Nativity Hymn 3: Your Day Is Like You

Blessed be that first day of yours, Lord, with which this day of your feast is stamped! Your day is like you, for it shows mercy to people, and it is handed down and comes with every generation.

This is the day that ends with the old and comes back to begin with the young! It is a day that refreshes itself by its love, so that by its might it may refresh us, worn-out creatures that we are. Your day visited us, passed, and went away; then in its mercy it came back and visited us again, for it knows that human nature needs it. In everything it is like you, for it seeks us out.

The world is in want of its fountain, and all who are in it thirst for it, Lord, as they thirst for you. This is the day that rules over the seasons! The dominion of your day is like your own, stretching over the generations that have come and the generations still to come! Your day is like you, because though it is one, it buds and multiplies itself so as to be like you!

In this day of yours, Lord, which is near to us, we see your birth, which is far off! Let your day be to us, Lord, like you; let it be a mediator and a guarantor of peace.

Your day reconciled heaven and earth, because on it the Highest came down to the lowest.

Your day was able to reconcile the Just One, who was angry at our sins. Your day forgave thousands of sins, for on it tender mercy shone out on the guilty! [a]

Great, Lord, is your day; do not let it be small toward us! Let it show mercy to us transgressors, as it always has.

And if your forgiveness wells up every day, Lord, how very great it should be on this day! All the days gain their blessings from the treasure of your bright day. All the feasts have their beauty and their ornaments from the stores of this feast. Make your tender mercy abound to us on your day, O Lord! Make us distinguish your day from all days! For great is the treasure house of the day of your birth; let it be the ransomer of debtors! This day is great above all days, for on it mercy came out to sinners. This great day of yours is a store of medicines, because on it the Medicine of Life shone out on the wounded! This day is a treasury of helpful graces, because on it Light gleamed out on our blindness! Yes, it also brought us a sheaf; it came so that plenty might flow from it on our hunger. This day is that Cluster which ran on ahead, in which the cup of salvation was hidden! This day is the firstborn feast, which, being born first, overcomes all feasts. [b]

In the winter, which strips the fruit from the branches of the barren vine, Fruit sprang up for us; in the cold that leaves all the trees bare, a shoot of the house of Jesse grew green for us. In December, when the seed is hidden in the earth, the Ear of Life sprouted from the womb. In March, when the seed was sprouting in the air, a Sheaf sowed itself in the earth. Death devoured its harvest in hell; but the Medicine of Life hidden in it burst it open! In March, when the lambs bleat in the wilderness, the Paschal Lamb entered the womb! Out of the stream from which the fishermen came up, he who encloses all things in his net was baptized and came up. Out of the stream whose fish Simon took, the Fisher of men came up and took him. With the cross, which catches all robbers, he caught up that robber to life! By his death the Living One emptied hell; he loosed it and let whole multitudes fly away from it! The tax collectors and prostitutes, those unclean snares, the snares of the deceitful fowler, the Holy One seized! The sinful woman, who had been a snare for men, he made a mirror for repentant women! The fig tree that cast its fruit, that refused fruit, offered Zacchaeus as its fruit; it did not give the fruit of its own nature, but it yielded one fruit endowed with reason! The Lord spread his thirst over the well, and caught the thirsty woman with the water he asked of her. He caught one soul at the well, and with her he caught the whole city. The Holy One caught twelve fishermen, and with them he caught the whole world. As for Iscariot, who escaped from his nets, the strangling noose fell on his neck! His net, which gives life to all, catches the living, and whoever escapes from it escapes from the living.

And who can recount to me, Lord, the many kinds of help that are hidden in you? How can the parched mouth drink from the fountain of the Godhead? Answer the voice of our petition today; let our prayer, which is in words, take effect in deeds. Heal us, O my Master; every time we see your feast, may it make the rumors we have heard pass away. Our mind wanders among these voices. O Voice of the Father, silence the other voices! The world is noisy; let it find quiet in you, for by you the sea was stilled from its storms. The demons rejoiced when they heard the voice of blasphemy; let the Watchers rejoice in us, as they are accustomed to. From within your fold comes a voice of sorrow; O you who make all rejoice, let your flock rejoice! As for our murmuring, O my Master, do not reject us for it; our mouth murmurs because it is sinful. Let your day, O Lord, give us every kind of joy; with the flowers of peace let us keep your Passover. On the day of your Ascension we are lifted up; its memorial will be kept with the new Bread. O Lord, increase our peace, so that we may keep three feasts of the Godhead. [k]

Great is your day, Lord; let us not be despised. All people honor the day of your birth. O righteous One, guard the glory of your birth, for even Herod honored the day of his birth! The dances of the impure one pleased the tyrant; to you, Lord, let the voice of chaste women be sweet! Let the voice of chaste women please you, Lord, whose bodies you guard in holiness. The day of Herod was like him; your day too is like you! The day of the troubled one was troubled with sin, and your fair day is fair as you are! The tyrant’s feast killed the preacher; at your feast everyone preaches glory. On the murderer’s day the Voice was silenced, but on your day are the voices of the feast. The foul one at his feast put out the Light, so that darkness might cover the adulterers. The season of the Holy One trims lamps, so that darkness may flee with all its hidden things. The day of that fox stank like himself, but holy is the feast of the True Lamb. The day of the transgressor passed away like himself; your day, like you, lasts forever. The day of the tyrant raged like himself, because with his chain it silenced the righteous Voice. The feast of the Meek One is tranquil like himself, because his sun shines on his persecutors. The tyrant knew that he was not a king, and so he gave way to the King of kings.

The whole day, Lord, is not enough for me to weigh your praise against his blame. May your gracious day make my sin pass away, since it is against the day of the impure one that I have weighed your day! For your day is great beyond comparison; it cannot be compared with our days. The day of man is the day of one who is earthly; the day of God is the day of God! Your day, Lord, is greater than those of the prophets, and I have taken it and set it beside the murderer’s! You know, O Lord, since you know all things, how to hear the comparison my tongue has made. Let your day grant our requests for life, since his day granted the request for death. The needy king swore at his feast that half his kingdom would be the reward of the dance! Then let your feast, O you who make all rich, shed down in mercy a crumb of fine wheat flour!

From the dry land the Fountain gushed out, enough to quench the thirst of the Gentiles! From the Virgin’s womb, as from a strong rock, the seed sprang up, and much fruit came from it! Joseph filled barns without number, and they were emptied and ran out in the years of famine. One true Sheaf gave bread, the bread of heaven, of which there is no shortage. The bread that the Firstborn broke in the wilderness ran out and passed away, though it was very good. He came back again and broke the New Bread, which ages and generations will not wear away! The seven loaves he broke also ran out, and the five loaves he multiplied were used up as well; but the Bread he broke went beyond the world’s needs, for the more it was divided, the more abundantly it multiplied. He also filled the water jars with much wine; they drew it out, and though it was plentiful, it ran out. But the Cup he gave, though the draught was small, was very great in strength, so that there is no shortage of it. He is a Cup that holds all strong wines, and also a Mystery in the midst of which he himself is! The one Bread he broke has no bound, and the one Cup he mixed has no shortage! The Wheat that was sown came up on the third day and filled the Barn of Life.

The spiritual Bread, like its Giver, gives life spiritually to the spiritual; whoever receives it carnally receives it rashly and to no profit. Let the spirit receive this Bread of grace with discernment, as the medicine of life. If dead sacrifices offered in the name of demons, and eaten too, were not without a mystery, how much more ought we to administer this mystery with care at the holy offering! Whoever eats of a sacrifice offered in the name of demons becomes demonic, beyond all contradiction. Whoever eats the heavenly Bread becomes heavenly, without doubt! Wine teaches us, for it makes the one who is familiar with it like itself: it greatly hates the one who is fond of it, and it is intoxicating and maddening, and a mocker to him! Light teaches us, for it makes the eye, the daughter of the sun, like itself: the eye saw the nakedness by the light, and ran and chastely covered the chaste man. As for that nakedness, it was wine that caused it, which does not know how to show mercy even to the chaste!

The Firstborn clothed himself with the weapon of the deceiver, so that with the weapon that had killed he might bring back to life! With the tree by which the deceiver slew us, he rescued us. With the wine that maddened us, we were made chaste! With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out Adam’s heart. From the Rib there rose a hidden power, which cut Satan off as Dagon was cut off; for in that Ark a book was hidden that cried out and proclaimed the Conqueror! A mystery was revealed then, when Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge! The fulfillment came after the type, when the wicked one was brought low in the place in which he trusted! Blessed is he who came, and in whom the mysteries of the left hand and the right hand were fulfilled. Fulfilled was the mystery that was in the Lamb, and fulfilled was the type that was in Dagon. Blessed is he who redeemed us by the True Lamb, and destroyed our destroyer as he did Dagon! [y]

In December, when the nights are long, the Day rose for us, the Day that has no bound! In winter, when all the world is gloomy, the Fair One came out and cheered everything in the world! In winter, which makes the earth barren, virginity learned to give birth. In December, which brings the labors of the earth to an end, came the labor of virginity. No one ever used to see the early lamb before the shepherds did; and as for the true Lamb, at the season of his birth the news of him too hurried to the shepherds. That old wolf saw the suckling Lamb, and he trembled before him, though the Lamb had hidden himself. For because the wolf had put on sheep’s clothing, the Shepherd of all became a Lamb among the flocks, so that when the greedy one had made bold against the Meek One, the Mighty One might tear that Eater apart. The Holy One dwelt bodily in the womb, and he dwelt spiritually in the mind. Mary, who conceived him, abhorred the marriage bed; let no soul in which he dwells commit fornication. Because Mary perceived him, she left her betrothed; he dwells in chaste virgins, if they perceive him.

The deaf do not perceive the mighty thunder, nor does the headstrong man perceive the sound of the commandment. For the deaf man is bewildered when the thunder claps, and the headstrong man is bewildered too at the voice of instruction. If fearful thunder terrifies the deaf, then fearful wrath would stir the unclean! That the deaf man does not hear is no blame to him; but whoever tramples on the commandments, that is headstrong willfulness. Thunder comes from time to time, but the voice of the law thunders every day. Let us not close our ears, since their openings accuse us, made as they are to be open and not closed against it; and the door of hearing is open by nature, so that it may reproach us for our willfulness, against our will. The door of the voice and the door of the mouth our will can open or close. Let us see what the Good One has given us; let us hear the mighty Voice, and not let the doors of our ears be closed.

Glory to that Voice which became body, and to the Word of the High One which became flesh! Hear him, O ears; see him, O eyes; touch him, O hands; eat him, O mouth! You limbs and senses, give praise to him who came and gave life to the whole body! Mary carried the silent Babe, while all tongues were hidden in him! Joseph carried him, and hidden in him was a nature more ancient than anything old! The High One became like a little child, and hidden in him was a treasure of wisdom enough for all! Though Most High, he sucked Mary’s milk, and all creatures suck from his goodness! He is the Breast of Life and the Breath of Life; the dead suck from his life and revive. Without the breath of the air no one lives; without the might of the Son no one subsists. On his living breath, which gives life to all, depend the spirits that are above and those that are below. When he sucked Mary’s milk, he was nursing all with life. While he lay on his mother’s bosom, all creatures lay in his bosom. He was silent as a Babe, and yet he was making his creatures carry out all his commands. For without the Firstborn no one can approach the Essence, to which he is equal. [ad]

For thirty years he was on the earth, while he was ordering all creatures and receiving all the offerings of praise from those above and those below. He was wholly in the depths and wholly in the heights! He was wholly with all things and wholly with each. While his body was being formed within the womb, his power was fashioning all limbs! While the Son, once conceived, was being fashioned in the womb, he himself was fashioning babies in the womb. Yet his power was not weak in the womb as his body was weak in the womb! So too, his might was not feeble on the cross as his body was feeble on the cross. For when on the cross he gave life to the dead, his body gave them life, or rather his will did; just as, when he was dwelling wholly in the womb, his hidden will was visiting all! For see how, when he was hanging wholly on the cross, his power was still making all creatures move! For he darkened the sun and made the earth quake; he split open the graves and brought out the dead! See how, when he was wholly on the cross, he was again wholly everywhere! In the same way he was entirely in the womb, while he was again wholly in everything! As on the cross he gave life to the dead, so as a Babe he was fashioning babies. While he was being slain, he opened the graves; while he was in the womb, he opened wombs.

Come, listen, my brothers and sisters, about the Son of the Secret One, who was revealed in his body while his power was hidden! For the power of the Son is a free power; the womb did not bind it up as it did the body! For while his power was dwelling in the womb, he was fashioning infants in the womb! His power encompassed her who encompassed him. For if he drew in his power, all things would fall. His power upholds all things; while he was within the womb, he did not let go his hold on all. In his own person he shaped an image in the womb, and in all wombs he was shaping every face. While he was growing in stature among the poor, he was feeding all from an abundant treasury! While the woman who anointed him was anointing him, he was anointing all with his dew and his rain! The Magi brought myrrh and gold, while a treasure of riches was hidden in him. The myrrh and spices that he had prepared and created, the Magi brought him from what was his own.

It was by power from him that Mary was able to carry in her bosom the one who carries all things! It was from the great storehouse of all creatures that Mary gave him all that she did give him! She gave him milk from him who prepared it; she gave him food from him who made it! He gave milk to Mary as God; then he sucked it from her as the Son of Man. Her hands carried him, because he had emptied out his strength, and her arm embraced him, because he had made himself small. Who has measured the measure of his majesty? He made his measures shrink to fit a garment. She wove for him and clothed him, because he had put off his glory. She measured him and wove for him, since he had made himself little.

The sea, when it carried him, was stilled and calm; how did Joseph’s lap come to carry him? The womb of hell conceived him and was burst open; how did Mary’s womb contain him? He broke open by his might the stone that lay over the grave; how could Mary’s arm contain him? You came down to a low estate so that you might raise all to life! Glory to you from all who are given life by you! Who can speak of the Son of the Hidden One, who came down and clothed himself with a body in the womb? He came out and sucked milk as a child, and among little children the Son of the Lord of all crawled about. They saw him as a little child in the street, while the Love of all was dwelling in him. Visibly, children surrounded him in the street; secretly, angels surrounded him in fear. He was cheerful with the little ones, as a child; he was awesome to the angels, as a commander. He was awesome to John when it came to untying the strap of his sandal; he was gentle to the sinners who kissed his feet! [ag]

The angels saw him as angels do; each person saw him according to the measure of his own knowledge. According to the measure of each one’s discernment, so he perceived him who is greater than all. Only the Father and he himself have the full measure of knowledge, to know him as he is! For every creature, whether above or below, receives its own measure of knowledge; he, the Lord of all, gives everything to us. He who makes all rich requires interest from all. He gives to all things as one who lacks nothing, and yet he requires interest from all as if he were needy. As Creator he gave us herds and flocks, and yet he asked for sacrifices as though he were in need. As Maker he turned the water into wine, and yet he drank of it like a poor man. From his own he mixed the wine at the wedding feast; he mixed his own wine and gave it to drink when he was a guest.

In his love he lengthened the days of the aged Simeon, so that he, a mortal, might present the one who gives life to all. By power from him Simeon carried him; the one who presented him was presented to God by him. He gave the laying on of hands to Moses on the mountain, and he received it from John in the middle of the river. By the power of his gifts John, though earthly, was able to baptize the heavenly One. By power from him the earth held him up; it was close to dissolving, and his might made it strong. Martha gave him food to eat: she set before him food that he himself had created. From what was his own, all who give have paid their vows; they placed on his table what came from his own treasures.