same way, who says about this: "Let those who have disfigured their souls with their bestial disposition use animal skins." Understand why the old Adam was in rags, and why the new Adam, Christ, is wrapped in linen shrouds. Flax, according to the testimony of Gregory and Isidore [21], appears in St. Scripture is the image of purity, which is why in the Old Testament the priestly garments were made of linen, as a sign of the blameless and pure ministry of the priests. Bl. Jerome, who, in his Epistle to Fabiola,22 says thus: "When we, preparing to put ourselves on Christ, lay aside the garments of leather, then we put on a garment of linen, which has no defilement in it, but is pure in everything." Linen clothing is prescribed as a sign of purity, but, oh, how pure is Christ our Saviour! "His hands are innocent, and he is pure in heart, he will not commit sin, and deceit is not found in his mouth" (Ps. 23:4; Ps. 31:2). He is so pure that the purest and brightest stars are extinguished before His purity, according to the Scriptures: "The stars are unclean before Him" (Job 25:5). And for such a Most-Pure Infant, born of the Most-Pure Virgin, it was not a leather, animal garment that was befitting, but pure linen and white shrouds, so that there would be a mutual correspondence between inner and outer purity. But here is not the end of the meaning of swaddling clothes. Why is Adam dressed in animal skin, and Christ in linen swaddling clothes? The skin has such a close connection with the body like nothing else. And therefore the skin envelops the body so tightly that it can only be torn from the body with great effort, but flax does not know any flesh, it exists by itself and does not have such a union with the flesh. This is the final reason why Adam was clothed in skins, and Christ in linen. Adam was carnal: he loved the flesh of his flesh to such an extent that he did not want to leave it even in the worst case, in the anger of God, but together with it, skin with flesh, he angered his Creator, and therefore the Lord clothed him in carnal leather rags, as of "a carnal minder" (Romans 8:5). And Christ, although He appeared to bear the flesh, was nevertheless above all flesh, being Himself the Source of purity. For this reason He was wrapped in linen shrouds, having no union with the flesh, and through this He loosed the leather rags of carnal love and wordless lust. Look at the mystery of Christ's swaddling clothes: these swaddling clothes are plasters on our sinful wounds; they wipe the tears from our eyes, they inseparably bind us together for the closest union with God and in perfect love for Him. Moreover, the manger in which the wrapped Infant reclined is not devoid of mysterious significance. Let us listen to what Blessed Theodoret [23] says about this: "Look," he says, "at the wretched sojourn of Him Who enriches heaven; look at the manger of Him who sits on the cherubim; look at His earthly poverty, contemplating His heavenly riches. God, who is rich in mercy, became poor, so that we might be enriched by His poverty, and for this purpose the King of Heaven was laid in a manger, so that we might learn His self-willed poverty and humility." And St. Cyprian says: "For this reason He is placed in a manger, so that we, having changed the life of beasts, may not eat hay (sinful sweets), but heavenly bread." And Theodoret also says: "In the manger the Word of God is placed, so that both the verbal and the dumb (i.e., the righteous and the sinners) may freely and unhindered partake of the saving food."

Such is the mystery of the manger of the Lord, and such is the obvious sign of the coming of the Saviour into the world, indicated by the angel to the shepherds: a child wrapped in a manger. And truly it is a great sign, for it is full of great mysteries, as we have already heard.

And so, may the Divine Infant, who was born for our sake, be honored, thanked, and worshiped by all creation, and to the Most-Pure and Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Him, glory and praise from all generations forever. Amen.

The Legend of the Adoration of the Magi

"Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, the Magi came from the east" (Matt. 2:1), not from any one eastern country, but from different countries, as is evident from the writings of the Holy Fathers, who speak differently about this. Some of them are of the opinion that the Magi were from Persia [1]; this is the opinion of St. Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Alexandria [2], Theophylact and others, on the grounds that especially in that country the art of the astrologers flourished [3] and no one could become a king there unless he had first studied this art. Others believe that the Magi were from Arabia [4]; this opinion is held by the Holy Martyr Justin [5], St. Cyprian, St. Epiphanius, on the grounds that this country was very rich in gold, frankincense and myrrh [6]. And some think that the Magi came from Ethiopia [7]; for from there once came the Queen of Sheba, i.e. the Ethiopian queen to Jerusalem, in order to listen to the wisdom of Solomon [8], which, according to the explanation of Blessed Jerome, foreshadowed the present event, namely, the coming of the Magi to the spiritual Solomon – Christ, Who is God's wisdom (Blessed Jerome, commentary on the Prophet Isaiah). And David says: "Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God" (Psalm 67:32). However, all these countries, eastern and adjacent to each other, abounded in gold, frankincense, and perfumes, in all of them the practice of magic and stargazing was widespread; moreover, the wise men in these countries were not ignorant of the prophecy of Balaam [9] about the star that was about to shine, which prophecy was transmitted from generation to generation, partly orally, partly in writing. It may be thought that the most true thing is that one of the Magi was from Persia, another from Arabia, and the third from Ethiopia, because their origin from various countries is indicated in the prophecy of David, where it is said: "The kings of Tarshish and the isles will bring him tribute; the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring gifts" (Psalm 71:10). This is what David prophesied about the Magi, who had to come to Christ with gifts, as the interpreters of the Divine Scripture assume. The words of David, "kings of Tarshish," mean, "overseas," for "Tarshish" means "sea"; therefore, understand here Persia as being beyond the sea [10]. "The King of Arabia" clearly points to Arabia. And David points to Ethiopia when he says, "And Sheba shall bring gifts," for Sheba is the city which is the capital of all Ethiopia. So those three wise men were from Persia, Arabia, and Ethiopia. They are called Magi not in the sense of people who practiced demonic sorcery and harmful spells, but because the Arabians, Syrians, Persians, Ethiopians, and other Eastern peoples had the custom of calling their sages and astrologers Magi. And these magi were not from among the magicians and sorcerers, but from among the wisest astrologers and philosophers [11]. They are also called kings not in the sense of powerful kings, rulers of many countries, but as having received from them each his own city or a certain principality. For St. Scripture is in the habit of calling the rulers of particular cities kings, as is evident from Gen. 14. And from which cities those kings came, there is no reliable information about this; only it is known that they were from the countries of the East, and that there were three of them, according to the number of the three gifts they brought: gold, Lebanon, and myrrh. Although each of them came from his own country, nevertheless, led by one star, they, according to God's providence, came together during their journey, and, having learned the intention of each other, they went together, following the star, of which the very glorious astrologer Balaam had once prophesied, saying: "A star rises from Jacob, and a rod rises from Israel" (Num. 24:17). What kind of star was it? Chrysostom and Theophylact assert that it was not one of the heavenly or visible luminaries, but that it was some divine and angelic power that appeared in place of the star. For all stars from the very creation of the world have their existence, and this star appeared at the end of the ages, at the incarnation of God the Word. All stars have their place in the sky, but this star was visible in the air; all the stars usually flow from east to west, and this star moved unusually from east to south, in the direction of Jerusalem; all the stars shine only at night, but this star shone like the sun during the day, incomparably surpassing the celestial stars both in radiance and majesty; all the stars with the other luminaries, with the sun, with the moon, and with the entire circle of celestial bodies, have their own constant movement and flow, and this star sometimes moved, and sometimes stopped, as Theophylact says: "When the Magi walked, then the star also went, and when they rested, it also stood."

Although some say that those Magi took swift horses and, hastily making their way, rode to Bethlehem on the 13th day after the birth of Christ, this is incredible.

Other interpreters, to which St. Epiphanius belongs, say that the star appeared at the hour of the Nativity of Christ, but that the Magi came to worship after two years and found the Infant Christ already two years old. This opinion is based on the fact that Herod ordered the killing of infants from two years old and below, according to a time that he carefully learned about from the Magi. But St. Theophylact calls such an opinion clearly incorrect, for there is an understanding true to the whole Church, according to which those Magi worshipped Christ in Bethlehem, when Christ was still in the cave, and after two years Christ was not only not in Bethlehem, but not even in Palestine, but in Egypt. For, as it is said, according to the testimony of St. Luke, after purification on the 40th day in the temple, where the elder Simeon met the Lord, and after everything had been done according to the law of the Lord, Saint Joseph and the Most-Pure Virgin Mary with the Child immediately returned to Galilee, and not to Judea, they returned to their city of Nazareth, and not to Bethlehem; and already from Nazareth, at the command of the angel, they set out for Egypt. How could the Magi, after two years, find Christ in Bethlehem? And Nicephorus, the ancient Greek historian,12 relates that the star appeared in the east two years before Christmas, and that the Magi traveled to Jerusalem for two years, so that they arrived at the very hour of Christmas. Apparently, this historian also agrees with what is written in the Gospel about the slaughter of infants from two years of age and below, but his opinion is also unreliable.

What is the reliable opinion about the time of the appearance of the star? I think that the opinion of St. John Chrysostom and Theophylact. These teachers say this: "The star appeared to the Magi before the birth of Christ. Since they had a lot of time to spend on the journey, therefore the star appeared to them long before the Nativity of the Saviour, so that they could, having reached Bethlehem, worship Christ, who was still in swaddling clothes. Note that these teachers of the Church do not assign a two-year time to that star, but only say that "before a great time," as if to say, "a few months." On the basis of this interpretation of Chrysostom and Theophylact, according to which the star appeared before the time of the Nativity of Christ, it is proper to understand that on the very day and hour on which, by the Annunciation of the Archangel and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Word became flesh, curling in the immaculate womb of a virgin, nine months before the Nativity, the star appeared in the east. Understanding this, we will not depart from the testimony of the above-mentioned teachers, and at the same time reject the incredible delay of the Magi on the path for two years, and the two-year-old age of the murdered infants will be spoken of later, on their feast day. Thus, nine months before the Nativity of Christ, during the Annunciation, the Magi saw a star in the east, and at first in amazement and bewilderment they pondered what kind of star it could be. Is it not some meteor [13] shining in the air and announcing some misfortunes, as comets also herald [14]. And in fact, that star foretold misfortunes for the murderer-enemy in those countries, namely: the fall of idols, the exorcism of demons, and the bright radiance of the light of the holy faith. Then, realizing that this star was not accidental, but had a Divine nature and Divine likeness, the Magi remembered the ancient prophecy of Balaam, and also came to their senses with what the Indian Sibyl Erythraea [15] had predicted about the same star; especially, as St. Leo, the Pope of Rome [16] understands, having been secretly taught by God Himself, that the time has come for the birth of the Lord and King of all the universe, who is to be born in Israel, as Balaam also prophesied: "Man shall arise from Israel" (Num. 24:17), and that this is His star, foretold long ago. Believing undoubtedly that this was so, and fully equipped for the journey, they set out from their own countries, and, as has already been said, during the journey they came together and made the journey in one mind. Meanwhile, the nine-month period from the time of the star's appearance was expiring, and the hour of the Nativity of Christ was approaching. And they approached the borders of Palestine and finally reached the capital of Judea, Jerusalem, on the very day of the Nativity of Christ. When they approached Jerusalem, the star that led them suddenly disappeared from sight, because if the same star had shone in Jerusalem, the people would have seen it in any case and would have followed the Magi to Christ with it. Then both Herod and the envious Jewish rulers of the synagogue would have known where the born Christ was, and out of envy they would have killed Him prematurely.