The Nativity of Christ and Martyrdom

Source: oca.org

 Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

CHRIST IS BORN!

GLORIFY HIM!

The Gospel reading for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord is Matthew 2:1-12. This passage proclaims the Good News that the Savior was born in Bethlehem according to the biblical prophecies.

The star guides the Magi and they, in turn, bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Child in acknowledgment that He is unique and a true King, testified to by cosmic signs that even the Gentile Magi can properly interpret. Joyous as this is, there is already a hint of the ultimate destiny of Christ in that myrrh is used in the burial customs of the Jews.

On the Second Day of the Nativity, we complete the reading of the second chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel—2:13-23, which immediately introduces us to the tragic reality of the massacre of the innocent boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger. The previous joy of the Savior’s Nativity is replaced by the wailing and lamentation of the mothers of these innocent children, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more” [Jeremiah 2:18].

The shadow of the Cross lay across the infancy narratives in this Gospel, for in the immediate post-Nativity period, these male children become the first of many martyrs who must die because Christ has entered the world, as many of the powerful of this world—following the dark example of King Herod—will not receive Him; they will actually despise Him and turn against His followers. Thus, the suffering of innocent children is somehow taken up by God as an offering in a sinful world that fluctuates between light and darkness. 

And we must acknowledge that the suffering of innocent children continues to the present time - a suffering directly caused by human wickedness. We now understand that the cave of the Nativity anticipated the tomb of Christ’s burial, and that the swaddling clothes anticipated the grave clothes with which Christ would eventually be bound following His death on the Cross.

On the Third Day of the Nativity - and on the Sunday After Nativity - we commemorate the Protomartyr Stephen, the first to die for his faith in Christ in the post-Resurrection community of the newborn Church. St. Stephen's lengthy speech to his fellow Jews, in which he upbraided them for their lack of faith; and in which he proclaimed Jesus as the Risen and Ascended Christ is recorded in ACTS 7. His brutal martyrdom by stoning followed as his testimony resulted in a furious and deadly rejection of his convicting words. In fact, "they gnashed their teeth against him" (ACTS 7:54).

Martyrdom has always been a distinct and powerful witness to Christ. Actually, “from the beginning” the Incarnation and Martyrdom are inextricably joined together in a world torn by the tension between darkness and light. To our great joy, we know "that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (JN. 1:5).

The kontakion for the Feast of Saint Stephen captures the movement between the joy of Christ’s birth and the sobering reality of what Christ’s coming meant for some:
Yesterday the Master assumed our flesh and became our guest; Today His servant is stoned to death and departs in the flesh: The glorious first martyr Stephen!

There is no greater witness to Christ than that of the martyrs—flesh and blood men, women and children who gave their lives for the Lord in the sure hope and assurance that eternal life awaited them in the Kingdom of God. 

If we exchange a “Merry Christmas” with others, we always need to be mindful of the commitment we are making to the newborn Christ. As we temporarily indulge in the days of the Feast, we realize that the Christian life is ultimately a commitment to discipline and restraint, even the “crucifixion” of the flesh with all of its desires, in order to “witness” to Christ as disciples who believe that His advent in the flesh, culminating in His death and resurrection, has prepared a place for us in His eternal Kingdom where there is “life everlasting.”

The Mysterion of the Incarnation

Source: orthodoxroad.com

 Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We were blessed yesterday morning with a truly festal Liturgy and celebration of the Lord's Nativity in the flesh. I am sorry about cancelling the festal Matins on the eve of the Feast, but that added rest allowed me to recover enough to serve the Liturgy yesterday. It was a joy see the church so filled with worshippers. I hope that your respective Christmas celebrations went well.

As our fast-paced culture moves so swiftly forward (toward what may be a fair question); it may seem as if Christmas is already over - "one and done" as the saying goes. Or what remains could be the rush to return gifts that do not work, do not fit, or are unwanted. Let's slow things down for a moment, if possible, and bring back to mind some of the incredibly rich hymnography that we just sang in the Liturgy or read through on our own. We can meditate upon these hymns as the Nativity Feast continues until January 4 inclusive. The longest fast-free period in our liturgical year! 

These hymns are united in their rhetorical capacity to state the paradox of God becoming man. I was speaking with someone in the church yesterday, while preparing for the Liturgy, and we both agreed that thinking on the Incarnation can "explode" one's mind. A profound mysterion to use of the Apostle Paul's chosen words to reveal the meaning of Christ among us!

This first example is the third kathisma taken from the festal Matins:

How can a womb contain Him whom nothing can
   contain?

How can He remain in His father's bosom, yet rest in his mother's arms?

It is His good pleasure to accomplish this.

Having no flesh, He purposely assumes it for our sake.

He who is becomes what He never was.

He shares our substance without forsaking His own nature.

Desiring to make us citizens of the world on high,Christ, the Only-begotten of the       Father, is born on earth as a man.

_____

From the Liturgy, the incomparable kontakion, which is actually the prelude to the metered theological poem (known as a kontakion) of St. Romanos the Melode:

Today he virgin gives birth to the transcendent one,

And the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable  one!

Angels, with shepherd, glorify Him!

The wise journey with a star,since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a little child!
_____

And, the special Hymn to the Theotokos that replaces "It is Truly Meet" in the Liturgy (actually the Irmos of the Ninth Ode of the splendid Nativity Canon, also from the festal Matins):

Magnify, O my soul,

the most pure virgin Theotokos,

more honorable and more glorious than the heavenly hosts!

I behold a strange, most glorious mystery!Heaven - the cave!

The cherubic throne - the virgin!

The manger - the place where Christ lay,

  the uncontainable God, whom we magnify in song!

There is no need for any further commentary, as each person who reads and meditates upon these hymns will provide his/her own personal interior commentary. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us: think on these things!

The History of December 25

 

Image source: ancientfaith.com

Dear Parish Faithful,

To this day it remains uncertain as to how exactly December 25 was eventually chosen to be the date on which Christians worldwide celebrate the Birth of Christ (the Armenian Apostolic Church remains an exception, still celebrating the Lord's Nativity on January 6). Scholars and historians have studied the issue deeply and have come to somewhat different tentative conclusions. There is no doubt that December 25 was already circulating as one choice among very early Christian writers before the 4th c. as the date on which Christ was born. Of course, this was based on a "symbolic" reading of ancient ideas about such themes as the creation of the world, and not on historically verifiable data. 

One early Christian idea was that since the creation of the world occurred on March 25; then, the "new creation" in Christ began with his birth on the same day. Yet, it was understood that the actual incarnation of the Son of God occurred when he has conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. That conception would precede his birth by exactly nine calendar months, thus demonstrating that his actual birth in the flesh must have occurred on December 25. This was the theory of a certain Sextus Julianus Africanus, in the 3rd c. However, it was not universally accepted and there is no indication that December 25 was celebrated as a feast day before the 4th c. Yet, an ancient work known as the Chronograph of 354, informs us that in Rome, the birth of Christ on December 25 was first celebrated in 336. As it spread throughout Western Europe, we also know that that date was eventually accepted in Constantinople in 379, and in Antioch in 386. But not in Jerusalem until 6th c.! 

There appears to be good evidence that the Nativity of Christ on December was very much influenced by various other celebrations around or on the date of December 25 - "pagan" as we would say - in Rome in the fourth c. Christians could very well have finally settled on December 25 as a Christian response to these celebrations, even if initially conceived as a polemical response to non-Christian Roman traditions. At this point, I will simply provide a summary paragraph from the book of a prominent historian, Joseph F. Kelly, PhD (chair of the Theology and Religious Studies of John Carroll University) on the origins of Christmas. In fact, his very well-received and fairly detailed study of the issue is known simply as The Origins of Christmas. Synthesizing and summarizing a great deal of historical research, he writes the following in the chapter entitled "Creating Christmas Day and the Christmas Season:" 

“The Roman Christians did not tell us why they finally chose December 25 to celebrate the dies natalis Christi (the “natal day of Christ”), but it was not because they believed it to be the exact date of Jesus’s birth. While no one piece of evidence finalizes the case, most likely the cult of the Unconquered Sun and the Christian struggle against it along with the tradition of identifying Christ with the prophet Malachi’s “Sun of Righteousness” and the dating of Christ’s birth to the day that was also the winter solstice, itself a consequence of dating his incarnation to March 25, all united in Rome to make December 25 an appropriate if not chronologically certain date for Christ’s birth. When this was combined with the birthday of Mithra and the proximity of Saturnalia and New Year’s, the Roman Christians chose a date which had already achieved some acceptance and which could counter several major pagan feasts.”

The Origins of Christmas, p. 83-84 by Joseph Kelly

Could that be understood as "baptizing" a culture and bringing it within a Christian understanding of time and salvation?

Nativity Narrative Test

Image source: uncutmountainsupply.com

 Dear Parish Faithful,

This is an admittedly an old "warhorse," that has gone out for many years. Yet, we have so many new folks in the parish and on our parish distribution list, that perhaps they will also like to take up the challenge. And for the others, you can test your ever-growing knowledge of the Scriptures. Of course, this presupposes prioritizing the reading of the Nativity narratives during this season of the year.

Nativity Narrative Test

The following test questions should be answered by using the following key:

M – St. Matthew L – St. Luke ML – Sts. Matthew & Luke N – Neither Gospel

1. This Gospel contains a sequence of revelatory dreams to St. Joseph _____

2. This Gospel has an ox and an ass by the manger of the Christ Child _____

3. This Gospel mentions the census that takes Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem _____

4. This Gospel contains the genealogy of Christ that begins with the Patriarch Abraham _____

5. This Gospel narrates the massacre of the Innocents _____

6. This Gospel narrates the visit of three magi who bring gifts to the Christ Child _____

7. This Gospel narrates the angelic visitation to shepherds watching their flocks _____

8. This Gospel contains references to King Herod _____

9. This Gospel narrates that Christ was born in the Hebrew month equivalent to Dec. _____

10. This Gospel contains the prophecy of Isaiah that a “virgin” shall conceive _____

11. This Gospel narrates the journey of the “Holy Family” to Egypt and back to Israel _____

12. This Gospel narrates that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths _____

13. This Gospel refers to Jesus as the Word of God _____

14. This Gospel tells us that the name of Christ’s mother is Mary _____

15. This Gospel narrates the circumcision of the eight-day old Jesus _____

16. This Gospel narrates that Jesus was born in a cave/stable/house _____

17. This Gospel informs us that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem _____

18. This Gospel tells us that after His birth, Jesus returned to Nazareth _____

19. This Gospel refers to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus _____

20. This Gospel mentions women in the genealogy of Christ _____

The Glory of God

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS BORN!  GLORIFY HIM!

One of the great Orthodox homilists of the 19th c. was St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (+1867). He combined great rhetorical skills with a deep knowledge of the Scriptures and an in-depth awareness of the inexhaustible resources of Orthodox theology. In one of his many Nativity homilies, Met. Philaret chose as his main focus, the following text from St. Luke's Gospel: 

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest! (Lk. 2:13)

There follows in this homily a remarkable passage about the meaning of the term "the glory of God." I have seen this passage cited by later Orthodox theologians (such as Vladimir Lossky and John Meyendorff), in numerous publications because of its penetrating depth into the biblical and theological concept of the glory of God. It is more than timely to read these words during the Nativity season as we join the angels in precisely praising God with the words "Glory to God in the highest!" This text forms the deepest content of the ancient hymn known as the Great Doxology:

Glory is the revelation, a manifestation, a reflection, an externalization of inner perfection. God, from eternity, is revealed to Himself in the eternal birth of the Son of God, and in the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit, both of whom are one in essence with the Father. In this way, unity in the Holy Trinity shines forth essentially in an undimmed and unchanging glory.

God the Father is the Father of glory (Eph. 1:17), the Son of God is the brightness of His glory (Heb. 1:3), and Himself has the glory which [He] had with the [Father] ... before the world was (Jn. 17:5). Equally, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of glory (I Pet. 4:14). The blessed God who is above all glory abides in His own internal glory, so that He does not require any other witnesses and does not need any participants in His glory.

However, since, by His endless goodness and love, He desires to communicate His blessedness to have gracious participants in His glory, He moved outward with His endless perfections, and they are manifested in His creation. His glory appears to the heavenly powers, is reflected in mankind, and is dressed in the beauty of the visible world. He gives it, and it is accepted by its participants, and then it returns to Him, and this circle of the glory of God comprises the blessed life and the prosperity of creation.

 

Toward the end of the same homily, Met. Philaret draws the faithful into this glorification of God in the presence of the Mystery of the Incarnation with the following rhetorical flourish:

This is the glorious mystery and mysterious power of this day! Heavenly servants of the light saw the dawning of this glory before we ever did, and immediately, having turned to Him, they declared, Glory to God in the highest! Now it is no longer the morning, but the full day of this glory. Let our doxology rise up. Let it go up also to the inhabitants of Heaven. Let our own words rise up in the joyful ecstasy of the heart to the very throne of the Almighty: "Glory to God in the highest!"

Shared Points in the Gospel Infancy Narratives

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"In the form of God all things were made by Him (Jn. 1:3); in the form of a servant, he himself was born of a woman, born under the law (Gal. 4:4)."  — St. Augustine - The Trinity

Yesterday's Nativity Narrative Test highlighted the differences between the two Gospels in the presentation of Christ's Nativity. Yet, we do not want to lose sight of the many "shared points" which are of great importance. This list was compiled by the eminent biblical scholar Raymond Brown. I hope that you find this quite helpful.

Eleven Shared Points in the Two Infancy Narratives of the Evangelists Matthew and Luke

+ The parents to be are Mary and Joseph who are legally engaged or married, but have not yet come to live together or have sexual relations (MATT. 1:18; LK. 1:27,34).

+ Joseph is of Davidic descent (MATT. 1:16,20; LK. 1:27,32; 2:4).

+ There is an angelic announcement of the forthcoming birth of the child (MATT. 1:20-23; LK. 1:30-35).

+ The conception of the child by Mary is not through intercourse with her husband (MATT. 1:20, 23,25; LK. 1:34).

+ The conception is through the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18,20; Lk. 1:35

+ There is a directive from the angel that the child is to be named Jesus (MATT. 1:21;LK. 1:31)

+ An angel states that Jesus is to be Savior (MATT. 1:21; LK. 2:11).

+ The birth of the child takes place after the parents have come to live together (MATT. 1:24-25; LK. 2:5-6).

+ The birth takes place at Bethlehem (MATT. 2:1; LK. 2:4-6)

+ The birth is chronologically related to the reign (days) of Herod the Great (MATT. 2:1; LK. 1:5).

+ The child is reared at Nazareth (MATT. 2:23; LK. 2:39).

From The Birth of the Messiah, by Raymond Brown, p. 34-35

Nativity Narrative Test

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is an old "war horse" that I have sent out over the years; but since we have so many new parishioners, I hope that this Test will generate some interest. How well do we know the Scriptures, and here more specifically about the Nativity Narratives in the Gospels of Sts. Matthew and Luke?

Be that as it may - enjoy and see how  well you do!

 

Nativity Narrative Test

The following test questions should be answered by using the following key:

M – St. Matthew    |     L – St. Luke  

ML – Sts. Matthew & Luke   |   N – Neither Gospel

 

1. This Gospel contains a sequence of revelatory dreams to St. Joseph _____

2. This Gospel has an ox and an ass by the manger of the Christ Child _____

3. This Gospel mentions the census that takes Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem _____

4. This Gospel contains the genealogy of Christ that begins with the Patriarch Abraham _____

5. This Gospel narrates the massacre of the Innocents _____

6. This Gospel narrates the visit of three magi who bring gifts to the Christ Child _____

7. This Gospel narrates the angelic visitation to shepherds watching their flocks _____

8. This Gospel contains references to King Herod _____

9. This Gospel narrates that Christ was born in the Hebrew month equivalent to Dec. _____

10. This Gospel contains the prophecy of Isaiah that a “virgin” shall conceive _____

11. This Gospel narrates the journey of the “Holy Family” to Egypt and back to Israel _____

12. This Gospel narrates that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths _____

13. This Gospel refers to Jesus as the Word of God _____

14. This Gospel tells us that the name of Christ’s mother is Mary _____

15. This Gospel narrates the circumcision of the eight-day old Jesus _____

16. This Gospel narrates that Jesus was born in a cave/stable/house _____

17. This Gospel informs us that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem _____

18. This Gospel tells us that after His birth, Jesus returned to Nazareth _____

19. This Gospel refers to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus _____

20. This Gospel mentions women in the genealogy of Christ _____

 

The Image of Giving in St Nicholas

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful, Yesterday evening, at the Vespers for St. Nicholas at Holy Trinity/St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, there were about thirty parishioners from our parish present for the service. That was more than just a representative group from the parish, I must say! There were five visiting priests, including myself, in addition to the host clergy of Fr. Mark and Fr. John. The service and fellowship went well, and it was a "good evening" spent with other Orthodox Christians.  Here is a nice anecdote shared by one of our parishioners: When one of our children entered the church and saw the stunning mosaics on the wall, she said: "But how do you kiss those icons?"  Below is a meditation on the figure of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Bishop of Myra in Lycia: St Nicholas secretly provides dowries for three impoverished sisters, to save them from being sold into slavery by their destitute father.   The Image of Giving in St Nicholas Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ, There are nineteen days of charity, prayer and fasting left before Christmas... Redeem the time. Today we commemorate St. Nicholas of Myra in Lycia, the Wonderworker (December 6). There is a certain unresolved tension that accompanies his person and memory: On the one hand, there are few "hard facts" about his life (to the point where many doubt his actual historical existence); and on the other hand, he is clearly one of the most beloved and universally venerated of saints within the Church. It is said that even many Muslims venerate St. Nicholas! A good example of an objective account of the few facts behind the saint's life can be found in a short introductory biographical note concerning St. Nicholas in the book,The Time of the Spirit: Little is known for certain about the life of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra in Lycia (Asia Minor). It is believed that he suffered imprisonment during the last major persecution of the Church under Diocletian in the early fourth century, and that he attended the first Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325. Christian tradition has come to regard him, in the words of an Orthodox hymn, as "an example of faith and an icon of gentleness." (Time of the Spirit, p. 69) For those interested in the historical background of St. Nicholas, the following note found in The Synaxarion, Vol. II, edited by Hieromonk Makarios of Simonas Petras, may prove to be of real interest: Since the medieval period, St. Nicholas of Myra has been confused with St. Nicholas of Sion, who founded a monastery not far from Myra at the end of the 5th century. The Vita of the latter has come down to us but the incidents in it have been entirely ascribed to St. Nicholas of Myra, with the result that St. Nicholas of Sion has been forgotten n the hagiographical accounts.... (See The Life of Saint Nicholas of Sion, edited and translated by I. N. P. Sevcenko (Brookline, MA, 1984). So, even if we are dealing with a "composite figure" when we venerate St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, we nevertheless are given a glimpse into the "mind of the Church" when it comes to an image of a true pastor. A powerful and enduring image of a genuine Christian shepherd has remained within the memory of the Church, regardless of the now unrecoverable "facts" behind the actual history of 4th - 5th c. Asia Minor. It is this "unerring" intuition of the People of God that the faithful respond to up to the present day that remains as a solid foundation upholding all of the wonderful stories that endear us to St. Nicholas. The Church today desperately needs bishops of the type embodied by St. Nicholas. A shepherd who is a "rule of faith and an image of humility" would mean a great deal more to the Christian flock, than legal-minded adherence to canon law. St. Nicholas both protected and interceded for his flock, according to the great Russian Orthodox iconographer, Leonid Uspensky. And he further writes: "This 'life for others' is his characteristic feature and is manifested by the great variety of forms of his solicitude for men: his care for their preservation, their protection from the elements, from human injustice, from heresies and so forth. This solicitude was accompanied by numerous miracles both during his life and after his death. Indefatigable intercessor, steadfast, uncompromising fighter for Orthodoxy, he was meek and gentle in character and humble in spirit." (The Time of the Spirit, p. 69) Well-known as St. Nicholas has been, he is perhaps less well-known in today's world. In fact, he may be slowly slipping away from Christian consciousness. Santa Claus, that rather unfortunate caricature of the saintly bishop, clearly has something to do with this. But perhaps the very virtues embodied by this saint are slowly fading from our consciousness. A few weeks back, I wrote a meditation that passed on the name our social and secular world has "earned" for itself through its rampant commercialization of Christmas - and that is Getmas. The author who coined this new term - I forget his name - claims it came to him based on a conversation he had had with a good friend about the "spirit of Christmas." The friend of our author said that Christmas was about "getting things." When the author countered by saying, "I thought Christmas was about giving," the friend quickly retorted: "Sure, people are supposed to give me things!" Out of this sad exchange came the unfortunate, but accurate, Getmas. St. Nicholas was about the proper understanding of "giving." Perhaps the most enduring quality of his image is that of giving to children in need. Our children learn that those who already "have" more are those who will yet "get" more. And that is because they are taught this by their parents who yield to their demands. So we persist in widening the gap of imbalance between the "haves and "have-nots" without too many pangs of (Christian) conscience. St. Nicholas wanted to restore a sense of balance, and so he looked first to those who were in need, so that they could also taste some childlike happiness from receiving an unexpected gift. In a simple manner, this imitates the giving of God Who gave us Christ at a time when everyone - rich and poor alike - were impoverished through sin and death.  I sometimes fantasize that an ideal celebration of Christmas would find a relatively affluent family making sure that they spent more on those in need than on themselves. If Christianity is indeed the "imitation of the divine nature" as St. Gregory of Nyssa once said, then that need not necessarily be such an unrealistic idea. I do not believe that I have ever actually done that, so I convict myself through the very thought. Yet, I am convinced that our children would respond with an eager spirit of cooperation if properly prepared for some approximation of that ideal. Why should it be otherwise if, according to the Apostle Paul, Christ said that it is more blessed to give than to receive? Once again, just a thought based upon the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

 

Become a 'Welcoming Cave' for the Messiah to be Born In (Mother Gabriella)

 

Mother Gabriella (center) and sisters at Holy Dormition

 

 Dear Parish Faithful,

I "lifted" this wonderful reflection from the latest issue of The Burning Bush, the small monastic journal of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, MI, over which Mother Gabriella is the abbess. With few words, Mother Gabriella reminds us of the "life in Christ," so that we can spend this Nativity Fast in fasting, prayer and repentance, amidst the tumult of the season.

__________

Greetings from Mother Gabriella

Following the Liturgical season of the life of the Church gives great meaning and richness to life. As we begin this Advent season we cannot help but reflect on the end of life—as nature enters a period of “rest”—and on the spiritual level, on the purification of the soul through fasting, prayer and repentance, so we can better be “born anew” with Christ and in Christ, as we reach the feast of the Nativity.

Father Roman, of blessed memory, reminded us repeatedly, that we are to be born with Christ, live, suffer, die and resurrect with Him, as our own personal experience, not a simple commemoration of the historical facts. God came to teach us how to prepare for the heavenly banquet, by offering Himself as the eternal food, and as the One Who offers “Thine own of Thine own.”

This is the hospitality He teaches us to practice, in our relationship with one another and in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Here at the monastery we have many opportunities to offer and receive God's gifts - the life and work of the monastery.

We thus enter the season of Advent, Nativity and Theophany as an opportunity to reflect on our own life with gratitude for the many blessings God bestowed on us through you who chose to be travelers and co-workers with us on the journey to the heavenly Kingdom.

No matter where you are working your salvation, know that you are not alone. We accomplish everything with Christ and in Christ, or rather, Christ accomplishes His work through each one of us.

Thank you, fellow travelers, for helping us on our journey, and we pray and hope that we are of some help to you. We thank you all for your love and generosity. We humbly pray God to make Himself present in your life the way He knows best! We pray that you will be a welcoming “cave” for the Messiah to be born in.

+ Mother Gabriella

 

Encountering 'The Orthodox Christmas'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"I behold a strange and most glorious Mystery!" 

(Canon of the Nativity of Christ, Ode Nine)

 Even though at this moment I am not sure what we will be able to "salvage" of our Nativity liturgical services due to the impending snowstorm and frigid temperatures, I would still like to make a few comments about "The Orthodox Christmas." It is simply ... "different" than what is encountered - or so I am led to believe - in other non-Orthodox churches. That difference, in turn, can evoke a wide spectrum of responses: refreshing, intriguing, odd or disappointing. Over the years, I have heard all of these responses from folks who celebrated their first Christmas in the Orthodox Church. Hence, my brief comments offered here.

One major difference is that there is no special Christmas Eve service in the Orthodox Church: no processions or unique candlelight vigils accompanied by traditional Christmas carols (many of which are both beautiful and theologically sound - "Hail the incarnate Diety" from "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"). In the Church, the traditional cycle of liturgical services remain in their basic structures - Vespers, Compline, Matins and the Liturgy - and into that structure is inserted all of the rich hymnography and scriptural readings that are appointed for the Nativity. The services are imbued with a real festal expression, but again, the basic structures remain. Older Orthodox cultures all have a "folk" element, for lack of a better term, and there you will find a different set of carols and traditions; but these are enjoyed outside of the Church's liturgical cycle of services.

In the parish this year, we have been serving the Prefestal Nativity Vespers, the Royal Hours (now cancelled due to the weather) and Matins and Liturgy. And even Matins is tentative at the moment. Therefore, I would highly recommend that you click on the link provided here, and scroll down to December 24, and read the texts for the various Nativity services that are provided. You will encounter the endlessly rich hymnography praising Christ - the "incarnate Diety" - together with the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, Joseph the Betrothed, the shepherds and wise men, etc.

So, it may prove refreshing, intriguing, odd or disappointing depending upon one's perspective as a first-time or new participant in the "Orthodox Christmas." Best to be prepared I would think. The approach is different, but it would be hard to walk away unaware of the "strange and most glorious Mystery" of the Incarnation of the Word of God. 

Hoping we can gather for worship as a parish community and family!

In Christ,

Fr. Steven

The Incarnation: A word about the Word!

 

Toward Recovering a Genuine Christian Vocabulary


Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

“He, the Mighty One, the Artificer of all, Himself prepared this body in the virgin as a temple for Himself, and took it for His very own, as the instrument through which He was known and in which He dwelt.” ~ Saint Athanasius the Great

 

 

 

Within the Church we have a biblical/theological vocabulary that is very expressive of what we believe as Christians. These words are drawn primarily from the Bible, the Ecumenical Councils, and the theological writings of the great Church Fathers, such as Saint Athanasius the Great, quoted above. As responsible, believing and practicing Christians, we need to know this vocabulary at least in its most basic forms. 

 

As we continually learn a new technology-driven vocabulary derived from computers to smart phones, so too we need to be alert to the traditional vocabulary of the Church as it has been sanctified over centuries of use. And this vocabulary should be natural to us – not something foreign, exotic and “only for theologians.” It does not take a great deal of effort to be theologically literate, and there is no excuse not to be.

 

As we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, a key term that must be part of the vocabulary of all Orthodox Christians is Incarnation. The Nativity of Christ is the incarnation of the Son of God as Jesus of Nazareth. Or, we simply speak of The Incarnation, immediately knowing what that word is referring to. 

If we turn to the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, we find the term defined somewhat blandly, in that kind of clipped, compact and objective style found in most dictionaries:

• in•car•na•tion \in-kär-`nā-shǝn\ n (14c) 1 a (1): the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form (2) cap: the union of the divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ.

In the Westminster Handbook to Patristic Theology, the Orthodox theologian, Father John McGuckin, begins his definition under a fairly long entry of this term as follows:

• Incarnation — Incarnation is the concept of the eternal Word of God (the Logos) “becoming flesh” within history for the salvation of the human race. Incarnation does not simply refer to the act itself (such as the conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin, or the event of Christmas); it stands more generally for the whole nexus of events in the life, teachings, sufferings, and glorification of the Lord, considered as the earthly, embodied activity of the Word [p. 180].

 

Speaking of expanding our theological vocabulary, we need to further know that we translate the key Greek term Logos as Word, referring of course to the Word of God Who was “with God” and Who “was God,” according to Saint John’s Gospel “in the beginning.” We also refer to the Word of God as the “Son,” “Wisdom,” and “Power” of God. It is this Logos/Word of God Who becomes incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth. The key verse that is the classical expression of the Incarnation in the New Testament is found in the Gospel according to Saint John 1:14:  “And the Word (Logos) became flesh.” 

This profound paradox of the Word-become-flesh is found in the well-known kontakion of the Nativity, written by St. Romanos the Melode. He begins his wonderful hymn with that paradox captured in the following manner:  

"Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One; and the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable One ..."

 

Incarnation is derived from the Latin word “in the flesh.” The Greek word for Incarnation would be sarkothenta, meaning “made flesh.” So the Incarnation of the Word of God is the “enfleshment”of the Word, and here “flesh” means the totality of our human nature. The Word has assumed our human nature and united it to Himself in an indissoluble union that restores the fellowship of God and humankind. The sacramental life of the Church is based on the Incarnation, and the potential for created reality to become a vehicle for spiritual reality. The ultimate manifestation of this is the Eucharist, and the bread and wine “becoming” the Body and Blood of Christ.

Christmas is the time of the year to recall all of this profound reality and recover a genuine Christian vocabulary that expresses our Faith about as well as what is humanly possible. This further means that theological words are not dry and abstract concepts when approached with not only respect, but with awe and wonder. This makes our reading and studying of our theological Tradition exciting – as well as humbling. The words reveal life-transforming truths that if received with prayer and thanksgiving enhance and expand our minds and hearts, so that we might have the “mind of Christ.”