Hebrews 11.9-10, 17-23, 32-40 (Epistle, Sunday before Nativity)

9By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

17By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his only born son, 18to whom it was said, “Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,” 19concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.

20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

32What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets— 33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. 35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. 37They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated— 38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

39These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise, 40God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Matthew 1.1-25 (Gospel, Sunday before Nativity)

1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers. 3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram. 4Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon. 5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse. 6Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife. 7Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa. 8Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor. 14Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud. 15Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob. 16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

Genesis 1.1-13 (Vespers)

1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. 2But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. 3And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so. 7And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. 8And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared. 10And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Numbers 24.2-3, 5-9, 17-18 (Vespers)

2And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and sees Israel encamped by their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3And he took up his parable and said, Balaam son of Beor says, the man who sees truly says, 5How goodly are your habitations, Jacob, and your tents, Israel! 6as shady groves, and as gardens by a river, and as tents which God pitched, and as cedars by the waters. 7There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased. 8God led him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn: he shall consume the nations of his enemies, and he shall drain their marrow, and with his darts he shall shoot through the enemy. 9He lay down, he rested as a lion, and as a young lion; who shall stir him up? they that bless you are blessed, and they that curse you are cursed. 17I will point to him, but not now; I bless him, but he draws not near: a star shall rise out of Jacob, a man shall spring out of Israel; and shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall spoil all the sons of Seth. 18And Edom shall be an inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an inheritance of Israel, and Israel wrought valiantly.

Micah 4.6-7; 5.2-4 (Vespers)

6In that day, says the Lord, I will gather her that is bruised, and will receive her that is cast out, and those whom I rejected. 7And I will make her that was bruised a remnant, and her that was rejected a mighty nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Sion from henceforth, even for ever. 2And you, Bethleem, house of Ephratha, are few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Juda; yet out of you shall one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel; and his goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity. 3Therefore shall he appoint them to wait till the time of her that travails: she shall bring forth, and then the remnant of their brethren shall return to the children of Israel. 4And the Lord shall stand, and see, and feed his flock with power, and they shall dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God: for now shall they be magnified to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 11.1-10 (Vespers)

1And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root: 2and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness shall fill him; 3the spirit of the fear of God. He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report: 4but he shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one. 5And he shall have his loins girded with righteousness, and his sides clothed with truth. 6And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the young calf and bull and lion shall feed together; and a little child shall lead them. 7And the ox and bear shall feed together; and their young shall be together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8And an infant shall put his hand on the holes of asps, and on the nest of young asps. 9And they shall not hurt, nor shall they at all be able to destroy any one on my holy mountain: for the whole world is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas. 10And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to rule over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust, and his rest shall be glorious.

Jeremiah (Baruch 3.35-4.4) (Vespers)

35This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him 36He has found out all the way of knowledge, and has given it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. 37Afterward did he show himself upon earth, and conversed with men.

1This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endures for ever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. 2Turn you, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that you may be illuminated. 3Give not your honor to another, nor the things that are profitable to you to a strange nation. 4O Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to God are made known to us.

Daniel 2.31-36, 44-45 (Vespers)

31You, O king, saw, and behold an image: that image was great, and the appearance of it excellent, standing before your face; and the form of it was terrible. 32It was an image, the head of which was of fine gold, its hands and breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, 33its legs of iron, its feet, part of iron and part of earthenware. 34You saw until a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it struck the image upon its feet of iron and earthenware, and utterly reduced them to powder. 35Then once for all the earthenware, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold, were ground to powder, and became as chaff from the summer threshing floor; and the violence of the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them: and the stone which had struck the image became a great mountain, and filled all the earth. 36This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 44And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and his kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall beat to pieces and grind to powder all other kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45Whereas you saw that a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it beat to pieces the earthenware, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold; the great God has made known to the king what must happen hereafter: and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Isaiah 9.6-7 (Vespers)

6For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him. 7His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end: it shall be upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth and forever. The seal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

Isaiah 7.10-16; 8.1-4, 9-10 (Vespers)

10And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying, 11Ask for yourself a sign of the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. 12And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13And he said, Hear you⌃ now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do you⌃ contend against the Lord? 14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel. 15Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil or choose the good. 16For before the child shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which you are afraid of because of the two kings.

1And the Lord said to me, Take to yourself a volume of a great new book, and write in it with a man's pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand. 2And make me witnesses of faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of Barachias. 3And I went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily. 4For before the child shall know how to call his father or his mother, one shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. 9Know, you⌃ Gentiles, and be conquered; listen you⌃, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after you⌃ strengthened yourselves; for even if you⌃ should again strengthen yourselves, you⌃ shall again be conquered. 10And whatever counsel you⌃ shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nothing; and whatever word you⌃ shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us.

John 20.11-18 (8th Matins Gospel)

11But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, 12and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

17Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

Galatians 3.15-22 (Epistle, at Vespers)

15Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ. 17Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.

19Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.

21Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Luke 2.1-20 (Gospel, at Vespers)

1Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. 4Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

6While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. 7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” 13Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

15When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16They came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough. 17When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. 18All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. 19But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

Eve of the Nativity of Christ

A strict fast is kept today.

Holy Virgin and Martyr Eugenia and her companions (ca. 190)

“This Martyr was the daughter of most distinguished and noble parents named Philip and Claudia. Philip, a Prefect of Rome, moved to Alexandria with his family. In Alexandria, Eugenia had the occasion to learn the Christian Faith, in particular when she encountered the Epistles of Saint Paul, the reading of which filled her with compunction and showed her clearly the vanity of the world. Secretly taking two of her servants, Protas and Hyacinth, she departed from Alexandria by night. Disguised as a man, she called herself Eugene [Eugenios -ed.] while pretending to be a eunuch, and departed with her servants and took up the monastic life in a monastery of men. Her parents mourned for her, but could not find her. After Saint Eugenia had laboured for some time in the monastic life, a certain woman named Melanthia, thinking Eugene to be a monk, conceived lust and constrained Eugenia to comply with her desire; when Eugenia refused, Melanthia slandered Eugenia to the Prefect as having done insult to her honour. Eugenia was brought before the Prefect, her own father Philip, and revealed to him both that she was innocent of the accusations, and that she was his own daughter. Through this, Philip became a Christian; he was afterwards beheaded at Alexandria. Eugenia was taken back to Rome with Protas and Hyacinth. All three of them ended their life in martyrdom in the years of Commodus, who reigned from 180 to 192.” (Great Horologion)