NATIVITY OF Christ commemorated. The early Christian Church, it is now established beyond question, observed as a holy day the supposed day on which the Saviour of the world beheld this mortal sphere. See, however, the article Christmas. We may here add simply that Bingham insists upon it that in the early Church the day of Christ's nativity was kept with the same veneration and religious solemnity as tlie Lord's day ; for they had always sermons on this day, of which there are many instances in the writings of Chrysostom, Nazianzen, Basil, Ambrose, Augustine, Leo, and others. Neither did they let this day ever pass
without a solemn communion ; for Chrj'sostom, in this very place, invites his people to the holy table, tell- ing them " that if they came with faith, they might see Christ lying in the manger, for the holy table sup- plied the place of the manger; the body of the Lord was laid upon the holy table, not as before, wrapped in swaddling clothes, but invested on every side with the Holy Spirit" (Chrysostom, Ilom. 31, de Philogonio, i, 399). And that the solemnity might be more univer- sally observed, liberty was granted oh this day to ser- vants to rest from their ordinary labors, as on the Sab- bath and the Lord's day. This is particularly men- tioned by the author of the Apostolical Constitutions (Conslit. lib. 8, cap. 33) : " Let servants rest from their labor on the day of Christ's nativity, because on this day an unexpected blessing was given unto men, in that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of the world." All fasting was as strictly prohibited on this festival as on the Lord's day ; and no one, without suspicion of some impious heresy, could go against this rule, as appears from Avhat pope Leo says of the Priscillianists, that they dishonored the day of Christ's nativity and the Lord's day by fasting, which they pretended they did only for the exercise of devotion in an ascetic life ; but in reality, it was to affront the days of his nativity and resurrection, because with Cerdon, and Marcion, and the Manichees, they neither believed the truth of the Saviour's incarnation nor his resurrection. Therefore, in opposition to these and such like heresies, the Church was alwaj^s very jealous of any one who pretended to make a fast of the nativity of Christ. Finally, to show all possible honor to this day, the Church obliged all per- sons to frequent religious assemblies in the city churches, and not go to any of the lesser churches in the country, except some necessity of sickness or infirmity compel- led them so to do (Cone. Aurelinn. i, can. 27). The laws of the state prohibited all public games and shows on this day as on the Lord's day.
Some students of ecclesiastical antiquity hold the observance of Christ's nativity to be derived from the Encajnia, or feast of dedication of churches ; others sup- pose, as is stated in the article Christmas, that it was designed to supersede the Saturnalia. It is, however, most natural to conclude that, in an age when the clergy were disposed to multiply festivals, the analogy of other events in the Saviour's history may have suggested the propriety of marking his nativity with a distinct cele- bration. It was at first observed on the 6th of January; but towards the end of the fourth century we liave two distinct festivals, namely, that of the nativity of Christ, on December 25th, and that of the baptism, probably the circumcision, of Jesus, on January 6th.
The festival of the nativitj' is in the Roman Catholic Church not only distinguished by the advent, but by the observance of three saints' days immediately after it. Wheatley gives this singular reason for the collo- cation of these days : " None are thought fitter attend- ants on Christ's nativity than those blessed martyrs who have not scrupled to lay down their lives for him, from whose birth they received life eternal." He says, " Accordingly, we may observe three kinds of martyr- dom : the first, both in will and deed, which is the high- est ; the second, in will, but not in deed ; the third, iu deed, but not in will. So the Church commemorates these martyrs in the same order : St. Stephen first, who suffered death both in will and in deed ; St. John the Evangelist, who suffered martyrdom in will, but not in deed (being miraculously delivered out of the cal- dron of burning oil, into which he was put in Rome) ; the holy Innocents last, who suffered in deed and not in will— for though they were not sensible on what ac- count they suffered, yet it is certain they suffered for the cause of Christ, since it was on account of his birth that their lives were taken away" {Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer, sec. iv, p. 200). Other fanci- ful reasons have been assigned. It is uncertain at what
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time these festivals \)Cff&n to be observed in connection witli that of the nativity. Some Koman Catholic divines in the Middle Ages represented the nativity on the stage. Sec Mysteries. Thus St, Francis, about three years before his death, with papal permission, celebrated Christ's nativity. "A manger was prepared by his di- rection, and the whole scene of the miraculous birth represented. Tlie mass was interpolated before the prayers. St. Francis preached on the Nativity. The angelic choirs were heard; a wondering disciple de- clared that he saw a beautiful child reposing in the manger (Tillman, Laf. Christianity, v, 2G5). The nativ- ity of Christ has been the frequent subject of students of sacred art. The engraver and the painter have in all ages sijice the birth of the Saviour been busy in the treatment of this historic event on stone and on canvas. We insert here illustrations of several engravings on stone and glass which are regarded as superior speci- mens of sacred art by Christian archivologists. See