From antiochan.org, rongolini.com, biblegateway.com and dynamispublications.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
Scriptural Readings:
Genesis 1:1-13 (12/24-1/6) First Vesperal Reading: Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
Our Creator: Genesis 1:1-13, especially vss. 1-3: “In the beginning God made heaven and earth. The earth was invisible and unfinished; and darkness was over the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of water. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” Joy to you! The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is come! As we celebrate His birth in the Divine Liturgy, we will affirm our belief in “...the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-giving, and Undivided Trinity.” As we join with the Church and take our part in the prayers and hymns and actions of the Liturgy, you and I may once again offer our lives to God in return for His great gift of Himself to us. Tell your “Father Almighty, Maker...of all things visible and invisible” that all you are is His, for you are His visible and invisible creation. Acknowledge your “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God...by Whom all things were made,” including you, for He not only created you, but He also took your nature as His own. As you take the Name of “...the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life...” on your lips, greet Him in your heart; He lives within you. Without Him, you and I would not know either Jesus Christ nor our Father in Heaven.
In the Nativity Liturgy we come face to face with the great mystery of Jesus Christ, your Creator born in the flesh. Now, He lies in the cave of your soul, divested of the glory of His heavenly majesty, having “...made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Php. 2:7). Think of the immense universe that men have researched and explored. Today, you may receive the immense, Divine embrace of God Who made the universe and limited Himself to finite life, our imperfect speech, and our struggle to understand.
“In the beginning was the Word” (Jn. 1:1), God the Word. He said, “‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gn. 1:3). The love of God the Father, the words of God the Word, and the movement of God the Spirit, produced creation: “...there was light,” and water and earth, and living plants - this beautiful planet, and you and me. We exist because He loves, speaks, and moves. Delicacy and intricacy blend with great forces, massive materials, and immense powers - all of which God speaks into existence. How awesome! Now, bow before His manger-cradle.
How humbling: that God the Word would choose to become one with us in an elemental way - as a babe born of a mother as we were, in the flux of history, at a moment that split time in two. There was time before the Christ and there are the years of our Lord, BC and AD. Creation spans both segments of time. See, touch, taste, smell, and handle the world around you. At this moment, you feel at home here, settled in. At other times, are you not overwhelmed in your tiny self? You and I only see, touch, taste, smell, or handle the tiniest, smallest pieces of the universe immediately in front of us. But take heart! Declare that “In the beginning God made heaven and earth” (Gn. 1:1). Glory in the Highest, for He became one of us, God with us!
How can we approach the overwhelming mystery of our Creator? Try this: go back to the tangible bits and pieces of the ordinary life. He made them. Touch and handle Him every day, and adore Him in these commonplace, approachable, and tangible people and all sorts of things.
“Come, ye believers, let us see where Christ was born. Let us follow the star whither it goeth with the Magi, kings of the east; for there angels praise Him ceaselessly, and shepherds raise their voices in a worthy song of praise, saying, Glory in the highest to the One born today in a cave from the Virgin Theotokos in Bethlehem of Judea. Since God willeth, the order of nature is overcome, as it hath been written, Christ hath been born of the Virgin in Bethlehem of Judea.”
Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath given rise to the light of knowledge in the world, for from the east of the Highest Thou didst come, O Lord. Glory to Thee.
Hebrews 1:1-12
Hebrews 1:1-12 (King James Version)
Hebrews 1
1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2Hath 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;
3Who 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:
4Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5For 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?
6And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Luke 2:1-20
Luke 2:1-20 (King James Version)
Luke 2
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And 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.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15And 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.
16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
The Synaxarion:
December 24
Fifth Pre-festive Day of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Hosiomartyr Eugenia (end of the Third or beginning of the Fourth century)
Paramony of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Concession for the usage of wine, but not of oil. Strict fast day.
If we must believe the account in the Menaia, Saint Eugenia was a native of Rome, the daughter of noble and very rich parents, named Philip and Eugenia. Without her parent's knowledge and accompanied only by two servants, Protas and Hyacinth, she left her paternal home by night and disguised as a man, lived with them in a monastery of monks, under the name of Eugene. All three suffered martyrdom under Emperor Commodus (180-192). Saint Eugenia was buried in the catacombs of Apronian, on the Latin Way.
Fifth Class Feast.
Abstinence and fast until Noon, unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.
The Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated today, united to Vespers.
The word Paramony (literally: permanence) is reserved to the vigils of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ and Theophany: the faithful, instead of leaving the church, once the Vespers and Liturgy ended, remained there waiting for the beginning of the office of the next day's feast.
In principle, this Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great united to Vespers should be celebrated shortly before sunset. However, in our day, in many churches it is advanced, sometimes even to early in the morning.
The Liturgy begins by the initial Doxology, immediately followed by Psalm 103. After which, the deacon recites the Great Synapte. Then the evening Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116 are sung; Glory be to the Father...Now and always...Then the procession is made with the Gospel Book. Singing of the Vesper hymn: "O Gladsome Light..." Reading of the prophecies. Trisagion. Epistle and Gospel of the Paramony, and the rest from the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
In occurrence with a Saturday: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Typika and Beatitudes, or Antiphons of the Week. Ordinary Isodikon. Troparia: of the Paramony, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ (December 20). Epistle and Gospel of the Saturday before the feast of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Kinonikon of the Saturday.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Paramony, of the Fathers (see the Sunday before the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ), and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Pre-festive Period of the Nativity according to the Flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ (December 20). Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday before the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
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