Christmas Advent Archives - Page 5 of 16

The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

11/16/2023

16 November 2017 Any reference to the Apostle St. Matthew, author of the first book of the New Testament, is made with such solemnity and reverence that speaking of him as a man seems almost sacrilegious, so close to the divine is he considered. But when Jesus came upon Matthew, he was a man who could scarcely be viewed with little but contempt by the human eye; the divine sight of Christ, however, saw in

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Christmas Fast

11/15/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 16, 2021 Georgios Arabatzoglou Another blessed period of fasting begins, a time of spiritual struggle and an effort to turn our mind to God, each of us with the strength and spiritual ‘nobility’ at our disposal, and, as always, in conjunction with the advice of our spiritual guide. This fast begins on 15 November and lasts until 24 December, while on 25 December, when we celebrate the Nativity of Christ, we have

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Christmas Advent: On the Feast of the Nativity

12/24/2022

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: Celebrating Christ’s Nativity

12/23/2022

By Fr John Breck, December 2, 2006 With the hyper-commercialization of Christmas in American culture, it’s important for us to step away from the noise and tinsel, in order to hear once again what Orthodox Christian tradition tells us about the real significance of this feast. This takes us back first of all to the Nativity stories of the Gospels. To interpret those stories, though, we need to turn as well to the ancient liturgical

The Thirty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent: St Anastasia the Roman

12/22/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, October 29, 2017 Saint Symeon the Translator We find two Anastasias in the Lives of the saints, both of whom were of prominent and famous families and who confessed their faith. Both were daughters of mighty Rome. The first was married against her will by her parents, but never came together with her husband, nor even slept with him, pretending she was ill, though in reality because he was a pagan.

The Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: Incarnation to Parousia

12/21/2022

By Fr John Breck, December 2, 2009 Celebration of Christmas, the Nativity of our Lord, invites us to look in a fresh way at the intimate relation that exists between the Incarnation of Christ and his “Second Coming” in glory. Too often Nativity is taken as a feast in and of itself, a family festival so deformed by the season’s commercial pressures that two of its major emphases, cosmic and eschatological, become lost in a

The Thirty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: Feast Day of Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer the Bishop of Antioch

12/20/2022

The Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, was a disciple of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, as was also Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna). Saint Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch, and successor to Bishop Euodius, Apostle of the Seventy. Tradition suggests that when Saint Ignatius was a little boy, the Savior hugged him and said: “Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent: Martyr Boniface and Saint Aglaïa

12/19/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 17, 2021 Evagoras Mahaira Aglaïa was a prosperous woman who lived in the region around Rome in the time of Diocletian and had Boniface as a slave. Bonifatius was her steward, very good-looking in appearance, generous to the poor and kind-hearted, but with a liking for drink and debauchery. They soon fell in love and had a clandestine relationship, since the difference in their social station would not permit any

The Thirty-Second Day of Christmas Advent: And Honesty for All

12/16/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 23, 2021 There are “bogus” Scriptures out there – special “revelations” to various characters (generally self-described as “prophets” and such). They have as a hallmark, a kind of self-promotion and a carefully crafted message to “solve” various religious problems. I’ll not name names lest I wind up on someone’s hit list. I’ll let the reader fill-in the blanks. However, there is something quite striking about the writings of the Bible,

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Hieromartyr Saint Eleftherios, a Young Bishop

12/15/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 16, 2016 This wonderful saint was the son of noble and prominent parents. He was born in Rome, where his father was an official in the imperial service, though he died in the saint’s childhood. His mother, Anthia, had heard the Gospel from Saint Paul and was, in fact, baptized by him. Given the fact that she was a widow, she entrusted her son’s education to the Bishop of Rome,

Tags

The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Christmas Fast

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Christmas Advent: On the Feast of the Nativity

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Christmas Advent: Celebrating Christ’s Nativity

The Thirty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent: St Anastasia the Roman

The Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent: Incarnation to Parousia

The Thirty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent: Feast Day of Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer the Bishop of Antioch

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent: Martyr Boniface and Saint Aglaïa

The Thirty-Second Day of Christmas Advent: And Honesty for All

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Hieromartyr Saint Eleftherios, a Young Bishop

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