The Nativity FastMay God continue to strengthen us and draw us near to Him and one another as we remain in the Nativity Fast this week and the strict fast this Friday, December 24. Coming December 25The Nativity in the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus ChristThe birth of Jesus Christ is commemorated as one of the most joyful feast days of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is surpassed only by Pascha. Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection were offered for us, sinful humans. However, it would not have occurred without the consent of a young woman named Mary. Just imagine what would have happened if Mary had declined to bear Jesus Christ. We, as humans, would never have the option to be saved because Jesus could not die to save us from our sins. “That the Virgin will conceive and bear the Son of God” reveals the divine nature of Jesus Christ. As Scripture says: “... Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus.…’ ” (Luke 1:30- 31) Mary's faithful response makes her the highest model of obedience to God. “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38) The Incarnation of the Son of God could not be achieved only by the work of the Trinity, but also required the faith of the Virgin Mary. Therefore, the Virgin Mary is honored not only because God chose her, but because she chose to believe and obey God firmly. Amidst all the presents and food this holiday, I ask that you keep these things in mind, lest we forget that what we are celebrating is the beginning of our opportunity to be saved. from --Nativity of Our Lord by Lena Bashara |
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HighlightsA Compilation of Articles About or Related to this Advent Season
Congratulations BISHOP BASIL on your EnthronementGod grant you Many Years!
The Kingdom is at Hand: the December 15, 2004 Enthronement of the Right Reverend Bishop BASIL to the Newly-established See of Wichita and Mid-America.by Rev. Fr. Paul Hodge Perhaps a thousand of the faithful of the self-ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America came to the enthronement of Bishop BASIL for the See of Wichita and Mid-America on the evening of December 15, 2004. They gathered at St. George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas, to pray Vespers and to witness as Metropolitan PHILIP conveyed the episcopal staff and throne to the first bishop of the See of Wichita. During the Vespers, hymns were sung to commemorate the next day’s remembrance of the Prophet Haggai. Looking into Holy Scripture we discern the Prophet’s words to come from the Holy Spirit with special meaning for the establishment of a new diocese and the enthronement of her new father and shepherd. August in Antioch: Account & Reflections on the Enthronement of BISHOP BASIL (Essey)by Fr Joseph Huneycutt Again Magazine Provides Insight into Keeping Christmas as it Was
AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US By Father Meletios Webber I have just returned from the Netherlands, where I attended a Dutch birthday party for the first time. Birthdays are very important in the lives of Dutch people, much as namedays are in Greece or Russia. The family of the one celebrating gets together, along with large numbers of friends (both invited and uninvited). The party follows a predictable pattern, so that everyone taking part knows more or less what their role is, when to arrive, when to leave, when to present gifts, and what to say. Dutch people tend to be quite large (or at least tall), and since their houses are quite small, there is a generally intimate and pleasant atmosphere at such a party. The Dutch have their own, barely translatable word for this atmosphere: gezellig—somewhere between “cozy” and “warm and fuzzy,” but also including a dimension of good companionship and agreeable conversation. So important are birthdays in Holland that every Dutch house has a “birthday calendar” prominently displayed with (as often as not) almost every day of the year filled with names of people known to that family who celebrate their birthdays on a particular date. Adding a name to such a calendar is a naturally happy event, as the birth of a new human child, or of a new friendship, is a naturally happy event. The Mystery of God’s Incarnation If Christmas were simply a celebration of a new birth, it would be a beautiful event in itself. However, Christmas is very much more than that, and its significance is altogether more profound than simply that of a celebration of the birth of a young child. The celebration of Christmas in the Orthodox Church is the proclamation of a relationship—a relationship in general between God and His creation, and in particular between God and the human race. From an Orthodox perspective, this relationship makes available a further, more intimate one which is inaugurated through taking part in the Mystery of Holy Baptism. However, let us place that to one side for the time being, and concentrate on the Mystery of the Incarnation. THE EVER-VIRGINITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD By Fr. John Hainsworth Last year for the Feast of the Nativity, I gave a lecture about one of the central claims of the Christian faith: the Virgin Birth of Christ. This was all well until I used in passing the phrase “ever-virgin” with reference to the Lord’s Mother. Someone asked, “Do you actually mean that Mary remained a virgin after Jesus’ birth?” I said yes, that is what the Orthodox Church teaches. The look of surprised bemusement on the audience’s faces said it all. The miracle of the Virgin Birth is one thing, but lifelong abstinence from sexuality? That’s impossible! The lives of monastics and ascetics around the world and throughout history attest to the fact that of course it is possible. Sexual purity is only one of many challenges set for these spiritual warriors, and for many, perhaps most of them, it is not the greatest. The Orthodox have no difficulty, then, considering the ever-virginity of Mary a nonnegotiable fact and its alternative unthinkable. But why should this necessarily be so? Why insist on the idea that Mary (who was married, after all) did not go on to have a “normal” married life? A Consistent and Unbroken Tradition The question could be inverted. Why not believe in her ever-virginity? The Eastern Church has witnessed to the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos steadfastly for two thousand years and shows no sign of tiring. In the West, the idea was largely undisputed until late in the Reformation; even Luther and Calvin accepted the tradition. Indeed, to suggest (a) that the tradition about her perpetual virginity could have been introduced after apostolic times, (b) that this tradition would have gone little noticed by a Church in the throes of questioning everything about what it believed in the first millennium, (c) that such a novel tradition should be considered inconsequential enough to pass without discussion before it became universally proclaimed, and (d) that such a tradition should have no discernible literary or geographical origin and yet be universally accepted from very early in the Church’s history, is to form a very unlikely hypothesis. TYPE AND FULFILLMENT: THE FEAST OF NATIVITY IN SCRIPTURE AND SONG By Fr. John Finley The day of Christmas, celebrated on December 25, is referred to more precisely in the Orthodox tradition as the Feast of the Nativity according to the Flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. As this title indicates, the true emphasis of this great celebration is on the Incarnation of Christ, with all its wonderful implications for “us men and for our salvation,” as we proclaim in the Nicene Creed. For centuries, this message has been the object of intense contemplation for Christian hymnographers. Many of these writers, well versed in the scriptures, have taken note of the fact that countless Old Testament prophecies pointed toward this Incarnation and found their fulfillment in this event. For this reason, they have composed hymns that describe the manifold ways in which the Old is fulfilled in the New. How many of those living in the West are aware of the ancient hymns of Nativity that have been a part of Eastern Orthodox tradition for centuries? |
Come Visit an Orthodox Church!Orthodox Church Devotional ReflectionsThis is the time of year for youth groups to go caroling in nursing homes. Whenever we do this at my church, I love to watch the meeting of the two different worlds that takes place - the residents sitting here and there, lost in thought or confusion, in an atmosphere that is day-in-and-day-out very slow and quiet, invaded by a group of young people talking nervously, singing loudly, always with two or three in the back of the group that want to fool around and don’t pay attention. One or two residents always look like they’re being invaded by aliens. Let’s ask ourselves : How much is Christmas caroling something that we really want to do, and how much of it is something we think we need to do, or something that we want to put on our activity sheet to see if we can win the most active group award? Certainly, I’m not suggesting that any group stop caroling around the feast of the Nativity (no matter what expressions they may have on their faces or how quiet they may be, nursing home residents love to have kids come and sing for them) - but why not other times as well? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know the names of the people we go to sing to, and for them to know our names and the church we come from? Perhaps have one of the residents tell the two or three in the back who don’t pay attention to “shape up” - calling them by name? It’s great that SOYO groups all around the country go caroling. Why not more often than at this time of year? --Father David Smith Read More Orthodox Church reflections.. Orthodox Church Daily DevotionalTuesday, December 21, 2004 Nativity Fast Kellia: Exodus 32:1-7, 15-28 Epistle: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23 Gospel: St. Mark 8:22-26 Foreshadows IV ~ Sin and Shame: Exodus 32:1-7, 15-28, especially vs. 27: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Put every man his sword on his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" There have been those who have idealized the "New Testament Church," and have sought to return the Church to some imagined time of purity and uncorrupted fellowship. Such longing is fantasy, springing from wishful thinking and a failure to read the Scriptures. St. Paul points out very clearly that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Even among those who knew the Lord Jesus in the flesh, even among the beloved Twelve whom the Lord Himself chose, there were those "who would betray Him" (Jn. 6:64). And after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, still there were those who tried to trouble the Faithful and "pervert the Gospel of Christ" with their own ideas (Gal. 1:7). The present passage records one more example from the long history of the People of God in which men from among the chosen took upon themselves to fashion the Faith to their own liking. Through the centuries there have been heretics and schismatics who have asserted themselves and their God-given liberty "as an opportunity for the flesh" (Gal. 5:13). Sadly, sin does arise in the Church and brings shame on God's People and the Gospel of Christ. Let us read this passage carefully and learn how easily we may be corrupted (Ex. 32:7). Also, let us pray to God that He will aid us to remain honorable members of His Church and heirs of His Kingdom. A symptom of which to be wary, one that should alert us to spiritual danger, is impatience with those whom God has provided to guide the Church. Let us be troubled within ourselves when we find irritation in our hearts toward our Bishops or Priests. "When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together" (vs. 1). They grew restless waiting for the Prophet to return, and so they descended on Aaron like a mob, not to express fears and concerns, but to demand action. Notice the two imperative verbs, "Arise, make us gods...." (vs. 1). How ready they were to cast Moses aside rather than to wait until God should send him to them again (vs. 1). "Be subject unto God, O my soul, for from Him is my patient endurance....I shall not be moved from hence" (Ps. 61:5,6 LXX). Next, let us be attentive to the subtle temptation of making gods in our own image. There is a special danger for people in this scientific age to discount the possibility of our falling into idolatry. The action of the Israelites seems so unsophisticated, demanding "gods who shall go before us" (Ex. 32:1). Yet, the modern mind has proven quite capable of being captivated by things and ideas and of falling into the trap of giving persons, programs, movements, or theories the worship and devotion that is due to God alone. Doing so is idolatry, the making of other gods. The temptation is especially active as men are inconvenienced, feel afraid, or are insecure. "Let the peoples give Thee praise, O God, let all the peoples praise Thee" (Ps. 66:3 LXX). Finally, in this reading there is a warning against another sin sure to bring us shame before God: the desire to have our Faith be nothing but feasting and dancing, craving only the pleasures and being unwilling to undertake any of the efforts required to remain "on the Lord's side" (Ex. 32:26). What of the four seasons of Fasting, what of self-examination and confession, what of regular attendance at worship, what of sacrificial giving? Let us beware of the desire to "break loose, to [our] shame among [our] enemies" (vs. 25). "O Lord, before Thee is all my desire, and my groaning is not hid from Thee. For in Thee have I hoped, O Lord; Thou wilt hearken unto me, O Lord, my God" (Ps. 37:9,15 LXX). - provided by www.dynamispublications.org Orthodox Church Term of the DayORDINATION The sacramental act setting a man apart for the ministry of the Church by the laying on of hands of a bishop. The original meaning of ordination includes both election and imposing of hands (see article, "Ordination," at Acts 14; Acts 6:1-6; 14:23; 1 Tim. 4:14). From-- Glossary of Orthodox Church Terminology Orthodox Church PublicationsThe Word Magazine |
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