Blessed is Your first day, my Lord, by which this day, the day of Your feast, is marked.
Refrain: Blessed is He who gave You to us when we had not asked for You, so that through You we might thank Your Father for His gift.
Your day resembles You, for it loves humanity; it is handed down and comes with every generation.
It is a day that comes to its end with the aged and returns to dwell with newborns.
It is a day that renews itself in its love, so that by its power it may renew our worn-out condition.
When Your day visited us, passed, and went away, in its mercy it returned and visited us again.
It knows that humanity is in need; in everything it resembles You as it seeks humanity out.
Creation needs its fountain; and for it, my Lord, just as for You, all creation thirsts.
It is a day whose yoke rules over the seasons; its long duration conquers all, and none passes beyond it.
For kings too passed away with their images, and the feasts of their memorials ceased.
The dominion of Your day is like Your own, stretching over generations that have come and those still to come.
Your day resembles You: though it is one, it branches out and multiplies itself, that it may resemble You.
On this day of Yours, my Lord, which is near to us, we see Your birth, which is far away.
Like You, may Your day be for us, my Lord: may it be a mediator and a guarantor of peace.
Your day reconciled heaven and earth, for on it the Highest descended to those below.
Your day is able to reconcile the Just One who was angered by our sins.
Behold, Your day forgave us myriads of debts, for on it mercies dawned upon the guilty.
Great is Your day, my Lord; let it not be small toward us. Let it show mercy, as is its custom, upon our folly.
If every day, my Lord, Your forgiveness overflows, how much more may it abound on this day.
All the days have acquired good things from the treasury of Your glorious day.
All the feasts have become fair and adorned from the treasures of this feast.
Pour out Your mercies upon us on Your day, my Lord; distinguish Your day for us from every other day.
Great is the treasury of the day of Your birth; let it pay the debt of debtors.
Great is this day above all days, for on it the Merciful One went forth toward sinners.
Your great day is a storehouse of medicines, for on it the Medicine of Life dawned for the wounded.
This day is a treasury of helps, for on it Light flashed upon our blindness.
It also comes bearing a sheaf for us, from which abundance flows upon our hunger.
This day is the first cluster, in which the cup of salvation was hidden.
This day is the firstborn feast, which, being first, triumphs over every feast.
In winter, which strips the fruits from the branches, from the barren vine a Fruit dawned for us.
In the frost that strips every tree, a Shoot bore fruit for us from the house of Jesse.
In December, when seed is hidden in the earth, the Ear of Life sprang forth from the womb.
In Nisan, when seed sprouts into the air, the Sheaf sowed Himself in the earth.
Death harvested it and ate it in Sheol, but the Medicine of Life hidden within it tore Sheol open.
For in Nisan, when lambs bleat in the wilderness, the Paschal Lamb entered the womb.
From the river from which the fishers came up, the Fisher of all was baptized and came up.
From the river where Simon fished for its fish, the Fisher of people came up and caught him.
With the Cross that catches every robber, He caught that robber for life.
The Living One, by His death, emptied Sheol; He unloosed it and sent out whole assemblies.
Tax collectors and prostitutes were impure snares; the Holy One caught the snares of the Cunning One.
Sin, which had been a snare for men, He made into a mirror for women who repent.
The fig tree that withheld fruit offered Zacchaeus to Him as fruit.
It had not given the fruit proper to its nature, but it gave one rational fruit.
Our Lord spread His thirst over the well and caught the thirsty woman with the water He asked from her.
He caught one soul at the spring, and through her He caught the whole city.
The Holy One caught twelve fishers, and through them He caught the whole creation.
Iscariot escaped from among His nets, and the strangling cord fell around his neck.
The net of the One who gives life to all catches people for life; whoever escapes from it escapes from life.
Who can enable me to recount the many kinds of help hidden in You, my Lord?
How much can a thirsty mouth drink from the Fountain of Divinity?
Answer today the voice of our petition; let our prayer, which is in words, become deeds.
Heal for us, my Master, all that we have seen; may Your feast bring to fulfillment the good thing we have heard.
Our mind wanders among the voices. O Voice of His Father, bring the voices to peace.
The world has become noisy; in You may it become still, for by You the sea was stilled from its waves.
The demons rejoiced when they heard a voice of blasphemy; let the Watchers rejoice in us, as they are accustomed to do.
From within Your flock comes a voice of sorrow; You who gladden all, let Your sheep rejoice.
Do not cut us off, my Master, because of our murmuring; our mouth murmurs even while it is sinful.
May Your day, my Lord, give us every joy; with the flowers of peace let us celebrate Your Passover.
On the day of Your Ascension, let us be raised up; with the New Bread let its memorial be kept.
Our Lord, increase peace for us, so that we may celebrate the three feasts of the Godhead.
Great is Your day, my Lord; let it not be mocked. Everyone honors the day of Your birth.
Righteous One, may the day of Your birth be honored, since even Herod honored the day of his birth.
A dance of impurity delighted the tyrant; may the voices of chaste women delight You, my Lord.
May the voices of chaste women please You, my Lord, for You keep their bodies in holiness.
Herod’s day resembled him; Your day, which is Yours, resembles You.
The day of the troubled man was troubled by sin; Your pure day is beautiful, just as You are.
The tyrant’s feast killed the herald; at Your feast everyone proclaims glory.
On the murderer’s day the Voice was silenced; on Your own day sound the voices of the feast.
The impure man at his feast extinguished the lamp, so that darkness might hide the adulterers.
The holy season arranges lamps, so that darkness may flee with its hidden deeds.
The day of that fox stank like him, but holy is the feast of the One who spoke the truth.
The transgressor’s day passed away like him; Your day, like You, stands forever.
The tyrant’s day raged like him, for by its chains it silenced the righteous Voice.
The feast of the Meek One is restful like Him, for His sun dawns upon those who oppress Him.
The tyrant knew that he was not a king; therefore he yielded place to the King of kings.
The whole day, my Lord, is not enough for me to weigh Your praise against his reproach.
May Your merciful day overlook my folly, since I weighed Your day against the day of the impure man.
For Your day is beyond comparison, and it cannot be compared with our days.
The day of a son of man is like the earthly; the day of God is like God.
Your day, my Lord, is greater than the days of the prophets, yet I took it and set it beside the murderer’s day.
You know, my Lord, as the One who knows all, how to hear the comparisons my tongue has made.
May Your day grant us the request for life, since his day granted the request for death.
On his feast the needy king swore that half his kingdom would be the payment for a dance.
But Your feast, O Enricher of all, let it give us, as alms, even a crumb of fine flour.
From dry earth a spring gushed out, sufficient to satisfy the thirst of the nations.
From a virgin womb, as from a rock, sprang a Seed from which harvests came forth.
Joseph filled countless storehouses, yet they were emptied and failed in the years of famine.
One true Ear of Grain gave Bread—the heavenly Bread that has no limit.
The Bread that the Firstborn broke in the wilderness came to an end and passed away, though it was very abundant.
He returned and broke the New Bread, which ages and generations cannot exhaust.
The seven loaves He broke were exhausted, and the five loaves He multiplied also came to an end.
One Bread that He broke surpassed creation’s need: the more it is divided, the more abundantly it multiplies.
He also filled jars with abundant wine; they drew it out, and though it was plentiful, it was exhausted.
The Cup He gave was a small drink, yet its power is exceedingly great and has no limit.
It is the Cup that receives every wine, and the Mystery within it is He Himself, unchanged.
The one Bread He broke cannot be bounded, and the one Cup He mixed cannot be exhausted.
The Wheat that was sown for three days rose and filled the Treasury of Life.
The Bread is spiritual, like its Giver; it gives life spiritually to spiritual beings.
But whoever receives it carnally receives it rashly and carnally.
It is the Bread of grace; the discerning mind receives it as the Medicine of Life.
If sacrifices of the dead, offered in the names of demons, are sacrificed and eaten as mysteries,
how much more should we administer among ourselves, with purity, the holy Mystery of discernment.
Whoever eats from a sacrifice in the name of demons becomes demonic, without dispute.
Whoever eats from the heavenly Bread becomes heavenly, without dispute.
Wine teaches us that it makes the one who becomes accustomed to it like itself.
For it greatly hates the one who loves it: it intoxicates him, deranges him, and makes a mockery of him.
Light teaches us that it makes the eye, the daughter of light, like itself.
By the light, the eye saw the nakedness, and chastely ran to the chaste man.
It was that same nakedness that wine produced, for it does not know how to spare even the chaste.
The Firstborn put on the weapon of the Cunning One, so that with the weapon that killed us He might restore us to life.
By the wood with which he killed us, we were saved; by the wine that deranged us, we were made chaste.
Through the rib that had been taken from Adam, the Evil One tore out Adam’s heart.
From that Rib arose a hidden Power that cut down Satan as He did Dagon.
For in that Ark a book was hidden that cried out and proclaimed the Victor.
There too the mystery was revealed: Dagon was brought low inside his own refuge.
The fulfillment came after the symbol: the Evil One was brought low in the place of his confidence.
Blessed is He who came, and in Him the mysteries of the left and the right were fulfilled.
He fulfilled the mystery that was in the lamb, and He fulfilled the type that was in Dagon.
Blessed is He who redeemed us through the true Lamb and overthrew our destroyer as He overthrew Dagon.
In December, when the nights are long, the Day without limit dawned for us.
In winter, when all creation is gloomy, the Beautiful One came forth and gladdened every creature.
In winter, which makes the earth barren, virginity learned to give birth.
In December, which stills the birth-pangs of the earth, the pains of childbirth came upon virginity.
No one first sees an early lamb except the shepherds.
So too, at the birth of the true Lamb, the good news of Him ran first to the shepherds.
Perhaps there too the wonder was doubled: a lamb, outside its proper month, spoke and came forth.
A lamb, outside its proper time, became a herald of that Lamb whose conception was not according to nature.
The old wolf saw the nursing Lamb and was afraid of Him, though He had hidden Himself.
For because the wolf had put on sheep’s clothing, the Shepherd of all became a Lamb within the flock.
So that when the greedy one attacked the Meek One, the Mighty One might tear apart that devourer.
Holiness dwelt bodily in the womb, and now He dwells spiritually in the mind.
Mary, who conceived Him, rejected union; let no soul in which He dwells commit fornication.
When Mary perceived Him, she left aside the rights of betrothal; behold, He dwells among the chaste, if they perceive Him.
A deaf person is not stirred by loud thunder, nor a shameless person by the voice of command.
For pain is alarmed when healing comes, and the shameless are alarmed by the voice of warning.
If dreadful thunder groans at the deaf, dreadful wrath rebukes the impure.
A deaf person’s failure to hear is not insolence; but for one who tramples the warning, it is insolence.
Thunder comes only from time to time, but the voice of the Law thunders every day.
Let us not close our ears to what accuses us—openings that stand open and cannot be closed.
The gate of hearing is open by nature, so that by necessity it may cut down our insolence.
The doors of the [eyes] and the gate of the mouth the will can open and close.
Glory to the Voice that became a Body, and to the Word of the Highest that became Flesh.
Ears heard Him; eyes saw Him; hands touched Him; and a mouth ate Him.
Members and senses, give thanks to the One who came and gave life to the whole body.
Mary carried the silent Infant, while in Him all languages were hidden.
Joseph carried Him, while in Him was hidden the silent Nature that is older than every ancient thing.
The Most High was like a child, while in Him was hidden a treasury of wisdom sufficient for all.
The Most High suckled Mary’s milk, while every creature suckled from His goodness.
He is the living Breast and the living Breath; the dead suckled from His life and lived.
Without the breath of air no one lives; without the power of the Son no one stands.
On the living Breath of the One who gives life to all depend the spirits above and below.
While He was suckling Mary’s milk, He Himself was suckling all creation with life.
While He dwelt in His mother’s bosom, all creatures dwelt in His bosom.
He was silent like an infant, yet He was commanding all creatures with all His commands.
For without the Firstborn no one can draw near to existence, for He sustains it.
For the thirty years He was on earth, who was governing all creatures?
Who was receiving all offerings—the praise of those above and those below?
He was wholly in the depth and wholly in the height, wholly with everyone and wholly with each one.
While His body was being formed in the womb, His power was assembling every member.
While the body of the Son was being formed in the womb, He Himself was forming infants in wombs.
Although His body was weak in the womb, His power was not likewise weak in the womb.
His power was not weak upon the wood merely because His body was weak upon the wood.
For while He was on the wood, He raised the dead. Was it His body that raised them, or His will?
So too, while He dwelt wholly in the womb, His hidden will was accomplishing everything.
See: while He hung wholly on the wood, His power shook every creature.
He darkened the sun and shook the earth; He split the graves and brought out the dead.
See, though He was wholly upon the Cross, He was still wholly present with everyone.
So too He was wholly in the womb, while still wholly present in all.
While on the Cross He raised the dead; so, while an infant, He was forming infants.
While slain, He opened graves; while in the womb, He opened wombs.
Come, my brothers, hear about the Son of the Hidden One, who was revealed in His body while His power remained hidden.
For the power of the Son is a free power; the womb did not confine it as it confined His body.
For while His power dwelt in the womb, He Himself was forming infants in wombs.
His power embraced the one who embraced Him; if His power contracted, everything would fall.
The power that holds every creature did not let go of all while He was within the womb.
He was forming the image of His own Person in the womb, while in every womb He formed every human face.
While He was growing among the poor, from the treasury of abundance He was feeding everyone.
While the woman who anointed Him was anointing Him, with His dew and His rain He was anointing all.
The Magi offered myrrh and gold while a treasury of riches was hidden in Him.
The myrrh and spices that He had prepared and created, the Magi offered to Him from His own.
By power from Him Mary was able to carry in her bosom the One who carries all.
From the great treasury of all creatures Mary gave Him everything she gave.
She gave Him milk from the One who had prepared it; she gave Him food from the One who had created it.
He gave milk to Mary as God; then He suckled it from her as the Son of Man.
Her hands carried Him because He lightened His might, and her arm embraced Him because He made Himself small.
Who could measure the extent of His greatness? He shortened His measure to fit a covering.
She wove and clothed Him because He had put off His glory; she measured and wove for Him because He had made Himself small.
The sea carried Him and became still and quiet; how then did Joseph’s bosom carry Him?
The womb of Sheol conceived Him and was torn open; how did Mary’s womb endure Him?
By His voice He split the stones over the graves; how did Mary’s arm endure Him?
You came down to lowliness so that You might give life to all. Glory to You from all who have lived by Your hand.
Who can speak about the Son of the Hidden One, who descended and wrapped Himself in a body within the womb?
He came forth and, like an infant, suckled milk; among children the Son of the Lord of all crept about.
In the street they saw Him like a child, while the Love of all dwelt within Him.
The Watchers surrounded Him in fear.
He was cheerful with children like a child; He was awe-inspiring to the Watchers like a Commander.
He was awe-inspiring to John, who would not loosen His sandals, yet gentle to sinners who kissed His feet.
The Watchers saw Him according to their own measure; each person saw Him according to the measure of his knowledge.
Each person, according to the measure of his discernment, thus perceived Him who is greater than all.
Only in His Father is there a measure of Him—the fullness of knowledge of Him, for He knows how great He is.
The natures above and below possess their knowledge of Him only in measured measures.
He is the Lord of all who gives us everything, and He is the Enricher of all who borrows from everyone.
He gives everything as One who needs nothing, and then borrows everything as though He were lacking.
He gave cattle and sheep as Creator, then asked for sacrifices as though He were in need.
He made water into wine as Maker, then drank from it as one who was poor.
From His own He mixed the wine at the wedding feast; His own wine He mixed and gave to drink where He had been invited.
In His love He prolonged the life of the aged Simeon, so that a mortal might present the One who gives life to all.
By power from Him Simeon carried Him; the one who presented Him was himself presented through Him.
He gave the laying on of hands to Moses on the mountain, and received it in the river from John.
By the power of His gift John was made sufficient, and though earthly he baptized the Heavenly One.
By power from Him the earth carried Him; when it was about to dissolve, His power strengthened it.
Martha fed Him from what was His own; she placed before Him foods that He Himself had created.
From what was His own every giver made a vow; from His treasury they placed gifts upon His table.