NOTES for Mat 2:1-12
Today, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, at Matins we read the evangelist Matthew’s account of the Savior’s birth, and at the Liturgy—his account of the adoration of the Magi. Concerning these Gospel passages, we shall cite thoughts spoken aloud at the beginning of the eighth century by the authors of the service for the Nativity of Christ, St. John of Damascus and St. Cosmas of Maiuma. This is what they say about the Nativity and the adoration of the Magi in the ikos and hypakoe (translated from the Greek):
“Bethlehem has opened Eden—come, let us see; we have found hidden delight—come, let us receive Paradise within the cave. There the unwatered Root has appeared, from which forgiveness has blossomed; there the unhewn Well has been found, from which David longed to drink. There the Virgin, giving birth to the Child, quenched the thirst of both Adam and David. Therefore let us hasten there, where the little Child—the pre-eternal God—was born.”
“To You, the Child lying in a manger, heaven offered the first fruits of the nations, leading the Magi by a star; they marveled not at scepters and thrones, but at utter poverty. For what is more wretched than a cave? What is more humble than swaddling clothes, in which the riches of Your divinity shone forth? O Lord, glory to You.”