HOMILY ON THE MEETING OF THE LORD

Delivered by His Grace Bishop Atanasije (Jevtic), 1995 in Pozarevac

Today we celebrate a great Feast, the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, we celerate a joyous event of the Meeting of Heaven and earth, the timeless and the transient, God and man, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Jerusalem Temple the newly born Savior was taken into the arms of the Righteous elder Simeon, who, having received a Divine promise that he would not die until he sees with his own eyes the Savior and Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord at that very moment for fulfiling that promise by saying: „Now you are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation...“. Receiving and taking into his elderly hands the Savior of the world, the righteous Elder recognized also in his prophetic vision the full history of what would be with Christ, and all of those who follow Him, and that is why He says to the Most Holy Theotokos: „Behold this Child is destined for the fall and rising, and for a sign which will be spoke against and many will stand against,“ but they will not be able to prevail, for in Him the thoughts of the hearts of many will be revealed.

"The Word became flesh"

A Sermon by St John of Kronstadt 

on the Nativity of Christ

The Word became flesh; that is, the Son of God, co-eternal with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit, became human – having become incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. O, wondrous, awesome and salvific mystery! The One Who had no beginning took on a beginning according to humanity; the One without flesh assumed flesh. God became man – without ceasing to be God. The Unapproachable One became approachable to all, in the aspect of an humble servant. Why, and for what reason, was there such condescension [shown] on the part of the Creator toward His transgressing creatures – toward humanity which, through an act of its own will had fallen away from God, its Creator?

The Forefathers of Christ

Fr. Stephen Freeman

Among the greatest blasphemies ever constructed by humankind was that of Nazi Germany. Not satisfied with their political dominance, they also sought a religious dominance as well. The notion of an “Aryan Christ” was perhaps the depths of their theological blasphemies mirrored in their dehumanization and murder of the Jews. At many points in the past two millennia, the relationship between Christians and Jews has hit low points – with the Jews almost universally at the short end of the stick. But to seek to create a Christ who Himself was not a Jew is (for a Christian) the worst of insults.

A Homily on the Nativity

As a Christmas gift to our listeners, the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) presents a reading of "A Homily on the Nativity" from the book Harp of the Spirit: Poems of St. Ephrem the Syrian, translated by Sebastian Brock and published by IOCS.

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BODILY FASTING FOR THE SOUL’S BENEFIT

The Nativity fast begins on November 14/27, and lasts forty days. The Nativity fast is not as strict as Great Lent or the Dormition fast, and can be compared to the Apostle’s fast. It was instituted by the Church so that we would worthily greet the feast of the Nativity of Christ after having cleansed our hearts by prayer and repentance.

A HOMILY FOR THOSE REJOICING IN THE NATIVITY FAST

Our Mother the Church, dear reader, has the custom of preparing her children, well in advance of the actual holy day, for extraordinary events which the central axle of both earthly and eternal existence. Beyond a doubt, the feast of Nativity of Christ, the appearance of God in the flesh, belongs to this very category.

The whole history of humankind, which began with the fall of our forefather and mother, Adam and Eve, the continuation of history through their descendants, the history of peoples and kingdoms (especially the history of ancient Israel), all led up to and arrived at Bethlehem, to the mysterious cave, where Christ the Savior of the world manifested His wondrous infant countenance to us.

THE NATIVITY FAST: A TIME OF PREPARATION

The Fast of the Nativity is the Church's wise solace and aid to human infirmity. We are a forgetful people, but our forgetfulness is not unknown to God; and our hearts with all their misconceptions and weakened understandings are not unfamiliar to the Holy Spirit who guides and sustains this Church. We who fall far from God through the magnitude of our sin, are called nonetheless to be close to Him. We who run afar off are called to return. Through the fast that precedes the great Feast of the Incarnation -- which itself is the the heart and substance of our calling -- the Church helps draw us into the full mystery of what that call entails.

Sermon on the Nativity of the Mother of God

Kievsky Mitropolity

The birth of any person is a mysterious event. This is not just another event for the registrar; a new being is come into the world, filled with inextricable mystery. In fact: what will this newborn person bring to the world, and what will life give him? This is why parents and relatives greet each new child with awe and trembling. This is why the first cry of a new being resounds forever in his parents’ hearts. How will this person newly come into the world live his life? Will he be talented and capable, will he enrich mankind’s common treasury of gifts, or will his days be grey and mediocre, will he depart unnoticed after tasting sorrows and sadness on this earth, all memory of him lost? The more notable a person is in life, the more solemnly do people celebrate his birthday.

The Sunday before Christ's Nativity: St. John Chrysostom on the Genealogy of Christ

Greetings! 

For the past forty days we are called by our Church to prepare for Christ's Nativity. On the Sunday before Christmas, the Genealogy of Christ from the first chapter of St. Matthew is read as one of many preparations for us before Christ's Holy Birth. Below are excerpts from the commentary of St. John Chrysostom on this section of the Holy Gospel. 

The Sunday before Christ's Nativity: St. John Chrysostom on the Genealogy of Christ

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”

Do ye indeed remember the charge, which we lately made you, entreating you to hearken unto all the things that are said with all silence, and mystical quietness? For we are to-day to set foot within the holy vestibule, wherefore I have also put you in mind of the charge.

FEAST OF THE ENTRANCE INTO THE TEMPLE OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS

The Feast of the Entrance into the Temple of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated on November 21 each year. The Feast commemorates when as a young child, the Virgin Mary entered the Temple in Jerusalem.