Daily Meditations Archives - Page 259 of 332

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent: THE TWO SUNDAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Part II)

12/18/2014

The Old Testament Church’s anticipation of the Lord’s First Coming serves as an exhortation to the New Testament Church not to forget its anticipation of His Second Coming: Christ has commanded those with understanding to be vigilant and to hope for His coming, for He has come to be born from a Virgin. At your second coming, O Christ, make me, who honor Your coming in the flesh, one of the sheep at Your right

The Thirty-Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Angel of the Lord and the Mountain of God (Part IV)

12/17/2014

Receive, O manger; Him whom Moses the Law-giver foresaw in the bush on Horeb, now born of the Virgin through the divine Spirit. (Vespers of the Forefeast, December 20, Theotokion of the Lity) It is this astonishing paradox that the Orthodox Church repeatedly con1pels us to contemplate, a paradox that was beautifully expressed by St. John Chrysostom: What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me

The Thirty-Second Day of Christmas Advent: The Angel of the Lord and the Mountain of God (Part III)

12/16/2014

BUT IF IT IS INDEED THE CASE that God Himself was seen by so many, why is Moses singled out as the one who spoke to God face to face? The answer lies in Exodus 33, when Moses asks to see God in all His glory: “I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, reveal Yourself to me, that I may see You clearly and find grace in Your sight …” Then God

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Eleutherios the Hieromartyr

12/15/2014

Eleutherios was born in Rome in the second century AD. He was among the first and youngest to carve a niche for himself in Christianity in the eternal city of Rome, where he astounded his elders with his prodigious intellect and early development. Had his father, a high public official of pagan Rome, lived to guide his immensely talented son, things might have taken a different turn for the boy and for Christianity, but his

The Twenty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker and Bishop of Tremithus

12/12/2014

Saint Spyridon of Tremithus was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd, and had a wife and children. He used all his substance for the needs of his neighbors and the homeless, for which the Lord rewarded him with a gift of wonderworking. He healed those who were incurably sick, and cast out demons. After the death of his wife, during the reign of Constantine

The Twenty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent: ST. ANNAS CONCEPTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

12/09/2014

Barrenness and Fertility “Be glad, O barren woman who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who are not in travail, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:1) ON DECEMBER 9, the Church commemorates the conception of the Virgin Mary. This is another story that is nowhere recorded in the Old or New Testaments, but it was known to the

Twenty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent: The Angel of the Lord and the Mountain of God (Part I)

12/08/2014

The Lord came down from Sinai and appeared to us from Seir; He hastened from Mount Paran along with myriads at Kadesh, angels with Him at His right hand, (Deuteronomy 33:2) ANOTHER OLD TESTAMENT ALLUSION in the fourth ode of the katavasias is the mount of shaded leafy trees, which is a reference to the Book of Habakkuk: “God will come from Teman, the Holy One from the mount of shaded leafy trees” (Hab. 3:3).

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Savas the Sanctified

12/05/2014

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”. St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

The Twentieth Day of Christmas Advent: Holy Great Martyr Barbara

12/04/2014

The Holy Great Martyr Barbara lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Her father, the pagan Dioscorus, was a rich and illustrious man in the Syrian city of Heliopolis. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to his only daughter. Seeing Barbara’s extraordinary beauty, Dioscorus decided to hide her from the eyes of strangers. Therefore, he built a tower for Barbara, where only her pagan teachers were allowed to

Nineteenth Day of Christmas Advent: Search the Scriptures (The Katavasias, Part III)

12/03/2014

Rod of the Root of Jesse The fourth ode of the katavasias refers to one of the great prophecies predicting the coming of the Messiah: There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a Bower shall grow out of his root. The Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness. (Is. 11:1-2) Jesse was