Prophet Isaiah is considered the most outstanding prophet of the Old Testament. He is  sometimes called the Old Testament Evangelist because of the great number of his prophecies concerning Christ in the New Testament.  Isaiah, who preached in Jerusalem, was alive in 722 BC when the Assyrian king Sargon took the Hebrew nation occupying Israel into captivity. The Book of the Isaiah is noted for its elegant Hebrew. It has been translated into many languages even providing many of the lyrics for the famous and widely performed Messiah by Handel. In many domed Orthodox churches the icons of the prophets encircling the bottom of the dome include the Prophet Isaiah holding a scroll inscribed with one of his prophesies.

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!