The Nativity of Christ is a special feast and a great event for every Christian. In the Orthodox world it is celebrated on January 7 (Gregorian calendar) and belongs to the Twelve Great Feasts dedicated to the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the Mother of God.
The Nativity is told to us in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Church tradition has given us a form of worship that is beautiful in form and powerful in its aesthetic impact, filling believers with a sense of exultation and joy. This episode of Sacred History possesses enormous inspiring power; it is no coincidence that for almost two thousand years iconographers and painters have been depicting the Nativity of Christ in icons, frescoes, and paintings.
We would like to share with you photographs of a remarkable mid-19th-century fresco, presented as part of the picturesque ensemble of wall paintings in the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (59 Uspenskaya Street). Locally this church was called Alinskaya, since that merchant family took special care of the temple. Today it houses the Museum of the History of Faith — a branch of the Cherdyn Local History Museum.
The stone, two-storey, single-domed church had two altars. The upper church was consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and the lower — in the name of the Nativity of Christ. Naturally, the church could not help but "show" its parishioners this great event in all its beauty, visually bringing them closer to the splendid dramaturgy of the service.
On the western wall, directly above the entrance, this astonishing scene is presented to us. In the balanced composition of the vault we see how the Christmas star sends its rays into the cave (grotto), where from the manger — in a stream of bright light — the face of the infant Christ gazes out into the interior of the church. Animals have gathered by the manger; above the infant, with a thoughtful, admiring look, stand the Mother of God and Joseph. Beyond the cave we can discern the Magi bringing gifts, as well as angels ministering to the child.
This fresco tells us about the artists who painted the church being familiar with the traditions of Classicism and with realistic painterly tendencies that were highly valued in metropolitan churches. The fresco also speaks of a special gift of love, of the family as the hearth of that love, for it is in the family that Divine love is reflected — the care, acceptance, and inspiration that change the world.
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