A word on how one should celebrate the day of the Nativity of Christ

Sermon of St. Ambrose of Milan “The Sermon on How One Should Celebrate the Day of the Nativity of Christ” begins with a description of the celebration of the birthday of the king of the earth. If, for the sake of temporary honor, the authorities and soldiers are so diligently preparing for this celebration, then “how should we celebrate the birthday of our eternal King Jesus Christ, who for our zeal for him will reward us not with temporary, but with eternal glory”? Christians must decorate their souls with faith, charity, and fulfillment of the commandments. The saint calls to cleanse the conscience, sanctify the spirit, meeting this great holiday in purity and immaculateness: “Whoever is unclean and defiled on that day does not honor the birth of Christ; although he is present in body at the triumph of the Lord, he is far from the Savior in his spirit.” The year the sermon was preached is unknown. You know how great the joy is and how large the gathering of people is on the day when they celebrate the birth of the earthly King. Both the leaders and commanders, and all the warriors, dressed in silk clothes, girded with expensive, shining gold belts, then rush to appear in the most brilliant splendor before the face of their King. For they know that the Tsar’s joy will increase when he sees the special beauty of their decoration, and that he will indulge in greater joy the more zeal they show during his triumph (The Tsar, like a man, does not look at the heart, and judges his disposition by appearance alone: ​​and therefore, whoever loves the Tsar more, then dresses in the brightest clothes). Moreover, since they know that the Tsar is generous on his birthday - and distributes a lot of favors either to his nobles, or to those who in his house are considered low and despicable people; then they first try to fill his treasuries with various wealth, so that, wanting to distribute favors, he can distribute them generously, so that his desire to distribute favors is sooner depleted than his wealth becomes impoverished. They do all this with zeal, because they themselves hope to receive a great reward for it. Brethren! if the sons of this age, for the sake of temporary honor, meet with such preparation the birthday of their earthly King: then how should we meet the birthday of our eternal King Jesus Christ, who for our zeal for him will reward us not with temporary, but with eternal glory, and will honor us not with the earthly authorities passing on to a successor, but with the heavenly kingdom, which has no successor? What will be our reward, the Prophet says about this: “Whose eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man sighed, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9; Comp. Is. 64:4). What kind of clothes should we decorate ourselves with? I say: ourselves, that is, our souls: since our King Christ does not require the splendor of clothes, but the commitment of the soul, does not look at the adornment of the body, but looks at the heart of those who serve Him; does not marvel at the shine of the perishable belt with which the loins are girded, but admires the irresistible chastity that binds with the shame of lust. Therefore, let us strive to appear before Him skilled in faith, endowed with mercy, well-ordered in the way of our life: whoever sincerely loves Christ, let him adorn himself more brightly with the observance of His commandments, so that He will see that we truly believe in Him, appearing in such splendor during His triumph, and the more He will rejoice the more, the more He matures in us of spiritual purity. Let us make our hearts chaste in advance, clear our conscience, sanctify our spirit, and in purity and chastity let us greet the coming of the all-holy Lord, so that the birthday of the One who was born of the Most Pure Virgin may be celebrated by His chaste servants. Whoever is unclean and defiled on that day does not honor the Nativity of Christ; although he is present in body at the triumph of the Lord, he is far from the Savior in his spirit. For the unclean cannot have communion with the holy, the stingy with the merciful, the corrupt with the virgin, and if he, an unworthy person, enters into such communion, then he causes all the more offense because he does not know himself. Wanting to appear zealous, he is in fact impudent, like the man mentioned in the Gospel who, being called to a wedding feast, dared to enter the assembly of saints without wearing wedding clothes, and while one shone here with righteousness, another shone with faith, a third shone with chastity, he alone, having a bad conscience, in the radiance of everyone, aroused only disgust with his terrible trembling. And the more shone the holiness of the righteous reclining here, the more obvious was the depravity of the sinner, who, perhaps, would not have caused such disgust if he had not appeared in the host of saints. Therefore, the king’s servants, “binding his hands and feet, cast him into utter darkness,” not only because he was a sinner, but also because, being a sinner, he appropriated to himself a reward, a certain holiness (Matthew 22:11–13). So, as we celebrate the day of the birth of our Lord, let us cleanse ourselves, brothers, from all filthiness of sins, let us fill His treasuries with various gifts, so that on that holy day there will be something to comfort strangers, ease the sorrows of widows, and clothe the poor. For will it be good if in the same house, among the slaves of the same master, one will have fun, wearing silk clothes, and another will be depressed, walking in rags, this one will be satiated with food, and this one will endure hunger and cold? and what will be the effect of our prayer when we ask to deliver us from the evil one, but we ourselves do not want to be merciful to our brothers? Let us imitate our Lord. If it pleased Him to make the poor, together with us, participants in heavenly grace; then why shouldn’t they share with us in earthly wealth? brothers in the sacraments should not be strangers to each other in property: through this we rather acquire intercessors for ourselves before the Lord, when with our support we feed those who bring thanksgiving to God. The poor person, blessing the Lord, benefits the one with whose assistance the Lord is blessed. For, as the Scripture says: woe to the man through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed; so it says: peace to that man through whom the name of the Lord our Savior is blessed. The merit of a benefactor is such that in his home he shows mercy alone, but in the Church through the mouths of many he begs the Lord, and what he himself would not sometimes dare to ask from God, he receives unexpectedly, through the intercession of many. Glorifying our help, the blessed Apostle says: “so that for what has been given to us through the intercession of many, many may give thanks for us” (2 Cor. 1:11); and in another place: “that the offering may be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16)! You might be interested in: