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| Hand-painted Nativity on Delabole slate |
The radiance of the Father’s splendor, the Father’s visible image, Jesus Christ our God, peerless among counselors, Prince of Peace, Father of the world to come, the model after which Adam was formed, for our sakes became like a slave: in the womb of Mary the virgin, without assistance from any man, He took flesh.…
Enable us, Lord, to reach the end of this luminous feast in peace, forsaking all idle words, acting virtuously, shunning our passions, and raising ourselves above the things of this world.
Bless Your church, which You brought into being long
ago and attached to Yourself through Your own life-giving blood. Help all
orthodox pastors, heads of churches, and doctors [theologians].
Bless Your servants, whose trust is all in You;
bless all Christian souls, the sick, those tormented by evil spirits, and those
who have asked us to pray for them.
Show Yourself as merciful as You are rich in grace;
save and preserve us; enable us to obtain those good things to come which will
never know an end.
May we celebrate Your glorious birth, and the Father who sent You to
redeem us, and Your Spirit, the Giver of life, now and forever, age after age.
Amen.
—A Syriac Christmas liturgy (Late third or early fourth century)
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