Nativity Homily 2004 Selections from the Hymns of St. Ephrem the Syrian on the Nativity of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ in the Flesh Priest: In the days of the king who enrolled people For the poll tax, our Savior descended And enrolled people in the Book of Life. He enrolled them, and they enrolled Him. On high He enrolled us; On earth they enrolled Him. Glory to His Name! Faithful: Glory to His Name! Priest: Blessed be the Child Who today delights Bethlehem. Blessed be the Newborn Who today made humanity young again. Blessed be the Fruit Who bowed Himself down for our hunger. Blessed be the Gracious One Who suddenly enriched all our poverty and filled our need. Blessed be He Whose mercy inclined Him to heal our sickness. Faithful: Blessed be the Holy Child of Bethlehem! Priest: Glory to the Heavenly One Who mingled his salt with our mind, His milk with our souls. His body became bread to revive our mortality. Whoever eats the bread of the Heavenly One will become heavenly without doubt. Great is the treasure house of Thy birthday. [Hymn 4] Faithful: Great is the treasure house of Thy birthday O Christ! Priest: Glorious is the Wise One Who allied and joined Divinity with humanity, one from the height and the other from the depth. He mingled the natures like pigments and an image came into being: the God-man.[Hymn 8] Faithful: Glory to the God-Man! Priest: This is the night of reconciliation; let us be neither wrathful nor gloomy on it. Faithful: Neither wrathful nor gloomy! Priest: On this all-peaceful night let us be neither menacing nor boisterous. Faithful: Neither manacing nor boisterous!

Priest: This is the night of the Sweet One; let us be on it neither bitter nor harsh. Faithful: Neither bitter nor harsh! Priest: On this night of the Humble One, let us be neither proud nor haughty. Faithful: Neither proud nor haughty! Priest: On this day of forgiveness let us not avenge offenses. Faithful: Let us not avenge offenses! Priest: On this day of