The Icon of Christmas...
The icon of Christmas in the light of the orthodox interpretation
*Although this text might be known to some of you, there are many who asked for it again to better understand the Orthodox approach to the great mystery of the incarnation of Christ. Enjoy!
In the Byzantine iconography, the iconographers try to depict the theological visions they experienced. In the Byzantine icon, what is important is not the certain moment of the past, but how the specific historical event survives in the eschatological eternity of the Kingdom of God. We see the Incarnation in the light of the Resurrection and future salvation. That is why the icon is illuminated by an eternal, eschatological, secret light, which shines in every form, even though it is supposed to be night. Therefore, events of different moments (the birth and bathing of the Divine Child, the evangelization of the shepherds and the veneration of the Magi) are intertwined in the same image, because it is not the photographic snapshot that matters, but their eternal meaning, that is, their contribution to eschatological redemption. With this orthodox spirit of our tradition, may God enable us to venerate the icon of the Nativity.
The iconographic tradition of Orthodoxy precisely preserves the established type of the Nativity, which is the richest and most complete in content. It is as follows: In the middle, in front of some mountains, the cave where our Lord is reposed in the manger, between two animals; on the side, the Virgin also reposed on a mattress; in the upper part, the Angels and the Star; on one side of the cave, the Shepherds, on the other the Magi, who come to worship Christ. Below, at the two ends, two women wash the Child and Joseph seated facing an old man standing holding a staff.
As for its descriptive element, the icon corresponds to the kontakion: On this day the Virgin gives birth to the Super-essential. To the Unapproachable, earth is providing the grotto. Angels sing and with the shepherds offer up glory. Following a star, the Magi are still proceeding. He was born for our salvation, a newborn Child, the pre-eternal God. The icon also adds the two scenes represented at its lower edges which are taken from the Tradition.
In terms of its content, the icon of the Nativity has two aspects. First, it reveals the meaning of the Feast, the fact of the incarnation of the Word; it places us before a visible testimony of the fundamental doctrine of our faith, emphasizing both the divinity and the humanity of Jesus. Secondly, it shows us the energy of this event upon the natural world, and hints at the prospect of all the saving consequences of this event. The Nativity of our Lord is not the celebration of creation, but the celebration of the renewal of the world, a renewal that sanctifies creation. The incarnation of God gives creation a new meaning, which is the purpose and reason for its existence: its future transformation. That is why all creation takes part in the mystery of the Redeemer's birth, and we see around the Godman the representatives of all creations, who offer him their gratitude, according to the vespers: What shall we offer you, O Christ, because you have appeared on earth as a man for our sakes? For each of the creatures made by you offers you its thanks: the Angels, their hymn; the heavens, the Star; the Shepherds, their wonder; the Magi, their gifts; the earth, the Cave; the desert, the Manger; and we, a Virgin Mother. The icon adds animals and plants.
The Child
The center of the composition corresponds to the central time point of the Feast. All the details converge to this point; it is the Child unborn, resting in the manger, in the dark depths of the cave where he was born. The Gospels say nothing about the cave; Tradition tells us about it. The most ancient written testimony about this is that of the philosopher and martyr Justin, who says: "Joseph not having a place to dwell in that city, he settled in a cave not far from Bethlehem."
The Child who is laid to rest in the manger is the same God who appeared to those who sat "in darkness and the shadow of death", to save them from the curse of sin, to transform human nature and give it back the ancient beaty. Saint Gregory of Nyssa compares the birth in the cave to the spiritual light that shone in the darkness of death that enveloped the human race. The black hole of the cave in the icon symbolizes the material world, which is overshadowed by sin and where the Sun of Righteousness rises. The incarnation of God begins and ends with humility. The icon shows us the emptying of the divinity, the total descent of the One who in the manger also foreshadows his death, his grave, as his swaddling clothes indicates His death shroud.
The Theotokos
What impresses first of all when we look at the image of the Nativity, is the Virgin and the position she occupies. The icon underlines the importance of the part that Theotokos occupies in the Nativity, that is, in the celebration of the renewal of the world. She is the new Eve. As the first Eve became the mother of pre-Christian people, so the new Eve, the Virgin Mary, became the mother of deified humanity. But old Eve had heeded the words of the serpent in heaven. The second Eve heard the archangel's embrace. She also participates in our salvation, just as the foremother was the cause of our downfall. The icon of the Nativity highlights Mary's participation in our salvation, projecting the Virgin Mary with special emphasis, in the central part, and even giving her excessive dimensions. In many images it is the largest of all faces.
The attitude of the Virgin is always very important and tied to the doctrinal problems of the time and place where the icon was made. The differences it presents each time indicate the intention to highlight sometimes the divinity and sometimes the humanity of the Lord. Thus, in some depictions of the Nativity, the Virgin is half-reclining-half-sitting, that is, her posture is light, to show the absence of the birth pains and therefore the virgin birth and the divine origin of the Child (against the fallacy of the Nestorians). But in the majority of representations the Virgin is lying down and expresses with her posture extreme fatigue and lethargy because the Child is human as well.
Ox and donkey
Inside the cave, next to the Savior, we see the ox and the donkey. The Gospels do not mention these animals; nevertheless, in all the icons of the Nativity we find them next to the Child. The position they hold in the very center of the image shows the importance the Church attaches to this detail. The presence of these animals is undoubtedly explained by practical necessity, as shown in the Christmas Sequence: the Virgin traveled sitting on a donkey; as for the ox, it was brought there by Joseph who wanted to sell it to meet the expenses of the trip. But this practical necessity is not enough to justify the presence of animals so near the Redeemer. It is explained by Isaiah's prophecy: The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. God, coming down to earth and becoming man, found no place among men, because they did not receive him. The cave and the manger belong to the animals. Representing the ox and the donkey, the icon reminds us of Isaiah's prophecy and calls us to the knowledge and understanding of the Mystery of the divine economy that was fulfilled with the Nativity.
Angels
The angels fulfill their double function: they glorify God and bring the "gospels" (= good news) to people. The image expresses this double function, representing one part of the angels towards God and another towards men. These people are the simple shepherds, who for the purity of their hearts have the privilege of communicating with the supernatural world and claim to witness a miracle. They are represented in the image listening to the hymn of the angels and often one of the shepherds plays his flute, mixing the music, a human art, with the angelic song.
The Magi
On the other side of the cave, we see the Magi. They are led by the Star whose beam is directed at the cave. This ray also joins the Star to a point that transcends the boundaries of the image and symbolically indicates the celestial world. The image thus hints that this star is not only a cosmic phenomenon, but also a messenger from beyond, who claims that He who belongs to heaven has been born on earth. If the mystery was revealed directly by an angel to the illiterate shepherds, the Magi, men of knowledge, must make a long journey that will bring them from the knowledge of the relative to the knowledge of the Absolute, through an object of their studies. Thus, the Star is both the fulfillment of the prophecy and the cosmic phenomenon, the observation of which led the Magi to worship the Sun of Justice. It is the light that, according to Saint Leo the Great, shone on the Gentiles and remained hidden for the Jews. The Church sees in the shepherds - in those first children of Israel who worshiped the Child - the beginnings of the Church from Israel and in the Magi the Church from the gentiles. By offering Christ their gifts, pure gold to the King of all ages, frankincense to the God of all, and myrrh to the Immortal who was to be buried three days, they mark his death and resurrection.
Bath of Christ
Below, in a corner of the image, two women bathe the Child. This scene is powered by Tradition. It is a scene from everyday life, which clearly shows that the Child was like any other newborn under the demands of human nature. At the same time the two women are witnesses of the divine origin of the Child. Indeed, having come late and not having been present at the birth, one of them, Salome, did not believe that a Virgin could conceive a child, and was punished for this infidelity; her hand, which had dared to satisfy sinful curiosity, was paralyzed. After she repented and touched the Child, she was healed.
Josef
One more detail shows that with the Birth "nature's conditions are defeated". It is about the minister Josef. He has no place in the central part of the image, but on the contrary is clearly separated from the Child and the Virgin Mary. He is not the father. In front of him, under the appearance of a shepherd bent by years, stands the devil who is teasing him. Some icons show him sometimes with small horns and sometimes with an almost invisible tail. The presence of the devil and the role he plays as a tempter put a very special emphasis on the celebration of the renewal of the world. The icon, based on Tradition, conveys the meaning of certain liturgical texts (the First and Ninth Great and Royal Hours) which speak of Joseph's doubts and his terrible mental turmoil:
Thus did Joseph speak to the Virgin, "Mary, what is this I see in you? I cannot understand it, and I am amazed, and my mind is struck with dismay. Therefore, get out of my sight quickly. Mary, what is this I see in you? You have brought me shame and sorrow instead of honor and joy; and instead of praise, you have brought me reproach. I cannot bear to be rebuked by the people. When I received you from the priests at the Temple, you were an innocent girl, consecrated to the Lord. So, what is this that I see in you now?’’
The icon expresses the sad thoughts of Joseph with the black abyss of the cave behind him and the devil saying to him: "Just as this dry stick cannot throw leaves, so the virgin cannot bear a child".
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Fr. Christos
*Please accept as a small Christmas gift the following:
Link of Christmas Matins hymns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtUpXur9Bws
Link that you will help you navigate into the Church’s hymnology and daily services.
https://dcs.goarch.org/goa/dcs/dcs.html