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Liturgy > Liturgical year >

Christmas - The Feast of the Nativity

Introduction - Arrangement of Services - Vespers - Great Compline - Matins - Divine Liturgy

The feasts of the Nativity (December 25) and the Theophany (January 6) take place during wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, when the days are darkest and the nights long. The Church distinguishes these two feasts with a special round of services:

• A day of strict fast, with the service of the Royal Hours
• A vigil service in the afternoon or early evening, consisting of the Vespers and the Divine Liturgy
• A night-time service of Great Compline with Litija, followed by Matins
• The celebration of the Divine Liturgy on the morning of the feast

But the Church's ancient tradition that Saturday and Sunday must never be days of fasting leads to variations in the arrangement of the Christmas services. This article attempts to explain these variations, which (if stated without explanation) can cause confusion.

December 25 on Tuesday through Saturday

Suppose the Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday. (It will become clear later why we start with Tuesday!) Then Monday will be a day of strict fast, with the Royal Hours sung in the morning or throughout the day. The faithful spend the day in preparation for the feast, and fasting.

In the afternoon or early evening, the service of Vespers with the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is served. This service recounts the prophecies of the Messiah's birth, and the faithful receive Holy Communion, breaking the day's fast. The Vesper service may be followed, according to custom, by a Holy Supper in the home or the church hall. This meal is festive but meatless, since it is a strict fast day.

In the late evening, the faithful gather in church for the night-time service of Great Compline, which marks the actual beginning of the feast. Carols and devotional hymns are often sung before this service; and the Canticle of Isaiah ("God is with us") forms a highlight of the Great Compline. The hymns that accompany the litija procession, and of the Matins service that is appointed to follow Great Compline, are among the masterpieces of Byzantine theology and devotion.

In the morning, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated for Christmas Day, beginning the feast day celebration itself. (In former times, it was customary to conclude the feast day with a Vespers service in the evening as well.)

Thus, the arrangement of services is as folllows:

Sunday	Monday, December 24	Tuesday, December 25	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	Day of strict fast Royal Hours Afternoon or evening: Vespers with Divine Liturgy (Basil) During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast

If Christmas Day falls on Wednesday, the same set of services is held, moved one day later in the week:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday, December 24	Wednesday, December 25	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
		Day of strict fast Royal Hours Afternoon or evening: Vespers with Divine Liturgy (Basil) During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast

Christmas on Thursday:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday, December 24	Thursday, December 25	Friday	Saturday
			Day of strict fast Royal Hours Afternoon or evening: Vespers with Divine Liturgy (Basil) During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast

 

Christmas on Friday:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday, December 24	Friday, December 25	Saturday
				Day of strict fast Royal Hours Afternoon or evening: Vespers with Divine Liturgy (Basil) During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast

Christmas on Saturday:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday, December 24	Saturday, December 25
					Day of strict fast Royal Hours Afternoon or evening: Vespers with Divine Liturgy (Basil) During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast

December 25 on Sunday

But if Christmas Day is on Sunday, the arrangement of services has to change. Fasting is forbidden on Saturday (with the one exception of Holy Saturday); so the strict fast is transferred to Friday, December 23, along with the Royal Hours. Since it IS a strict fast day, there is no Divine Liturgy.

Saturday is normally a Eucharistic Day in the Byzantine Rite, so on Saturday, December 24, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated in the morning. On this day we commemorate Saint Eugenia; that is why the Divine Liturgies book has a page for "December 24 on a Saturday" (DL 288.)

Vespers WITHOUT Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the afternoon or evening, since only one Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated on a given day, and that Liturgy was already celebrated (in the morning).

During the night, Great Compline and Matins are sung, as before.

In the morning, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil is celebrated, so that the faithful can hear the account of salvation history woven into the texts of this Liturgy.

Thursday	Friday, December 23	Saturday, December 24	Sunday, December 25	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
	Day of strict fast Royal Hours	In the morning: Divine Liturgy (Chrysostom) Afternoon or evening: Vespers During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast (Basil)

December 25 on Monday

Again, if Christmas Day falls on Monday, the arrangement of services has to change. Fasting is forbidden on Sunday; so the strict fast is transferred to Friday, December 22, along with the Royal Hours. Since it IS a strict fast day, there is no Divine Liturgy.

In this case, Sunday, December 24 is both the Sunday before the Nativity, and the vigil of the feast, so the hymns for these two days are combined at the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom which is celebrated on Sunday morning.

Vespers WITHOUT Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the afternoon or evening, since only one Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated on a given day, and that Liturgy was already celebrated (in the morning).

During the night, Great Compline and Matins are sung.

In the morning, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil is celebrated, so that the faithful can hear the account of salvation history woven into the texts of this Liturgy.

Thursday	Friday, December 22	Saturday	Sunday, December 24	Monday, December 25	Tuesday	Wednesday
	Day of strict fast Royal Hours		In the morning: Divine Liturgy (Chrysostom) Afternoon or evening: Vespers During the night: Compline and Matins	In the morning: Divine Liturgy of the feast (Basil)

Pastoral variations

In the past, this arrangement of services, appointed in the Typikon and the liturgical books, was often modified due to a number of factors:

• In keeping with the Latin practice of restricting the Eucharistic Liturgy to the morning hours (except on Holy Thursday), the Vespers and Divine Liturgy of Christmas Eve were often celebrated on the morning of December 24. This not only affected the nature of the fast day, with the fast being broken by the reception of Holy Communion; but also pushed the Royal Hours even earlier in the day, leaving a large gap until the evening.
• In this country, with the loss of the sense that only one Divine Liturgy should be celebrated per day, the celebration of a separate Vespers on Christmas Eve (when December 25 fell on a Sunday or Monday) usually disappeared.
• Also in this country, the Great Compline service was often abbreviated, Matins was omitted, and a Latin-style "Midnight Mass" became the centerpiece of the Christmas observance.

Of course, once these changes were made, they were often passed down as "the way we do things." Furthermore, some changes have been necessary when a priest has had the care of several parishes at some distance from each other.

We hope that this explanation helps to clarify the "special rules" for the services on the feast of the Nativity, and that the faithful may have an opportunity to experience and appreciate the traditional round of services.

Recommended Reading

• Taft, Father Robert.The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1993).
  An excellent history and explanation of the Divine Praises in the different liturgical traditions.
• Mother Mary and (Bishop) Kallistos Ware. The Festal Menaion. (South Canaan, Pennsylvania: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 1969).   Contains an explanation of the daily liturgical cycle, and an outline of each office.