Christmas Prayer

The Christmas prayer stands in adoration before the central mystery of Christian faith: the Incarnation of the eternal Son of God. When the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds outside Bethlehem, their proclamation was theologically precise: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). And then the angelic choir sang words that have been embedded in Christian liturgy since the earliest centuries: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14) — the Gloria in Excelsis. John's Gospel opens not with a nativity narrative but with a cosmic theological statement that interprets the birth from the perspective of eternity: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The Greek word for "dwelt" is eskenosen — literally, "tabernacled" or "pitched his tent" among us. The Incarnation is the fulfillment of the Old Testament theology of the divine Presence dwelling with His people: the glory that once filled the Tabernacle and the Temple has now taken up residence in human flesh. The prophetic background of Christmas reaches back seven centuries before the birth of Christ to Isaiah's proclamation: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). This passage has been read as messianic prophecy by Jewish interpreters throughout history, and the Christian tradition identified its fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. The four throne names — Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace — have shaped the language of Christmas prayer and hymnody for two thousand years. Matthew's Gospel explicitly identifies the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23). The name Emmanuel — 'Immanu El in Hebrew — is itself a theological statement: the God of Israel, who in the Old Testament was present with His people in pillar and cloud and temple glory, has now entered into full human solidarity, sharing not only space with His people but their nature. The theology of Incarnation — that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, two natures in one person — was the central question of the early church councils. The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) affirmed that Christ was "of one substance with the Father" (homoousios), rejecting the Arian view that the Son was a lesser divine being. The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) defined the relationship of Christ's two natures: truly God and truly man, the two natures united in one person "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." These decisions gave the language of Christmas prayer its precise theological shape. The observance of Christmas on December 25 is first attested in the Roman church in the fourth century. The exact origin of the date has been debated by scholars for centuries. Two main theories have been proposed: (1) the history-of-religions hypothesis, associating the date with the Roman feast of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus), celebrated on December 25 after the winter solstice; and (2) the calculation hypothesis, proposed by scholars including Thomas Talley and Andrew McGowan, which argues that early Christians calculated the date of the Incarnation from the date of the Crucifixion (March 25 in some traditions), producing December 25 as the date of birth nine months later. The Eastern Church, following a different computation, celebrates Christmas on January 7 (December 25 on the Julian calendar). The liturgical season of Advent — the four weeks preceding Christmas — developed in both the Eastern and Western churches as a period of preparation for the celebration of the Nativity. In the Western church, Advent took on a penitential character similar to Lent, though less severe. Its themes of waiting, hope, and expectation draw on the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah, and on the New Testament texts concerning both the first and second comings of Christ. Advent prayers emphasize the paradox that those who celebrate Christ's first coming are also awaiting His return: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20). The Christmas collect printed above — "Almighty God, who hast given us thine only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him" — is drawn from the Book of Common Prayer (1549, revised 1662) and represents one of the finest examples of Thomas Cranmer's liturgical prose. Its petition — that we "being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed" — moves from the historical fact of the Incarnation to its personal application: the birth of Christ is the ground of the believer's new birth, and the renewal of the Spirit at Christmas is not a single annual event but a daily grace. The Gloria in Excelsis Deo — "Glory to God in the highest" — has been sung in Christian worship since at least the second century. The Apostolic Constitutions (c. 380 AD) preserve an early version of it. It was incorporated into the morning office (Orthros) of the Eastern Church and into the eucharistic liturgy of the Western Church, where it is sung or said on feast days throughout the liturgical year but is particularly associated with Christmas. The tradition of carol singing at Christmas grew from the medieval practice of processional songs (carols were originally danced as well as sung) and was greatly enriched by the Reformation's emphasis on congregational singing. The great Christmas hymns — "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fideles, 18th century), "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (Charles Wesley, 1739), "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, 1847) — are in many ways extended Christmas prayers set to music, giving the congregation words with which to adore the incarnate Christ. The Christmastime tradition of the Nativity scene (creche) is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who in 1223 staged a live recreation of the Bethlehem scene in Greccio, Italy, to make the Incarnation vivid and accessible to ordinary people. The creche tradition spread throughout Catholic Europe and eventually into Protestant homes as well, becoming one of the most universally recognized symbols of the Christmas celebration.

The Christmas prayer is properly prayed in the context of the Christmas season — not only on December 25 but throughout the twelve days of Christmas (December 25 to January 6, Epiphany) and the preceding season of Advent. During Advent, the prayer of preparation is appropriate: waiting with Israel for the promised Messiah, reading the prophetic texts of Isaiah, and praying "Come, Lord Jesus" in both its historical (remembering His first coming) and eschatological (anticipating His return) senses. Many Christians follow a practice of lighting Advent candles on successive Sundays, with prayers for hope, peace, joy, and love accompanying each candle. This structured waiting sanctifies the season and prevents Christmas itself from being an anti-climax. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the prayer of adoration is the natural response to the Incarnation. The collect and the adoration prayer above may be used as written, or as a model for personal prayer. The key movement in Christmas prayer is the same as the movement of the Incarnation itself: from heaven to earth, from the eternal to the historical, from the infinite to the particular. Praying through John 1:1-14 slowly, pausing at verse 14 — "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" — is one of the most powerful Christmas devotional practices. For families, Christmas Day prayer can be structured around the scripture readings: Luke 2:1-20 for the narrative of the birth, Isaiah 9:6 for the prophetic context, and John 1:1-14 for the theological meaning. Singing a Christmas carol together — "O Come, All Ye Faithful" or "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" — is a form of prayer in itself, and many families find that singing together on Christmas morning is among the most memorable acts of household worship. The Christmas prayer for those who are grieving — the bereaved, the lonely, the poor — is also important. The Incarnation means that God entered into human suffering, and Christmas can be one of the most painful times for those in grief. Praying for those for whom the season is hard, and accompanying them in practical care, is a form of Christmas prayer that extends the mercy of God into the community. Throughout the twelve days of Christmas, the prayer of thanksgiving is appropriate: giving thanks for the gift of Christ, for the church, for family and community, and for the hope of His return. The season closes with Epiphany on January 6, commemorating the visit of the Magi and the manifestation of Christ to the nations — a fitting conclusion to Christmas prayer that opens the celebration outward to the whole world for whom the Word was made flesh.