The Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ

According to the Old Testament, every male infant was to be circumcised in remembrance of the covenant given by the Lord to the patriarch Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:10–14; Lev. 12:3). On the eighth day after His birth our Lord Jesus Christ too was circumcised: the Lawgiver Himself fulfilled the requirement of the law, to show us an example of obedience to the will of God. The Lord was circumcised and thereby showed us clearly that He had truly taken flesh and become man. At the performing of this rite Christ was given the name Jesus, which the Archangel Gabriel had announced to the Most Holy Virgin Mary (Luke 1:31–33; 2:21). Jesus means Saviour, and indicates that Christ became man to save the world.

Circumcision was a foreshadowing of Baptism. In the New Testament it was replaced by the Mystery of Baptism (Col. 2:11–12).

Information about the celebration of the feast of the Circumcision in the Eastern Church is available from the fourth century. The canon of the feast was written by the Venerable Stephen the Sabbaite (commemorated 28 October).