Day 11 · The Nativity Fast
You Are My Son
“Declaring the ordinance of the Lord: the Lord said to me, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession.”Psalm 2:7-8
Reflection
At Vespers on Christmas Eve the Church sings this verse: “The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Psalm 2 speaks of God's anointed King, and the apostles applied it to Christ (Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5). The Fathers heard in it both the eternal begetting of the Son from the Father, “before all worlds,” as the Creed says, and his coming among us in time. The One born in Bethlehem is not a new creature who later became divine. He is the eternal Son, who becomes man without ceasing to be God.
A prayer
Eternal Son of the Father, begotten before all ages, you became a child for our sake. I bow before a mystery I cannot fully understand. Give me faith to worship you as true God, and love to follow you as true man. Amen.
Carry this with you
Pray the Creed slowly today, pausing on the words about the Son.