When it is said
It is the kontakion of the forefeast, the days of getting ready that lead into Christmas.
The Orthodox Church in America’s calendar gives it on most days from 20 December up to Christmas Eve.
In the Greek service book for 24 December it comes at Matins, the morning service, after the sixth song of the canon.
Where it comes from
No author known
A hymn for the days before
No author is named for it in the service books. It opens with the same words as St Romanos’s kontakion for Christmas Day, “Today the Virgin”. That hymn sings of the birth itself. This one is set a few days earlier, with the Virgin still on her way to the cave and the whole world given the news ahead of time.
The Greek Menaion for 24 December, Matins, kontakion of the forefeast; Orthodox Church in America, troparia and kontakia for 20 December
Why a cave?
Luke does not mention a cave. He says that Mary laid her Son in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). The cave is named by an early Christian writer, St Justin Martyr. In his Dialogue with Trypho he wrote that Joseph could find no lodging in Bethlehem. So he stayed in a cave near the village, and there Mary gave birth to Christ and laid Him in a manger.
St Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 78, in the Ante-Nicene Fathers translation
What the words mean
“The Word Who is before all ages”
The hymn opens and closes on the same thought. The Child about to be born is the Word Who is before all ages, and the God Who is before all ages. The Word is John’s name for the Son: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
The Scripture in it
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ἡ Παρθένος σήμερον, τὸν προαιώνιον Λόγον,
ἐν Σπηλαίῳ ἔρχεται, ἀποτεκεῖν ἀπορρήτως.
Χόρευε ἡ οἰκουμένη ἀκουτισθεῖσα,
δόξασον μετὰ Ἀγγέλων καὶ τῶν Ποιμένων,
βουληθέντα ἐποφθῆναι, παιδίον νέον,
τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων Θεόν.