Слово на Рождество Христово. Святого Амвросия, епископа Медиоланского

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14). Brothers! I am completely perplexed with what joy and what praises we will proclaim to you this day of the Nativity of Christ: for human language cannot glorify God in such triumph. The One who at His birth was sung by the voice of disembodied angels, we must praise with human lips, now that He is already the King of kings. Therefore, our current celebration is higher than the celebration of that time. Then they were surprised only at the Lord who was born, now we glorify Him not only who was born, but also who was resurrected and reigns with the Father and the Spirit: and we should celebrate this day with the greater joy, the greater miracles we are vouchsafed. But since the weak human tongue cannot utter songs worthy of such God's favor towards us, I resort to angelic praise. We absolutely cannot be equal to them: let us be jealous of them with zeal, that is, let us leap into this present celebration with the same spirit with which they are - with joy, singing: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men! It is truly a worthy and righteous voice that, at the birth of Jesus Christ, gives due honor to God in heaven, and preaches peace to people on earth. Before the birth of the Savior to the world, neither the heavenly things visibly glorified God, nor the earthly things found peace. But notice, my brothers, are all people worthy of such God's favor? Ah, beloved, the peace of Christ is not given by duty, but by merit. Therefore, it is not surprising that the shepherds who watched and kept their flock knew the salvation of the world first, rather than the princes; and the angels announced it not to kings, not to human judges, but to simple and honorable people. Do not be surprised if the grace of Jesus Christ was recognized by the innocent before the nobles, if simple farmers were worthy of understanding the truth before the proud rulers. And what the shepherds knew, the princes could not know; Therefore, blessed Paul says: No one has understanding from the princes of this age (1 Cor. 2:8). So, at the birth of our Lord, the angels and the shepherds rejoiced, preaching the heavenly glory: they, as if united in one choir, proclaimed the glory of God. Therefore, we can say that even now the angels, on the same feast of the Lord, rejoice at us with a collective voice of joy: for those who at the Nativity of Christ talked with the shepherds, how can they not talk with the servants of God about the same born Christ? moreover, through the flock, people were mysteriously represented then, through shepherds - priests. who, having taken upon themselves the yoke of Christ and vigilantly watch over the people entrusted to them, are never abandoned by the angels. So, today our Savior was born according to the flesh. He was born so secretly, so humbly, that the world did not know about His birth at all; I say: the world did not know, since the Savior was born without the Father and conceived beyond the natural order. For Joseph conceived Him whom he did not give birth to, and Mary gave birth to Him whom Her sex did not create by nature. The Lord was born in such a way that no one thought about His birth, no one thought, no one believed: and how could they believe this even before the event, when even after the event they barely believe it? And that our Savior descended into the Virgin Mary so quietly and secretly - the prophet David foretold this long ago, saying: it will fall like rain on the fleece (Psalm 72:6). What is so quiet and without any sound, if not rain falling into a wave of fleece? It does not strike anyone’s ears with the sound, it does not sprinkle the body at all with the reflection of phlegm, and yet all the rain irrigates various parts of the body and spreads throughout the body. So, rightly, the Virgin Mary is likened to a fleece: She conceived the Lord in such a way that she contained Him with her whole body, without any division of Her body; rightly, Mary is likened to a fleece, from the waves of which useful garments are made for people. Truly, the Virgin Mary is a fleece: since from Her womb came the Lamb, Who, wearing mother’s flesh, covers the sins of all mortals with a soft wave: every sinful wound is covered with the wave of Christ, is drunk with the blood of Christ and, in order to heal, is dressed in the robe of Christ. Amen 50. Biblioth. Patr. Concionator. Parisiis. 1662 ann. tom. I, pp. 149 – 150, cf. “Selected instructive words of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, translated into the Slavic-Russian language in 1806 at the Moscow Stavropegial Donskoy Monastery.” Kyiv. 1853, pp. 37–41. You might be interested in: