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The Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. Every Human Birth

Birth, every human birth, is an occasion for local wonder. In Jesus’ birth the wonder is extrapolated across the screen of all creation and all history as a God-birth. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”—moved into the neighborhood, so to speak. And for thirty years or so, men and women saw God in speech and action in the entirely human person of Jesus as he was subject, along with them, to the common

The Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. BIRTH: WONDER . . . ASTONISHMENT . . . ADORATION

BIRTH: WONDER . . . ASTONISHMENT . . . ADORATION. There can’t be very many of us for whom the sheer fact of existence hasn’t rocked us back on our heels. We take off our sandals before the burning bush. We catch our breath at the sight of a plummeting hawk. “Thank you, God.” We find ourselves in a lavish existence in which we feel a deep sense of kinship—we belong here; we say thanks

The Second Day of Christmas Advent. The Meaning of Christmas

[My] journey began on Christmas morning, 1988, in Ottawa in a small Anglo-Catholic church called St. Barnabas. It was my first encounter with what my high church friends call “smells and bells.” Throughout that Christmas service a translucent ribbon of incense lingered just above eye level. Its constant presence provided a gentle introduction to the physical elements of the Christmas service that I had not experienced before—the Eucharist, the processions, the sights, sounds, and, yes,

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Fast of Advent

The Fast of Advent, by Father Leonidas Contos If there is one central idea in Paul, a kind of link that binds his theology to his ethics, that is his doctrinal theology and his moral theology; it is the idea of “newness of life.”  Again and again he makes this emphasis:  that when a person became a Christian, he literally renounced a former way of life and adopted a wholly new way.  In baptism the

Live the Church Year

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “LIVE THE CHURCH YEAR”? Our goal is to recover a more ancient way of looking at time and the mysterious relationship between the material and spiritual realms. The early Christians believed that the rhythm of the year gave us a perfect opportunity to re-enact the story of our salvation. In the holy days and seasons of the church year, the life of Christ and the entirety of human history are

The Fast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin (Part I)

By Father Leonidas Contos There are in the Orthodox tradition three principal periods of fasting during the ecclesiastical year; they are also the ones that are the least neglected. One is the forty-day period of Advent; the second is the forty-day period of Lent; the third is the fifteen-day fast which begins the first of August, and will end on the fifteenth with the commemoration of the Falling Asleep of the Theotokos. Among the three

Nativity Devotion, November 13: Our Advent Journey Begins

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis in “The Prayer Team” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Good morning Prayer Team! We are about to take a journey.  Whether one is a devout Christian or doesn’t know Christ at all, we are all about to take a journey that will see Christmas decorations go up, lines at the malls get long, and stress levels go up.  Such

The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Nativity Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

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 dwells here below; and he

The Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent. The Eve of Christmas

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 Vesperal Liturgy, the Royal Hours, and of Matins today, 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 Thirty-Ninth Day of Christmas Advent. Why Do I Need a Savior?

“For to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord” -Luke 2:11 Are you saved? We hear this question a lot in religious circles. What it mean for us? In order to be found, one has to have a sense that he or she is lost. And in order to be saved, one has to have a sense that he or she needs saving. The questions