Advent Archives - Saint Sophia

The Seventh Day of Christmas. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

12/31/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, December 24, 2015. Listening to the hymns of the [Christmas] Vesperal Liturgy, the Royal Hours, and of Matins, I was struck by some extremely beautiful things, which spoke of the openness of God towards his creation; of his love and compassion for all his creation, for the entire universe, is wrapped up in the

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

12/12/2024

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-First Day of Christmas Advent. St. Savas the Sanctified, A Father of Desert Monasticism

12/05/2024

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

12/04/2024

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

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent. St. Andrew the First-called Apostle

11/30/2024

Saint Andrew the Apostle (Greek: ‘Ανδρέας, Andreas; early first century—mid to late first century AD), called in the Orthodox tradition Protokletos, or the First-called, is the brother of Peter the Apostle. The name “Andrew” (from Greek: “ανδρεία”, Andreia, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him. The New Testament records that Andrew

The First Day of Christmas Advent. The Origins of Advent.

11/15/2024

By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon In the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches of the West, the several weeks prior to Christmas are known as Advent, a name from a Latin word meaning “coming.” It happens that the beginning of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to November 30, the ancient feast day (in both East and West) of the Apostle Andrew. Among Christians in the West, this preparatory season, which tends to

The Sixth Day of Christmas. Is There Room in Your Inn?

12/30/2021

Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis And she gave birth to her first born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. -Luke2:7 In the Mexican culture there is a Christmas-time tradition called Las Posadas. In this tradition, a couple dressed up as Mary and Joseph go from home to home, asking if there is any room at “the inn.” Each home takes on the role of an

The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. It’s About Time.

12/07/2021

Early peoples created Myths, when they could not explain how or why things happened – from their own emotions to Nature. Traditional historians rely on man’s written & drawn records to interpret past progress & myths. Archaeologists’ science & artifacts form the basis of our knowledge of prehistorical civilizations, most of which seem to be in Africa, Europe, & Asia. We don’t know much about ancient cultures here in North America, but we need to.

Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Nativity Fast

11/17/2021

ADVENT-DERIVED FROM the Latin adventus, meaning “coming”—is a word that is not often used by Orthodox Christians living in the Eastern parts of the world. It is used more frequently by Orthodox Christians living in the West, for the simple reason that when they say “Advent”, other Christians immediately understand they are referring to a period of preparation before the Great Feast of Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord. However, there are three key differences

The Thirty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. The Desert of Human History.

12/17/2020

INTO THE DESERT OF HUMAN HISTORY, and even here, in to the modern deserts we shape and inhabit, at a time when the poor and needy—their tongues parched with thirst—desperately seek life-sustaining waters, the Holy One pours out rivers and fountains. He places the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive along their banks, and he sets together the cypress, the plane, and the pine. He is with us in our poverty, and he

Tags

The Seventh Day of Christmas. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

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

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. St. Savas the Sanctified, A Father of Desert Monasticism

The Twentieth Day of Christmas Advent: Holy Great Martyr Barbara

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent. St. Andrew the First-called Apostle

The First Day of Christmas Advent. The Origins of Advent.

The Sixth Day of Christmas. Is There Room in Your Inn?

The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. It’s About Time.

Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Nativity Fast

The Thirty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. The Desert of Human History.

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