¹ What we set aside for you from yesterday’s feast, due to the labour of the night’s vigil, you may now hear more fittingly—if you so wish.

² Most beloved brothers, we have just celebrated the birth of the Lord and Saviour, on which day He was born in time, though He is the One who precedes and created all ages and times. But today, through the clearest signs, God has been revealed in man—whether by the star that announced His birth from heaven, which guided the Magi as a forerunner to the sacred cradle of the infant they came to honour; or by His baptism in the waters of the Jordan, by which He consecrated the waters for the salvation of all nations and the human race—for He, who is purer than all waters, entered not to be sanctified but to sanctify them; or perhaps today is also the day of that great miracle when, at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, He first turned water into wine.

³ By this miracle, He surely signifies that He will transform all nations—who, like water, had been flowing away in vanity and emptiness—into the true taste of spiritual wisdom and the pure truth of the true faith. In any of these three events, the mysteries and joys of our salvation are contained. For the star revealed to us that He was born of a Virgin, baptism granted to us what He consecrated in the Jordan, and by His miraculous work of turning water into wine, He prefigured our own transformation for the better.

⁴ The Magi themselves, who reached the cradle of the heavenly child by following the guidance of a star, what else did they express through their gifts but our faith? In the fact that they offered three gifts, the Trinity is understood; and in the fact that there were three of them, each offering a single gift, the unity within the Trinity is revealed. Through gold, Christ is shown as King; through frankincense, He is recognized as God; and through myrrh—used for anointing the bodies of the dead—His burial is foretold as the one who would be crucified.

⁵ Following this example, beloved, let us imitate the Magi in spiritual devotion. Above all, let us seek Christ diligently until we are found worthy to discover Him. Let the light of faith be our guide, like the star in the sky. This faith should reveal Him to us, no longer as an infant crying in a manger, but as the one reigning at the highest throne of heaven; no longer resting in His mother’s arms, but seated in the glory of the Father, worthy of our adoration. No longer should we consider Him in His humility, but as the one who will come again in majesty to judge the world.

⁶ Let the offering of the three gifts be for us a perfect confession of the Trinity. We must believe in the unity of God without confusion and the distinction of the three Persons without separation. We must believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God—three Persons, but not three substances. Regarding the divine nature, we must confess one divinity in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in such a way that we do not think of a single Person within the Trinity, nor a triplication of the divine substance. Rather, we must assign plurality to unity in such a way that equality is not denied to the Trinity. And although there is numerical distinction within the one divinity, we must not introduce division. Thus, the devotion of the faithful must be properly ordered, so that there is neither separation within unity nor confusion within the Trinity.

⁷ Dearest brothers, the holy day of our Lord’s birth is near. On that day, the Lord was born; on this day, He was baptized. Then, He gave us birth into life; now, He regenerates us for salvation. Then, He took upon Himself the lost Adam; now, He washes away the sinner. He came, therefore, to baptism, as it is written. But why would He be washed, He who was pure? Surely, it was so that the Pure One might cleanse the impure. The waters flowed over Him then, but they carried away our sins with them. Drops of baptism fell from Him, but in those drops, our guilt was washed away.

⁸ Oh, the mercy and power of the Lord! We had not yet come into the world, and yet we were already being cleansed in baptism. We were purified by Him before we were even born. For this was the very purpose of baptism: that the waters, which were to cleanse us, would first be cleansed by Him. And as the Scripture says: “When He came up from the water, He saw the heavens opened”. Was heaven opened to Him then, whose eyes already beheld the inner depths of heaven? No, rather, heaven was opened to reveal the mystery of baptism—that when a person emerges from the waters of baptism, the gate of the heavenly kingdom is opened to them.

⁹ And what shall we say of this: that the Magi came to the newborn Lord—or rather, were led to Him? They saw Him laid in a manger, yet the lowliness of His birth did not diminish their reverence for His divinity. They adored Him with their bodies, honoured Him with their gifts, and venerated Him with their devotion. With their eyes, they saw a man; with their worship, they confessed a God.

¹⁰ For they perceived in the One who was born something far greater than what their eyes beheld—something that their hearts could grasp, though their eyes could not foresee. The Lord, who was physically born at that moment, was the One through whom all things were made. He was seen lying in the manger, yet He ruled in heaven. He was contained within a tiny body, yet He held all creation within Himself. He was indeed born of a mother, but it was He who had created His mother beforehand.

¹¹ And thus, the Magi humbled themselves before Him, for they saw the stars serving Him. They recognized Him as God, for even the heavens obeyed Him. This is why their gifts were filled with divine mystery. As you have heard, they offered gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The threefold nature of their gifts conveyed a threefold meaning: in the frankincense, they offered honour to His divinity; in the gold, they acknowledged His royal majesty; and in the myrrh, they foretold the burial of His body.

¹² Let us also, therefore, dearest brothers, offer holy and sincere gifts to our God: faith, charity, patience, humble minds, virtuous conduct, and souls made worthy to be His dwelling place. For these are the gifts that please God—these are the offerings that delight Him. Though they are presented to Him, they benefit those who offer them.

¹³ For He needs nothing—no gift, no offering—but this is the finest gift we can give Him: that He may have a reason to grant us His gifts in return. He asks nothing more of us, He demands nothing further, except the salvation of our souls. For He considers that we offer Him everything when we live in such a way that, through Him, we receive everything.

¹⁴ May this be granted to us through the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father for all eternity. Amen.