At the seventh hour of the day [i.e. 1 o’clock in the afternoon], all the bells are solemnly tolled; and, having gathered in church, we begin Vespers as usual.
Glory…, Now & ever…: the kontakion of the feast, in Tone III—
On any other day the kathisma is omitted, and after the litany we proceed immediately to chant: Lord, I have cried…, in Tone II.
Deacon: Bless, master!
The priest performeth proskomedia, and the deacon censeth the church as usual, while the choirs chant the 8 stichera idiomela of the feast, in Tone II—
And the following readings, in order, with their troparia and verses.
And after Amen, the superior saith: O heavenly King… Trisagion through Our Father… Lord, have mercy! Thrice Glory…, Now & ever… O come, let us worship… Thrice And he readeth Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul…
When the chanting of the kontakion is concluded, the Many Years is intoned for the civil, ecclesiastical and monastic authorities. The faithful then repair to eat a meal of food cooked with oil. Fish is not eaten, but we drink wine, giving thanks to God.
Then, the Little Litany; and after the exclamation, the Trisagion.
Priest: Blessed is the kingdom…
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, telling of this present mystery: The middle wall of partition hath been demolished, the fiery sword is removed, the cherub withdraweth from the gate of life, and I partake of the food of paradise, from whence I was driven away because of disobedience; for the immutable Image of the Father, the Image of His eternity, doth assume the guise of a servant, issuing forth from the Mother who knew not wedlock, without undergoing change, yet He hath remained what He was before, our true God; and He hath received what He was not, becoming man in His love for mankind. To Him let us cry aloud: O God Who wast born of the Virgin, have mercy on us! Twice
In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. And God said: “Let there be light!”, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night; and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And 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. And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. And God called the firmament heaven; and God saw that it was good: and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And 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. And God called the dry land earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called seas; and God saw that it was good. And 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-trees bearing fruit, whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth!”; and it was so. And 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
Then the deacon intoneth the Great Litany.
The composition of Anatolius— When the Lord Jesus was born of the holy Virgin, all things were enlightened; for when the shepherds piped, the magi offered homage and the angels sang; and Herod was troubled, for God appeared in the flesh, the Savior of our souls. Twice
The Spirit of God came upon Balaam, and he took up his parable, and said: “Balaam, the son of Beor saith: How goodly are thy habitations, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel! They are as shady groves, and as gardens by a river, and as tents which God hath pitched, and as cedars by the waters. There shall come a Man out of his seed, and He shall rule over many nations; and His kingdom shall be increased. God led Him out of Egypt; He hath as it were the glory of a unicorn: He shall consume the nations of his enemies, and He shall claim their marrow, and with His darts He shall shoot through the enemy. He lay down, and He rested as a lion, yea, even as a young lion. Who shall stir Him up? Blessed are they that bless Thee, and accursed are they that curse Thee! A Star shall rise out of Jacob; a Man shall spring forth from Israel, and shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall despoil the sons of Seth. And Edom shall be an inheritance, and Esau, His enemy, shall be an inheritance for Israel, and Israel wrought valiantly.”
If it be Saturday, we chant: Blessed is the man…, the entire kathisma; but if it be Sunday, we chant only the first antiphon.
Thy kingdom, O Christ God, is a kingdom of all the ages, and thy dominion is for all generations. O Christ God Who wast incarnate by the Holy Spirit and becamest man through the Ever-virgin Mary, Thou hast shone forth Thine advent upon us as light. O Light from Light, Effulgence of the Father, Thou hast illumined all creation. Every creature that hath breath praiseth Thee, the Image of the glory of the Father. O Thou Who art and ever shall be, O God Who hast shone forth from the Virgin: Have mercy upon us! Twice
In those days, the Lord said: “I will gather her that is bruised, and will receive her that is cast out and those whom I rejected. And 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 forever. And thou, O Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Judah; yet out of thee shall One come forth to Me, to be a ruler of Israel; and His goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity.” Wherefore, He shall appoint them to wait till the time of her that travaileth: she shall bring forth, and then the remnant of their brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And 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.
A Reading from Genesis
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, in that Thou hast appeared on earth as a man for our sake? For every creature fashioned by Thee offereth Thee thanksgiving: the angels, hymnody; the heavens, a star; the magi, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, a cave; the wilderness, a manger; and we, the Virgin Mother. O God Who hast existed from before time, have mercy upon us! Twice
Then, when we have stood on our feet, the reader lifteth up his voice, and chanteth this troparion, in Tone VI—
A Reading from Numbers
Glory…, Now & ever…, the composition of Cassia the Nun, in the same tone—
Thou wast born secretly in the cave, but heaven proclaimed Thee to all, O Savior, using the star as its mouth, and led to Thee the magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy upon them and upon us!
A Reading from the Prophecy of Micah
When Augustus reigned alone upon the earth, the rule of many men came to an end; and when Thou becamest man through the pure one, the polytheism of idolatry was abolished. All cities came under a single universal empire, and the nations came to believe in a single dominion of the Godhead. The people were registered according to the edict of Cæsar, and we, the faithful, have enrolled ourselves under the name of the divinity of Thee our God, Who hast become man. Great is Thy mercy! O Lord, glory be to Thee!
Stichos: His foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. I will make mention of Raab and Babylon to those who know me.
And we resume the readings:
Entrance with the Gospel. O joyous light… Prokimenon of the day.
Heaven led to Thee the magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy upon them and upon us!
A Reading from the Prophecy of Isaiah
But if the Eve of the Nativity of Christ fall on a Friday, we replace the prokimenon of the day with the Great Prokimenon, in Tone VII—
Stichos: And lo, the foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians, these were born there. A man will say: Mother Sion; and: That man was born in her; and: The Most High Himself hath founded her.
A Reading from the Prophecy of Baruch
What God is as great as our God? Thou art God Who worketh wonders.
Heaven led to Thee the magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy upon them and upon us!
A Reading from the Prophecy of Daniel
Stichos 1: Thou hast made Thy power known among the peoples; with Thine arm hast Thou redeemed Thy people.
Stichos: The Lord shall tell it in the writ of the peoples and the princes, even these that were born in her. How joyous are all they that have their habitation in Thee.
Then the reader chanteth this troparion, in Tone VI—
Stichos 2: And I said: Now have I made a beginning; this change hath been wrought by the right hand of the Most High.
Heaven led to Thee the magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy upon them and upon us!
A Reading from the Prophecy of Isaiah
Stichos 3: I remembered the works of the Lord; for I will remember Thy wonders from the beginning.
Then, Glory…, and the first choir chanteth the concluding phrase of the troparion; and Now & ever…, and the second choir also chanteth the same concluding phrase. Then the reader chanteth the troparion in its entirety—
A Reading from the Prophecy of Isaiah
Thou wast born secretly in the cave, but heaven proclaimed Thee to all, O Savior, using the star as its mouth, and led to Thee the magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy upon them and upon us!
Thus saith the Lord: There shall come forth a Rod out of the root of Jesse, and a Blossom shall come up from his root: and 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, the Spirit of the fear of God. He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report: but He shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the word of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He destroy the ungodly one. And He shall have His loins girt with righteousness, and His sides clothed with truth. And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the young calf and bull and the lion shall feed together; and a little Child shall lead them. And the ox and the bear shall feed together; and their young shall be together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And an Infant shall put His hand on the holes of asps, and on the nest of young asps. And 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 covereth the seas. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall arise to rule over the nations; in Him shall the nations trust; and His rest shall be glorious.
This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison with Him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved. Afterward did He show Himself upon earth, and dwelt with men. This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth forever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illumined. Give not thine honor to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation. O Israel, blessed are we: for things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us.
Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: Thou, O king, hast seen. Behold, an image: and that image was great, and the appearance of it excellent, standing before thy face; and the form of it was awesome. It was an image, the head of which was of fine gold, and its hands and breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet, part of iron and part of earthenware. And thou didst see when a Stone was cut out of a mountain without the aid of men’s hands, and It smote the image upon its feet of iron and earthenware, and utterly reduced them to powder. Then 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 smitten the image became a great Mountain, and filled all the earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 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 forever. Whereas thou sawest that a Stone was cut out of a mountain without the aid of men’s hands, and It beat to pieces the earthenware, the iron, the brass, the silver, the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what must happen hereafter: and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Thou hast shone forth from the Virgin, O Christ, Thou noetic Sun of righteousness, and the star showed Thee, the Uncontainable One, contained within the cave. Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
Stichos: The Lord is King, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength and He hath girt Himself. For He established the world which shall not be shaken. Thy throne is prepared of old; Thou art from everlasting.
Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
Stichos: The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voices. The rivers will lift up their waves, at the voices of many waters.
Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
Stichos: Wonderful are the surgings of the sea, wonderful on high is the Lord. Thy testimonies are made very sure. Holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.
Glory…: Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
Now & ever…: Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
And the reader chanteth the troparion again, in its entirety—
Thou hast shone forth from the Virgin, O Christ, Thou noetic Sun of righteousness, and the star showed Thee, the Uncontainable One, contained within the cave. Thou didst lead the magi to worship Thee. And with them we magnify Thee: O Bestower of life, glory be to Thee!
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 Angel of great Counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to Him. His 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 zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
The Lord again spake to Ahaz, saying: “Ask for thyself a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height.” And Ahaz said: “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” And Isaiah said: “Hear now, O house of David: Is it a little thing for you to contend with men? And how do ye contend against the Lord? Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat, before He knoweth either to prefer evil, or choose the good. For before the Child shall know good or evil, He refuseth evil, to choose the good. And the Lord said to me: ‘Take to thyself a volume of a great new scroll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning the making of a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand. And make Me witnesses of faithful men: Uriah the priest and Zachariah the son of Barachiah.’ And 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. For 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.’ God is with us! Know, ye nations, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: He conquered, after ye have strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered. And whatsoever counsel ye take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us!”
Prokimenon, in Tone I—
The Lord said unto Me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.
Stichos: Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.
Epistle to the Hebrews, § 303 [Heb. 1: 1-12]
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son? And again, when He bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.
Alleluia, in Tone V—
Stichos: The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet.
Stichos: A scepter of power shall the Lord send unto Thee out of Sion.
Stichos: From the womb before the morning-star have I begotten Thee.
Gospel according to Luke, § 5 [Lk. 2: 1-20]
In those days, there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:), To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Then, the rest of the Liturgy of Saint Basil. Instead of “It is truly meet…”, we chant “In thee doth all creation rejoice…”
Communion Verse—
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest.
After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the paraecclesiarch lighteth a candle and setteth it in the middle of the church. And the members of both choirs, standing together, chant aloud the troparion of the feast, in Tone IV—
Thy nativity, O Christ our God, hath shone forth the light of reason upon the world; for therein those who worship the stars have been taught by a star to worship Thee, the Son of righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee!
Today the Virgin giveth birth unto the Transcendent One, and the earth doth offer a cave to Him Who is unapproachable. Angels and shepherds give glory, and the magi journey with the star. For unto us a Child is born, the preëternal God!
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.