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Tenth Day of Christmas Advent: Bethlehem Prepare!

The Church’s exhortation to get ready for Christmas is conveyed in poetic language. Our hymns command Bethlehem to prepare and make ready for the Nativity of our Lord: Behold, the time of our salvation has drawn near: O Cave, make ready! The Virgin is drawing near to give birth. O Bethlehem, land of Judah, be glad and rejoice, for from you our Lord has dawned. Listen, mountains and hills, and lands around Judea, for Christ

The Post-Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos: Remembering Saints Joachim and Anna

Coming as it does right after the beginning of the Church New Year, the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos on September 8 allows us a good start that we further hope we can sustain as the liturgical year unfolds before us.  As a straightforward and joyous feast of commemorating the birth of the Virgin Mary, we receive a “taste” of the joyousness of life from within the Church

Sixth Thursday after Pascha: Holy Ascension Thursday

The Ascension and the Glorification of Man (Part I) By Father Lawrence Farley In contemporary Orthodoxy, we are accustomed to referring to Christ as one of the Holy Trinity. He is usually referred to as “Christ our true God”, and the Gospel of John, which stresses His divine status, is, I would suggest, our favourite of the four Gospels. When announcing the reading from (say) Matthew’s Gospel, the deacon says, “Bless master him who proclaims

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

The adoration of Jesus by the wise men from the East is part of the Nativity celebration in the Orthodox Church.l Whatever the actual historical circumstances of the event—and Orthodox tradition takes them quite literally—the spiritual and theological significance of the coming of the kings with their gifts of paramount importance. We have already seen how the Church emphasizes the fact that the entire order of nature participates in the announcement of Christ’s birth, thus

Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: The Tree of Life Blossoms

In the hymns for the prefeast of Christ’s Nativity, Jesus’ birth heralds a return to paradise. The Messiah is born and the gates of Eden are opened. The Savior comes and the tree of life blossoms. Paradise is not a place on the map. It is a condition of spirit. When a person knows God and lives in communion with Him, this is paradise. When a person does not know God and lives in communion

REMEMBERING OUR VETERANS

By the Reverend Andrew J. Demotses   President Harry Truman was the object of an assassination attempt in which two secret service agents were killed while protecting him. In recounting the experience of that terrible day, Mr. Truman said, “You can’t imagine how a man feels when someone else dies for him.” The Old Testament recounts the story in which a similar feeling caused David to worship God. When he had expressed a longing to

Feast of the Holy Innocents (Tomorrow, December 29)

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW recounts King Herod’s reaction to the news of the Incarnation. Herod was the leader of the Jewish people under the authority of Rome during the time of Christ’s birth. Cherishing his crown more than anything, he was threatened by the news brought to him by the Magi: that an infant born in Bethlehem would be a long, as the prophets had foretold. In order to eliminate this potential threat to his

Christmas, 2012

What shall we offer you, O Christ?Who for our sake appeared on earth as a human?Every creature made by you offers you thanksgiving.The angels offer you a hymn,The heavens, a star,The magi, gifts,The shepherds, their wonder,The earth, its cave,The wilderness, a manger,And we offer to you, a Virgin Mother.(Vesper Hymn) The simplicity of the story of Christ’s birth reveals the depth of God’s love and the mystery of His actions in our life. As we

Christmas Eve: The Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent

The persons who are involved in the story of Christ’s birth were all quite different. Mary and Joseph were humble travelers seeking a place of shelter. The shepherds were simple men of the land tending their flocks. The wise men were wealthy and aristocratic foreigners wandering in a strange land. Yet, each of them shared a common characteristic. They opened their hearts to the actions of the Lord who mysteriously led them to the village

Christmas Advent: The Thirty-Fourth Day

THE CRECHE CHRISTMAS EVE is the beginning of the feast of the Nativity, the celebration of God with us. All of the waiting and preparation of Advent leads us to this night. On the evening before the celebration of Christ’s birth, the church gathers for a vigil. Images of darkness and light suffuse our worship during the Christmas Eve liturgy: we are entering into the dark night of our Savior’s birth, when Light will come