I wish you all a happy Nativity feast, which is celebrated by the Christians of the East, the Armenian Church, the Russian Church, and the Coptic Orthodox Church on the twenty-ninth of Kiahk according to the Coptic calendar (the seventh of January according to the Gregorian calendar). We pray to God in these blessed daysto bestow His peace upon Egypt, and protect the world from the pandemic and pain.
Undoubtedly, the day of Nativity is a great distinguishing incident in the history of humanity, to the extent that the history of events has become referred to as belonging to it: BC and AD.
When contemplating the state of humankind before the Nativity, it turns out to be engulfed in darkness, evil, and sin. The ancient world had beenclassified into nations who made their own gods out of nature, animals or idols; this has drifted mankind away from God – the true God; then they indulged in the evils of pleasures and lusts, justice vanished, and love was completely lost.
The other part was the Jewish people, to whom God declared Himself through Abraham, the Father of the Prophets, in order to make them God’s people and declare the true God to the nations; however, they have gone astray, corrupted, insulted and killed the prophets, refusing to follow the commandments of God; so, the prophecy ceased, and the people lived in spiritual darkness. However, that period was not void of the light of sincere souls who kept their faithful relationship with God: on top of them is Saint Virgin Mary, that simple and humble girl who deserved to become the mother of the Lord Christ, then follow Priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, who were righteous before God and deserved to be blessed with John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared the way before Christ, and Joseph the Carpenter,who is known as the righteous man entrusted by God to take care of the Holy Family, in addition to Simon the Elder, Anna the Prophetess, the shepherds who were watching over their sheep, and others. As for the world, there were those who were still searching for the true revelations of God regarding Himself and the newborn king, including: the Magi of the East, those souls who lived waiting for God’s mercies and sympathies for the sinful humanity.
Thus, Nativity came as a message of love from God to all mankind, wishing – blessed be His name – to announce to them His love and mercies, that it was said: “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Heaven announced the birth of Lord Christ to everyone, each according to his nature: The angel annunciated the super miraculous birth to Saint Virgin Mary. Simon the Elder was informed that he would not die until the fulfillment of the birth prophecies, the angels announced the good news to the shepherds, while the birth was announced to the Magi through the wondrous star which led them to the baby born in the manger. Out of God’s amazing love for all, He announced the birth even to the wicked who refuse to accept Him, like King Herodwho desired to know the place where the boy king was born in order to get rid of Him and killed all the baby boys of Bethlehem; the Nativity was announced to the scribes and the Pharisees and all Jerusalem, as it was said that the city was disturbed by the coming of the Magi to the baby born in the manger. Although the city of Jerusalem shook, the hearts of the scribes, Pharisees and chiefs of the Jews did not! Thus, Nativity came as a message of divine love to all men: the poor, the rejected, the faithful, the kings, the clergy; it is no wonder then that the Nativity wreath used in its decoration is a circle, symbolizing God’s endless love.
On the night of Nativity, the One who got us acquainted with God was born, He who was described in a report submitted by the Roman governor Peleus Linthius to Emperor Tiberius Caesar, saying: “There, O Caesar, in our time, is a man named Jesus, walking according to the greatest virtue… And in fact, my Lord, we hear strange things about this Jesus, as He raises the dead and heals the sick with one word! He is of straight stature, of beautiful countenance,of perfectlyglorious reverence, so that whoever looks at Him loves and fears Him… His eyes are shining like the sun; no one can stare at them. When He rebukes, He terrifies! When He preaches, He makes others weep! He seems rejoicing, though they say that they have never seen Him laughing! In fact, people have never heard before as what they have heard from “Jesus”… While I hear that He has never offended anyone, on the contrary, those who have known and dealt withHim say that they have obtained from Him great grace and perfect health….”
In His teachings,Lord Christpresented God’s love for us, and made it clear that the greatest and most perfect commandment is to love God with all heart, all mind, and all power, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself; “Love never fails.” In conclusion, I recall the words of the contemporary philosopher historian William Durant, the author of “The Philosophy of Civilization and the History of Civilization Series,” when he was asked: “What was the pinnacle of history?” He replied,“The three years in which Jesus of Nazareth walked on the earth.”
Happy Nativity to all of us. And… stories in beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
