This secrecy is no small mystery, which we do not comprehend, namely: how did the earthly cave become heaven? Has the earth here turned into heaven, or has the sky changed into earth? But both of these understandings do not fit here. As for matter, that is, the heavenly bodies are earthly bodies, but there is one glory to the heavenly, and another to the earthly. Celestial matter is one thing, but earthly matter is quite another.

Just as heavenly matter cannot be earth, so earthly matter cannot be heaven. However, bearing in mind the sacrament that is now being performed, we will not sin if we admit both. Looking not at the walls of the cave, not at the matter of the earth, but at the mystery that takes place in the cave, we can boldly say: the earth has become heaven, and the sky has become earth.

Two guests have now found shelter in the cave, neither from earth nor from heaven. "The first man of the earth, earthly" (1 Cor. 15:47) is a wondrous guest, He came from Nazareth, brought in the womb of a virgin. The second person is "the Lord from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:47) – that guest is different. He is wondrous in that He did not come from any nearer place, but from heaven.

In the first, nature, taken from mortality, is the earth. In the other, the nature that came down from above, from heaven, let us call it heaven: "the Lord from heaven." God became Man, and man became God. Heaven becomes earth, and earth becomes heaven. But heaven does not become earth in such a way that it ceases to be heaven, and the earth does not change into heaven so that it ceases to be earth, that is, just as God, having become man, did not cease to be God, so man, having become God, did not cease to be man, but both of them were united to each other in such a way, as in the mystery of which the Apostle says: "The two shall be one flesh" (Eph. 5:5). 31).

Here the two were even united in one person, as Damascene writes beautifully: "Not divided into two persons, but incomprehensible in two natures" (Dogmatic, tone 6). Where else, in what place, except for the Bethlehem cave, did such a mysterious union of heaven and earth, of God and man, take place?! So, the cave became heaven, and the sky became a cave.

The cave became heaven when it received the Heavenly God and all His Powers. Now God is in a cave with all the heavens, and through that cave is heaven, and heaven is a cave. There was a time when heaven resembled a cave, a cave, and even a den of thieves, namely, when that evil thief was hiding in it, whom the Gospel calls a "murderer" (John 8:44)

; hid himself, for he said in his mind: "I will ascend into heaven" (Isaiah 14:13). He secretly, covertly concealed this in his thoughts, in order to steal and kill with abuse, villainously and robbery. He also carried away considerable power: "His tail carried away from heaven a third part of the stars," that is, the angels (Rev. 12:4). Until this was seen, until that thief with his power was cast out of heaven and destroyed, until then the sky resembled a den of robbers.

Now, thank God, the earthly cave is much like heaven: "Heaven is a cave." Where there are ears of corn, there is bread. Where holy people dwell, there is paradise. Where the robber hides, there is a cave. In the same way, heaven will be where God dwells. God in the cave, therefore, the cave is heaven. Paradise was also once like a stable, namely, when the man who lived in it transgressed the commandment of God and "became like senseless beasts" (Psalm 48:13)

, and the sky, as I have already said, was like a cave. As for the cave of Bethlehem, what can we think in the present case? It is better now than in paradise, it is now as in heaven itself. In the Bethlehem nativity scene now, no matter who you look at, all people are saints. St. Joseph, holy is the eldress Salome, and revere the shepherds and kings of the East among the saints. In addition, here is the Most Holy of All Saints Herself – the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin and, finally, Christ Himself – the Tree of Life, from which I will never die. O wondrous nativity scene!

Ты прекраснее теперь, вмещая Христа, чем тот Едемский рай, кото­рый имел Адама. Впрочем, зачем нам назы­вать тебя раем, когда Церковь величает тебя самим небом: «Небо — вертеп». Небо — это Престол Божий, но и в верте­пе сидит Бог на Своем святом Престоле, на руках Девических. Чем же вертеп теперь меньше неба? Ведь где Бог, там бывает и небо.

Об этом свидетельствует один предпразднственный трипеснец, читанный на вечерни. В конце его есть такой стих: «Обхождаху Анге­лы якоже престол херувимский ясли, вертеп бо небо зряху, лежащу в нем Владыце». Обратим внимание на эти слова: «Вертеп небо, лежащу в нем Владыце». Пока в верте­пе не было Владыки Христа, вертеп был вер­тепом, но как положился в нем Владыка Христос, так вертеп уже не вертеп. Но что же? Он есть небо.

Даже сами ангельские очи убедились в этом: «Вертеп небо зряху, лежащу в нем Владыце». Прекрасно поется в богоявленских песно­пениях: «Идеже царево пришествие, тамо и чин Его приходит». Вошел Царь Небесный в земной вертеп, и вошло с Ним все Его воин­ство и чин Его небесный, вошло с Ним небо со всем своим небесным величием. В тот час Сам Бог с воздушного неба переселился в Ви­флеемский вертеп, ибо здесь не один только рожденный Бог Сын, а здесь и Бог Отец, ро­дивший прежде век Сына, ибо Сам Сын гово­рит: «Видевший Меня видел Отца» (Ин. 14, 9).

Здесь же и Дух Святой, исполняющий дивное и несказанное Рождество Христово. Итак, здесь, в вертепе, целая Святая Троица — это Царь Небесный. Что же далее? Тут же при Нем и чин Его небесный, сопровождение небесное, двад­цать четыре старца, как бы важные сенаторы, почтенные старики, которые достойно воссе­дают вокруг могущества Божия, вокруг Пре­стола Агнца, и держат в руках гусли.

Они, ви­дя Господа своего Агнца, избравшего Себе в сей час вместо неба вертеп Вифлеемский, вместо престола небесного — ясли, видя, что Агнец, рожденный от Пренепорочной Агни­цы, положен в вертепе, в яслях, на сене, — они всем своим собранием вместились туда же. Они окружили ясли и почтили своего но­ворожденного Царя достойным поклонением.