The Christmas holidays of 2014 presented the Russians with a wonderful surprise: for the first time they had the opportunity to see the great shrine of Christians - the Gifts of the Magi. This relic arrived on the eve of Christmas at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Previously, it was not exported outside of Greece.
Instruction manual
1
The gospel story tells us about the magi who went to the light of a wonderful star in the city of Bethlehem to worship the newborn Savior. They offered him Gifts, particles of which, like a sacred relic of life on the earth of Jesus Christ, are stored in Greece in special arks. The gifts presented by the sages of the East to Baby Jesus were not random, but had a certain symbolic meaning.
2
Gold, firstly, symbolically represents a tribute to subordinates to their master, namely, how the King of kings awaited the born Son of God. Secondly, the most luxurious and expensive things were made of gold, holy relics were often decorated with gold (for example, the faces of saints on icons, domes of temples). Gold can be considered a symbol of wisdom (not for nothing that the words are called "gold", and silence is called "gold").
3
Incense is a gift of the Magi to Jesus as God and the High Priest. Frankincense is an expensive aromatic resin, which is used by clergymen during incense during the services. This offering of the Magi symbolically reflects the awe of mortal people before God.
4
Smyrna is a Greek word for the resin of a tree growing in Ethiopia and Arabia that exudes incense. Smyrna is used in funeral ceremonies. The symbolic meaning of this gift of the magicians is to point out the sacrifice of the Messiah, that, having suffered all the persecutions and terrible torments, Jesus will die in order to save all people.
5
The legend says that the Mother of God passed the sacred Gifts brought to Jesus Christ by the Magi to the Jerusalem Christian community, from where the relic was transferred to the city of Constantinople, where it was stored in the church of St. Sophia. Transported in the 15th century, the Gifts of the Magi are still on Mount Athos under the arches of the Monastery of St. Paul.
6
Twenty-eight plates of gold, to which beads with incense and peace are attached with a silver thread, represent a relic sacred to the Christian world.
7
The tradition widespread among Christians to present gifts on the feast of the Nativity of Christ to newborns is connected precisely with the bringing of the Savior's gifts by the Eastern Magi.
note
The gospel calls sages and astrologers sorcerers. They knew about the ancient prophecy of the birth of the King of Glory, and, noticing a phenomenon unknown to them in the sky, immediately went into the light of a bright star of Bethlehem. The number of gifts indicates that there were three Eastern sages, although this number, like the names of the Magi, was not indicated by the evangelists.
- What was given to the Infant Christ?
- Who are the Magi and what do the gifts of the Magi symbolize?
