12/24/2025
Please, Join Us at St John the Divine for a joyous Christmas celebration, led by Rev Raymond Rohlfs at the 3:00PM service, featuring the exquisite organ talents of Michael Barr, as we come together to mark the glorious start of the Christmas Season 🎄
Tonight, December 24, is the night that Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but it was not always the case. “The exact date of the birth of Jesus is not known, and during the earliest centuries of the Church, it seemed to have little significance. This followed the Early Church’s tradition of honoring and celebrating a Christian’s death as his or her birth date into eternity and the ongoing presence of Jesus.” (1051) This was changed in the fourth century with the great Christological controversies. Some people questioned the divinity and humanity of Christ, so teachers in the Church reasoned that his birth should be celebrated. But by 336, December 25 had been established in Rome as the day to celebrate the festival of Christ’s birth. The celebration of this festival spread throughout the Western Church. However, in Eastern traditions of the Church, Epiphany (January 6) remains the principal celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Let us pray: "O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever." Amen.
Description adapted from and prayer quoted from "Treasury of Daily Prayer" pages 1050-1051.
Image: “Nativity of Jesus” by Botticelli. Public domain.
