On the day of 25 December
In the countless ages that have passed since the beginning of the world when God created heaven and earth and formed man in his own image and likeness; also in the very many ages since the Most High placed an arc in the clouds following the flood, the sign of the covenant and of peace; since the migration of Abraham, our father in faith, from Ur of the Chaldeeans in the twenty-first century; since the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt under the leadership of Moses in the thirteenth century; since the anointing of David as king around the year one thousand; in the sixty-fifth week, according to the prophet Daniel; in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiade; in the seven hundred fifty-second year since the foundation of the City [of Rome]; in the forty-second year of the emperor Octavian Caesar Augustus, when the whole world lay at rest in peace, Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to consecrate the world through his most merciful coming, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea having become man from the Virgin Mary: the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
