The Christmas of the Lord is a holiday of blessing for parents and children, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church said on Monday in his Christmas sermon at the Holy Liturgy held in the Patriarchal Cathedral.

“This holiday of the Nativity of the Lord, Baby Jesus, Mother of God and righteous Joseph is a holiday of blessing for parents and children. The most striking thing is that God did not come into the world as a man at the age of 30 just to be crucified for us, but he came as a baby. Baby God is the miracle of Christmas. God is a Child,” said the Patriarch.

Our carols, P. F. Daniel added, captured, like the Holy Fathers of the Church, this great contrast between the omnipotence of God and the humility of a child who was born in a cave and then was placed in a manger.

“Today was born/ The first,” says the carol. “Swaddled the baby/ In a cotton diaper/ The snow does not touch him/ The wind blows/ Do not baptize him/ Today he was born/ The one without. “beginning”. Today, Virgo gives birth to someone who is above being, someone who is above all creation. And we also see that the baby Jesus is like any baby, like any swaddled baby, in a cotton diaper, But, despite all this, blessed Augustine says: “this baby from his mother’s womb rules the whole universe, rules all galaxies, because together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he is the creator of the world, Heaven and earth. God wanted to show that He is not only omnipotent, but also omnipotent, and His humility is visible in the fact that He was a child,” Patriarch Daniel noted.

The high Orthodox hierarch emphasized that the child cannot do anything by himself, and if he is not loved and helped, he dies.

“He needs the love of his parents to dress, feed and carry. Therefore, the Almighty is absolutely powerless in the Child Jesus, but if the Child Jesus was not a child, he could not later speak about God’s parental love for him. Because in childhood, a child learns from his parents what parental love is. Whoever was not a child is not a complete person, because he did not learn parental love from his parents, and whoever does not have love, because children, even if they are not their own children, is also not a mature or complete person. It is selfless, humble and merciful love. This is the love that Christ’s birth shows us. And, of course, it can be seen that the shepherds of Bethlehem, together with the angels, glorify this humble love of God, which comes down to us,” the Patriarch explained.

PF Daniel also said that Christ comes to sanctify mankind, beginning with him.

“Through the birth of the Virgin, Christ sanctifies humanity from within. The birth of a baby in a cave sanctifies the earth. By placing an infant in a manger of animals, flocks, or cattle, the vegetable and animal kingdoms are sanctified, and through His baptism in the waters of the Jordan nature is sanctified waters, and by the crucifixion air and wood are sanctified, as our liturgical books show us. Therefore, Christ comes to sanctify mankind, starting from within, not from without. Therefore, this day is a day of blessing for parents, for children and for everyone who helps the little ones. Some who do not have their parents, or who do not have their children, adopted them, but parental love, brotherly love and filial love come as a blessing from the Holy Trinity in the Church and in the world,” added the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church.

He wished everyone who bears the name Christian, Christina and their derivatives, “with a New Year of health, happiness and great help from God.” “Long live many summers,” concluded Patriarch Daniil.

The Supreme Bishop led the service of the Holy Liturgy in the co-service of the Patriarchal vicar bishops Varlaam Ployeshtianul and Paisius Sinaitul and the council of priests and deacons.

Prime Minister Marcel Čolaku also attended the service at the Patriarchate.

On December 25, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, and Protestants celebrate Christmas or the Nativity of Christ.

Celebrating the bodily birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, Christmas is the first canonical holiday with a fixed date, in the chronological order of the Savior’s life.