Christmas Archives - Page 9 of 27

The Forty Days of Christmas: The Presentation, “Ypapanti,” of our Lord

02/02/2021

By Stephen Freeman My title is slightly misleading. There are not “forty days of Christmas” in the Orthodox Church – but there is a major feast that marks the fortieth after Christmas: the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, sometimes called the Feast of the Meeting (February 2). It occurs forty days after Christmas in accordance to the requirements of the Jewish Law. Tradition holds that Joseph and Mary brought the child to Jerusalem before

A Faerie Apocalypse

01/15/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 1, 2015 Somewhere in the late 60’s (my teen years), I found myself home recuperating from an appendectomy. In those days they actually recommended a period of convalescence before returning to normal activities (today’s medical advice, written in insurance offices, deems recuperation to be a needless bit of a money-drain). But I suddenly had extra time on my hands with little to do. I searched the bookshelves for something unread,

The Mystery of the Forerunner

01/07/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 28, 2015 There is a unanimous witness in the Christian gospels concerning the place of St. John the Baptist. In the Orthodox world he is generally referred to as the Forerunner. All of the gospels agree that he plays a key role in the coming of the Messiah. It is a role that is largely ignored by most of the Christian world. The gospels make reference to two Scriptures when they

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Light Shines in the Darkness (Feast Day of the Holy Innocents)

12/29/2020

Your Nativity, O Christ our God, made the light of knowledge dawn on the world. For through it those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to worship You, the Sun of righteousness, and to know You, the Dawn from on high. O Lord, glory to You! (Apolytikion of the Nativity) THE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS is a feast of light and joy, since we celebrate the coming of “the true Light which gives

The Fourth Day of Christmas. The Fiery Furnace of Christmas.

12/28/2020

By Father Stephen Freeman, December 24, 2006 The three youths, wise in God, who shone with joy in the furnace, proclaimed the birth of Christ on earth; For just as the Lord sent down a precious dew, He preserved from the flame her who gave birth; He keeps her undefiled and enriches her with divine gifts. Therefore Daniel, pleasing to God, rejoiced and was glad, For having foreseen the stone from the unquarried mountain,

Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent. For so has God Loved the World (Part II)

12/24/2020

But the road from Bethlehem to Zion is long, and is leading us through Gethsemane and Golgotha. Already in Bethlehem the newborn Godchild is presented with funeral offerings by the Wise Men from the East. “Today God leads the Wise Men to worship through the star, prefiguring His three-day burial in gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The very doors of the Bethlehem cavern are nearly stained with the innocent blood of the children who were killed

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

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent. The Feast Day of Saint Eleutherios.

12/15/2020

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-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Morality of Christmas.

12/11/2020

By Father Stephen Freeman Morality is tricky business in what is an extremely moral society. I pray my readers to be patient with me as I explain what I think is the problem. First, I will note that morality is all that is left when the most fundamental grounds of a culture have been destroyed. We indeed live in just such a time, hence the rise of a vehemence in the moral life. Second, I will suggest

The Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Russian Nativity Icon.

12/10/2020

The Russian Nativity Icon The Russian nativity icon vividly portrays the Christmas perspective of the Orthodox Church. Through symbolism and teaching about Gods incarnation (becoming human) the icon presents Christmas as a “feast of re-creation.” The word icon is a Greek word meaning “image” or “likeness.” The nativity icon is done in an art style dating back to the sixth century Byzantine Empire. Orthodox iconography is a purely idealistic art form. Through the Byzantine style

Tags

The Forty Days of Christmas: The Presentation, “Ypapanti,” of our Lord

A Faerie Apocalypse

The Mystery of the Forerunner

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Light Shines in the Darkness (Feast Day of the Holy Innocents)

The Fourth Day of Christmas. The Fiery Furnace of Christmas.

Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent. For so has God Loved the World (Part II)

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

The Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent. The Feast Day of Saint Eleutherios.

The Twenty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. The Morality of Christmas.

The Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent. The Russian Nativity Icon.

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