Patriarch Daniel on Christmas Eve: God becomes man and finds us

Today, a wondrous and glorious mystery is taking place - nature is renewed and God becomes man. The invisible God assumes human form, the infinite is swaddled in swaddling clothes. He whose throne is in heaven is laid in a manger.

The sinless one puts on human nature, corrupted by sin, in order to sanctify it and restore it to its paradisiacal purity, said the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniel in his sermon, after he served the festive evening service - vigil, for Christmas Eve, in the patriarchal cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky". 

God came and found us - us, who have lost ourselves in the abyss of disbelief and vanity, in despair, weakness, enmity, and destruction. God became man and healed man, he showed us who we are - Christ's people, God's children, heavenly humans. He also showed us the path that alone leads to him, so that we may be his children. The path of humble, sincere, and self-sacrificing love, said Patriarch Daniel.

Christ is the essential need for man. Christ is the meaning of our life. Christ is the criterion of all criteria. Christ is the hope of the hopeless, the guide for the lost, light in the darkness, comfort for the inconsolable, justice for the wronged, unity for the divided and the only saving future of humanity, said the Bulgarian Patriarch in his sermon. 

Asked by journalists what his message to the faithful was, Patriarch Daniel first sent a greeting for the Nativity of Christ and said that we marvel at the great mercy of God - God becomes man. He found us, and we often get lost in the abyss of our disbelief, in ignorance, weakness, and enmity. But he found us and showed us who we are. And we have no other future - what is the future of man without God, therefore Christ is our future. He showed us how we can be with him in eternity, said Patriarch Daniel and added that we are called to participate in this great mystery - Christ to live in our hearts. 

In the church, the Patriarch also read the Gospel reading about the birth of the Savior.

The festive liturgy was in co-celebration with bishops, deacons, archimandrites, and clergymen from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate (BPC-BP).

In the center of the church was placed the festive icon, decorated with flowers, on which are depicted the Holy Virgin Mary, the righteous Joseph and the infant Jesus Christ. 

Upon entering the cathedral, Patriarch Daniel blessed the faithful and bowed before the festive icon.

On this day, Christians prepare spiritually: through fasting, confession and prayer to receive Holy Communion and thus worthily celebrate the Nativity of Christ. From an Orthodox church point of view, it does not matter or any other requirement, except that the dishes on the table should be fasting, as it is the last day of the Christmas fast.

Traditionally on Christmas Eve dinner a prayer is said and the house is censed with incense, recall from the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

Christmas Eve is one of the brightest Christian holidays, which is celebrated by all Christians. The family gathers in anticipation of the birth of the Son of God - Jesus Christ. The feast of Christmas Eve is dedicated to the home, the hearth, but also to the deceased ancestors - relatives, who are also considered part of the family.

According to the narratives of the evangelists Matthew and Luke, Christ was born at night - let us remember the star that led the wise men from the east, and the shepherds who kept night watch over their flock when the angels announced to them the birth of the Savior: "Today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord".

As BTA wrote earlier today, the Bulgarian Patriarchate published the Christmas message from the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniel, and from the metropolitans of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate (BPC-BP).

Patriarch Daniel sent greetings for the Nativity of Christ in a television address as well.