Daily Meditations Archives - Page 178 of 333

The Second Day of Christmas. Mary, Did You Know? The Winter Pascha

12/26/2017

By Presvytera Vassi Haros There are hundreds of Christmas songs and hymns. They come in all different shapes and sizes and they range from fun to reverence. You may have heard of a song titled, “Mary, Did You Know?” It’s about the amazing things Jesus did and questions if Mary knew after giving birth that her son would: walk on water, bring the dead to life, give blind men sight, heal the lame… “Did you know

MERRY CHRISTMAS! St. John Chrysostom’s Christmas Homily

12/25/2017

Proffered by Father Stephen Freeman BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption

The Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent (Christmas Eve). Ecumenical Patriarch’s Christmas Message: Christ Conquers Violence and Evil through Love

12/24/2017

By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I + BARTHOLOMEW By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch To the Plenitude of the Church: Grace, mercy, and peace from the Savior Christ, born in Bethlehem Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, “Christ is descending from the heavens; let us meet Him!” God has appeared on earth and, at the same time, we have seen the perfect man together with the inconceivable value of the

The Thirty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent. The Fiery Furnace of Christmas

12/22/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman The three youths, wise in God, who shone with joy in the furnace, proclaimed the birth of Christ on earth; For just as the Lord sent down a precious dew, He preserved from the flame her who gave birth; He keeps her undefiled and enriches her with divine gifts. Therefore, Daniel, pleasing to God, rejoiced and was glad, For having foreseen the stone from the unquarried mountain, he now prays

The Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. What to Give to the One Who Made Everything?

12/21/2017

By Fr. John Parker So here is a twist on the usual question: what do you get for that someone who *made* everything? I confess to you, dear reader, that the question comes a bit crassly off my fingertips. But the truth is, here we are, at the inauguration of the Christmas feast—which continues through December 31 in Orthodox Christianity—and while we are hauling bags of wrapping paper and boxes to the curb (not the

The Thirty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Genealogy of Jesus

12/20/2017

By Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 21, 2014 We read today the genealogy of Jesus from St. Matthew’s Gospel. It is different from St. Luke’s genealogy and there are reasons for this which we do not time to talk about this morning. I would rather spend time on the point of this Gospel and that is, God became man to save everyone and everything. It is as Thomas Merton speaks of this using the

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. What do I want for Christmas?

12/19/2017

By Fr. Vasile Tudora As we approach the holy night of Nativity, comes a time when we ask ourselves the timeless question: what do I want for Christmas? If one looks around, generally electronics are popular with men, jewelry with women, gaming consoles with teens, and so on; as we could expect, mostly material things. I have yet to hear one answering, “I want the gift of prayer,” or of spiritual discernment, or unwavering faith.

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent. Christmas Throughout the Ages

12/18/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman I’ll have to ask for forgiveness at the outset on this post – mostly because of its speculative nature – something I generally prefer not to engage in – at least not for others to read. The Incarnation of Christ is significant in the course of our salvation – but we all too easily look at the story from a mere moral or soteriological point of view and fail to stop

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Christmas in General

12/15/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman “Peace on earth! Good will towards men!” is a common greeting to be found on cards during this season of the Nativity. These are, of course, the words sung by the angels the night Christ was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:14). It is also a phrase which admits of several interpretations. The possibility of various meanings is very likely the reason for its popularity on greeting cards. Who could be opposed

The Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent. Accepting the Lord’s invitation

12/14/2017

By Fr. Steven Kostoff Within the Orthodox Church, the Sunday between December 11-17 is called, simply enough, the “Second Sunday Before the Nativity of the Lord,” and more specifically, the “Sunday of the Forefathers.” This liturgical preparation for the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity—something of a build-up—is a conscious echo of the lengthy time of preparation, determined by God and embodied in the history of Israel, before the sending of His only-begotten Son into the