A long long time ago, in the city of Nazareth, there was a very young woman, her name was Mary, she was a virgin but above all, a very kind and simple woman. The young woman was promised to a man, Joseph, who was a descendant of David.

*According to the Holy Scriptures, God promised a Savior to His people and The Savior would come from the line of David.*

One day, the Living God sent an angel named Gabriel to announce to Mary very important news.

“Greetings” the angel said to her “you who are highly favored ! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be but continued to listen to the angel as he spoke ;

“Do not be afraid, Mary,” said he “You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

Mary continued to listen to him.

“The Lord will give Him the throne of his father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever ; His kingdom will never end.”

And when the angel has finished to speak, Mary asked the angel.

“How will this be” she asked “since I am a virgin ?”

The angel smiled at her and answered ; “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elisabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

Mary bowed her head

“I am the Lord’s servant,” she answered “may your word to me be fulfilled.”

Then the angel left her.

The following days, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, she was going to see her cousin, Elisabeth.

When she entered Zechariah’s (the husband of Elisabeth) home, she greeted Elisabeth very happily. When Elisabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit* and with a loud voice, she exclaimed happily as well.

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear ! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me ? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb, leaped in joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promise to her !”

And Mary smiled as she said ;

“My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has been mindful

of the humble state of His servant.

From now on all generation will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me

Holy is His name.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm ;

He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as He promised our ancestors.”

Note : you can listen “Joy to the world” as you read the part of Lord Jesus’s birth.

And Mary stayed with her cousin Elisabeth for about three months and returned to her home.

When it was time for Elisabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a cute son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumsice the child, and they were going to name him after his father’s name, but then Elisabeth took the floor and said ; “No ! He is to be called John.”

“But,” they said to her, “there is no one among your relatives who has that name.” And they looked upon the father and made signs with their hands to find out what he would like to name the little child. Zechariah then asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote,

“His name is John.” and miraculously his mouth opened as he began to speak, praising the Living God. All the neighbors looked at each other as they were filled with awe, and throughtout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this, wondered about it, asking “What then is this cute child going to be ?”

For the Hand of the Lord was with him.

And Zechariah, filled with Holy Spirit, prophesied :

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because He has come to His people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

(as He said said through His holy prophets of long ago)

salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us-

to show mercy to our ancestors

and to remember His holy convenant,

the oath he swore to our father Abraham :

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve Him without fear

in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

He looked at his baby, tenderly and said.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

to give His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those who living in the darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And the little child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

...….....

When Joseph learned about Mary being pregnant, he was heartbroken and first thought before deciding, in his mind, to secretly divorce with her.

And that night, in his dream, Joseph saw an angel of the Lord appearing to him. The angel said to him, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her, is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are going to give Him the name of Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

...All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which meant God is with us). ...

And the next day, Joseph woke up and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife but they did not consummate their marriage because of the Child she carried.

...… ...

...In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census* should be taken of the entire Roman world and everyone went to their own town to register....

So Joseph and Mary also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because Joseph belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with his wife Mary who was expecting a child.

And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. So Joseph looked and searched everywhere in Bethlehem for a guest room for them but since none was available for them, Mary finally gave birth to her child in a cave. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger. And Joseph gave to the baby the name of Jesus as the angel of the Lord has commanded him to.

And in the fields nearby, were living some shepherds. They were watching over their flock at night until an angel of the Lord appeared to them as the glory of God shone around them, the shepherds were terrified. But the angel said to them,

...“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you ; He is the Messiah, the Lord.” He kept speaking “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”...

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising the Living and Loving God, saying :

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those in whom His favor rests.”

And after the angels had left and gone into heaven, the shepherds glanced at each other surprised by what happened until one of them exclaimed joyously “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found in no time the couple and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, the shepherds spread the word happily concerning what had been told them about this Child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

And the shepherds returned home, after they’ve finished announcing, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. And on the eighth day, the sweet Baby was circumcised.

Census : a count for official purposes, especially one to count the number of people living in a country and to collect information about them.

At the same time, after the Sweet Child was born, an event occurred in the sky and the Magi* went looking. The star they were looking at, appeared to the Wise Men to be different than the other stars ; that star in the sky, appeared more of a miraculous appearance than a natural one.

The Magi, who were some educated and notable men, studied the stars and knew the prophecies well. And the Magi*, also called Wise Men, followed that miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem in search of a Newborn King.

These wise men came from the east to Jerusalem and after a some time, they finally entered the city of Jerusalem still in search of the Baby, for they didn’t know where the Messiah was to be born.

Then the first person they would have eventually met, they would ask, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and we have come to worship Him.”

And none of the people could give them a real answer because some people didn’t understand what they were talking about while others were either confused or to busy to answer until the unexpected news reached the ears of King Herod.

When King Herod first heard about this, he was confused but even more disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. He thought about it over and over and since he couldn’t answer his own questions, he decided to call together all the people’s chief priest and teachers of the law. He then asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

“In Bethlehem,” they replied to the king “for this is what the prophet has written:

...“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, ...

...are by no means least among the rulers of Judea ; for out of you will come a ruler ...

...who will shepherd my people Israel.”...

And the king satisfied, secretly called the Magi and found out from them the exact time where the miraculous star had appeared.

A wicked smile appeared on his face as he said to them, “Go and search carefully for the Child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.” the king said as he sent the Magi to Bethlehem.

So the Wise Men left, they went on their way as they continued to follow the star. Then, after some time, the miraculous star who was guiding them, stopped over the place the Sweet Child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the place, the Magi saw the Sweet Child with His mother Mary ; they felt great happiness in their heart as they immediately bowed down and worshipped Him.

Then the Wise Men opened their treasures and presented Baby Jesus with gift of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The same night, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they decided to return to their country by another route.

When the Magi were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel told him “get up, take the Child with His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill him.”

And Joseph got up, looked at the sleeping Child and His mother ; he smiled at the beautiful sight until he remembered the angel’s words so he next woke up his wife Mary and then took them during the night and left for Egypt. They stayed there until the death of Herod.

...And so was fulfilled what the Living God had said through the prophet : “Out of Egypt, I called My Son.”...

...…...

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he got really furious and his anger was so great that he gave orders to his soldiers to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and it’s vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Then what was said. Through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are none.

And after Herod’s death, when Joseph and his wif was still in Egypt, an angel of the Loving God appeared in Joseph’s dream and told to him “Get up, take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the Child’s life are dead.”

So Joseph did as he was told to and left Egypt with his wife and the Sweet Child but when he as soon as he arrived in the land of Israel, he heard the news of Herod’s son, Archelaus reigning in Judea in the place of his father. Joseph got afraid to go there and being warned again in a dream, he withdrew with his family to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. And so was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.