The Icon of the Nativity is one of the Twelve Festal Icons of the Great Feastdays of the Orthodox Church calendar. These epic or “story telling” icons show participants and details in an event of Christ’s life.
The Nativity icon shows Jesus in the manger in a cave rather than a stable. The cave is also mentioned in the Kontakion of Hymn of the Feastday of the Nativity, shown below:
Today, the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! Angels, with shepherds, glorify Him! Wise men ‘s with the star! Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a little child!
