Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/77

 the idea of the 's Image to be conceived in the bowels of their spiritual thoughts, in order that may be truly-formed in their hearts, as saith the Apostle Paul in his Epistle. For such is the profit to be derived from all the festivals observed by the Church; and unless this is the result, all our labour will be in vain, and in vain all the round whereby we commemorate the life and actions of the. O, make us to be blameless, that we may live in purity, in faith, and in a right spirit, and that we may apprehend salvation by the eye of our minds, close our sight against every earthly lust, and lift up our eyes towards the high and heavenly kingdom, and there behold Him, Who is clothed in a bodily garment hiding therewith His dazzling Form, seated on the right hand of the Almighty, invisible to mortal ken. And as we have honoured this festival of the Nativity with the voice of the [Church] services, so may we sing to the Begotten in the mystical Sion. And now with an equal praise we magnify the, and , because He has saved His people in a wonderful way, and redeemed us with a mighty arm.

(w) "We praise the, and , one Essence, because He has saved those of earth by the birth of ; to Him be glory. And may this illustrious festival of the Nativity be blessed, and Satan driven far off from the baptized, and may the grace of the Adorable Spirit descend upon us. To the erring author [of this hymn] stretch forth Thy hand, O ."—From the Khâmees, and appointed in the Gezza to be read on the Feast of the Holy Nativity.

§ 7. "In the Name of God the Most Merciful. The orthodox creed of the Nestorians, drawn up by the undeserving Abd Yeshua, Metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia. Abd Yeshua, Metropolitan of Nisibis and its dependencies, says: That the most glorious and exalted Creator is the Existent, the Self-Existent, the One, the Truth, the only One, Who is not susceptive of plurality in any way, Whose Essence is eternal, the Wise, the Living. Christians apply to Him, whose Essence is eternal, the name of, because He is the Cause and Source, and the Maker of all created beings, and pre-existent to them in Nature and Essence. They apply to the Wise the name of , because wisdom is begotten of the Essence of the Wise, without time Rh