Thursday 25th December 2025
Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Today we commemorate:
The Commemoration of the Adoration of the Magi: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar. The Commemoration of the Shepherds in Bethlehem who were watching their flocks and went to see the Lord. St. Constantine the Jew
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Alburgh (Æthelburh) of Wilton, nun (810).
Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12
Readings in bold type are those appointed by the Typikon for use at the Liturgy
Galatians 4:4-7
Brothers and sisters, in the fullness of time God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. And because you are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba! Father!’ You are therefore no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then an heir of God through Christ.
Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the one born to be King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and came to worship him.’ When Herod the king heard, he was troubled, and the whole of Jerusalem with him. He assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judaea, for so it is written by the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for from you shall come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.”’ Herod then summoned the magi secretly and enquired of them the exact time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young child, and as soon as you find him bring me word so that I too may come and worship him.’ They listened to the king and departed, and the star that they saw in the east went on ahead of them until it arrived and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star they rejoiced with great joy, and on entering the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother. They knelt down and worshipped him. They then opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. After being warned by God in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned home by different road.