The Third Birth of Christ
† Stergios Sakkos 
1. Rebirth
The third birth of Christ is in the life of people who believe in Him and accept Him as their own, personal God. Because even though Christ became incarnate in order to save everyone, not everyone will be saved.
Of course, the Lord “wants all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth”, (I Tim. 2, 4), and is certainly all-powerful. Nevertheless, He respects people’s freedom as well and has no desire to save us against our will.
The Transfiguration of Time
a) In every age, people want to measure, monitor and confer value on time, and, if at all possible, to surpass its limits.
This can be seen from the monuments of world civilization, as well as from some of the notions which have been expressed regarding them. For the peoples outside the Bible and in secular religions, mythological views have developed on the sacredness and recycling properties of time. And so the concept arose that time recycles itself. This was the view that dominated Ancient Greek thought.
Time and Eternity
Hieromonk Yeoryios M. Thanasou 
1st of January, first of the month, New Year’s day. First day of the new civil year. On this day our holy Church, celebrates three important events: a) the circumcision of Jesus Christ, that is the event which took place eight days after the celebration of His divine incarnation. This was a custom, a rite that Jews performed on all new-born boys eight days after their birth; b) The memory of the Great Father of the Church Saint Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia; and c) the beginning of the new civil year, a new period of time.
Christmas’ deeper meaning
Metropolitan of Lemesos, Athanasios
Every time we stand before the Lord either in prayer or in celebration in Church of an event from the life of Christ, or we are in any other way experiencing the presence of the Lord, two basic things happen, which are attested by the Church and the experience of the Saints: Firstly, we are feeling joy because we are experiencing the Lord’s abundant love towards man. He moves our heart into great gratitude, since we are experiencing- to the measure of our spiritual condition- God’s great gift for us.
The Very Word of God from God Emptied Himself in an Indescribable Way
St. Gregory Palamas
He who produced all earthly and heavenly things out of non-being, when He saw that His rational creatures were brought to nothing because of their desire for something greater (Genesis 3.5), bestowed upon them Himself…
…in order that from that time forward we might exercise our desire for something better without risk, although in the beginning we fell into the ultimate danger on that account (1 Corinthians 15.26),
and in order that each of us, in desiring to become God, might not only be blameless, but also attain to our longing.
The Days of Christmas
St. Ephrem the Syrian
The first year of our Redeemer’s birth
is the source of blessings and foundation of life.
For by it are borne a multitude of victories
and the sum of helps.
As the first day “in the beginning”
the great pillar of the creation
bears the building of the creation,
so the first-born day bears the help for humanity.
Blessed is Your birth that makes all Creation glad!
: Mary, Theotokos, We Salute You
St. Cyril of Alexandria
I see here a joyful company of Christian men met together in ready response to the call of Mary, the holy and ever-virgin Mother of God.
The great grief that weighed upon me is changed into joy by your presence, venerable Fathers.
Now the beautiful saying of David the psalmist:How good and pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity (Psalm 133) has come true for us.
Therefore, holy and incomprehensible Trinity, we salute you at whose summons we have come together to this church of Mary, the Theotokos [Mother of God].
Eternity Came into Contact with Time, Heaven with Earth, the Spiritual with the Physical
Nikolai Velimirovich
Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tearstained baby in a crib, so does the descent of the Creator of men into this temporal and visible world correspond to His miraculous existence in eternity.
[...] “When Mary asked, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” the archangel of God answered: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
O Manifest Weakness and Marvellous Humility in Which All Divinity Lay Hid!
St. Augustine of Hippo
The birthday of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, on which Truth sprang forth from the earth (Ps. 84:12) and the procession of day from day extending even unto our time began, has, with the return of its anniversary, dawned upon us today as deserving of special celebration.
‘Let us be glad and rejoice therein’ (Ps. 118:24), for the faith of Christians holds fast to the joy which the lowliness of such sublimity has offered to us, a joy far removed from the hearts of the wicked, since God has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them to the little ones (Matt. 11:25).
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