The eastern church observes St. Stephen’s Day on the third day of Nativity, and not on the second day, as western churches do. Since times of antiquity, on this day the Church CollectionBoxes, of cash, food and clothing hampers were opened and given to the poor and needy... the Original meaning of Boxing Day!
Of course, it’s spiritually beneficial to distribute alms in the memory of a loved one, not only at Christmas, but on any day of the year. …Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing! Many have heard about the “Feast of St. Stephen” from “Good King Wenceslas” (Prince of Czechs), a carolset to a 13th century melody. (St. Wenceslas’s grandmother was St. Ludmilla)
An Everyday Carol below –by 9th centurySt. Joseph the Hymnographer… can be sung to the 13th century melody we know as Good King Wenceslas!
Christian friends, your voices raise,wake the day with gladness.
God Himself to joy and praise, turns our human sadness:
Joy that martyrs won their crown, opened heaven’s portal,
When they laid the mortal down, for the Life Immortal.
What birthday gift would we ourselves most wish for?
Is there a gift that surpasses the abundant blessings already bestowed by the Holy Child born in Bethlehem… Who loosed the bonds of our sins with His swaddling bands?
Like the wise men, who followed the Star, what shall we bring to Him? What is more precious to Christ, than gold, frankincense or myrrh?
Our heart.
But how does one gift wrap sincere intention?
By bowing the knees and neck of our heart. By kneeling before His manger with determined resolve, to share loving kindness with each other and our neighbour… By doing our own small part with good will… for the sake of peace on earth… Even when external circumstances aren’t easy or peaceful.
God’s greatest gift of all is eternal life. Let us, despite heartaches, run joyfully to the Holy Child, with the simple faith of a child, for such is the kingdom of heaven.
Today, we receive, a gift we did not ask for, let us bestow alms to those who cry out to us in need! ~ St. Isaac the Syrian
I have been amazed that some are utterly in doubt as to whether or not the Holy Virgin is able to be called the Mother of God. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how should the Holy Virgin who bore him not be the Mother of God? ~ St. Cyril of Alexandria
And since the holy Virgin hath borne after the Flesh God united personally to the Flesh, therefore we do say that she is also Mother of God, not as though the Nature of the Word had the beginning of Its existence from flesh, for It was in the beginning and the Word was God, and the Word was with God (John 1:1), and is Himself the Maker of the ages, Co-eternal with the Father and Creator of all things. ~ St. Cyril of Alexandria
The Most Holy Mother of God prays for us ceaselessly. She is always visiting us. Whenever we turn to her in our heart, she is there. After the Lord, she is the greatest protection for mankind. How many churches there are in the world that are dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God! How many healing springs where people are cured of their ailments have sprung up in places where the Most Holy Theotokos appeared and blessed those springs to heal both the sick and the healthy! She is constantly, by our side, and all too often we forget her. ~ Elder Thaddeus
Today we celebrate the Old TestamentProphet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths, who put their faith, hope, and love in God. The youths, refusing to worship a golden idol, were thrown as punishment into the midst of a fiery furnace. (Daniel 3: 1-30) Miraculously remaining unscathed, they sang hymns of praise from within the flames.
…for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. ~ Daniel 9:18
Don’t let anything deprive you of hope. ~ St. Nektarios of Aegina
Here are two versions of an ancient hymn, rejoicing in hope and glory – For God is with us!
God is With Us(One of the Traditional Melodies)
God is With Us (Appalachian-Style Melody)
We who are given the fullness of true Christianity are obliged to be working on ourselves, to be watching the signs of the times, and to be extremely joyful, as St. Paul is constantly saying: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say: Rejoice!’ (Phil. 4:4). We rejoice because we have something which all the death and corruption of this world cannot take away, that is, the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ. ~ Fr. Seraphim Rose
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. ~ Romans 5:1-5
As the Holy Trinity, our God is One Being, although Three Persons, so, likewise, we ourselves must be one. As our God is indivisible, we also must be indivisible, as though we were one man, one mind, one will, one heart, one goodness, without the smallest admixture of malice – in a word, one pure love, as God is Love. “That they may be one, even as We are One.” (St. John 17:22) ~ St. John of Kronstadt.
…we shall begin… by applying identical expressions to the Three. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ (St. John 1:9) – yes, the Father. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ -yes, the Son. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ -yes, the Comforter. These are the three subjects and three verbs – He was and He was and He was. But a single reality was. There are three predicates – light and light and light. But the light is one, God is one. This is the beginning of David’s prophetic vision: ‘In Your light shall we see light’ (Psalm 36:9). We receive the Son’s light from the Father’s light in the light of the Spirit: that is what we ourselves have seen and what we now proclaim – it is the plain and simple explanation of the Trinity. ~St. Gregory Nazianzus (On Christ and God, Oration 31:3)
The three-leafed shamrock on a single stem, was used by 5th century St. Patrick to illustrate the Holy Trinity – our One God in Three Persons. St. Patrick wrote many hymns. Here is a short excerpt from a longer, beautiful hymn. “I bind unto myself today, the Strong Name of the Trinity! By Invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three!”
…They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a man has something, he gives freely to the man who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit of God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they all give him what he needs. If it is possible, they bail him out. If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast for several days to give him the food he needs. This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them… ~ Excerpt from Section XV , TheApology of St. Aristides from around the year 125, when Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) visited Athens, and was seeking justification to outlaw Christianity
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. ~ Deuteronomy 32: 1-4
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as the dew that waters the earth. ~ Psalm 72:6
Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ~ St. Matthew 6:30
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures for ever… ~ 1 Peter 1:25-25
The Lily symbolizes the unfading flower of virginity and purity of the Mother of God. The six anthers with amber pollen splaying out from the flower’s centre, represent the golden radiance of her soul.
The Father is Light, His Son is Light, and the Spirit, the Comforter, is Light: for, shining forth as from one sun, the Trinity divinely illuminates and preserves our souls… The prophets proclaimed thee in ages past, speaking of thee as the ark of holiness, golden censer, candlestick, and table; and we sing thy praises as the Tabernacle that held God. ~ Second Canon at the Festal Matins
The Theotokos is sometimes referred to as the Golden Candlestick; for within her, she contained the Light that Illumines the whole world.
With joy in spirit, let us go before her today, bearing the bright lamps of faith… into the temple of our hearts!
Festal Troparion, Tone 4 Today is the prelude of God’s good will / and the heralding of the salvation of mankind. / In the temple of God, the Virgin is presented openly, / and she proclaimeth Christ unto all. / To her, then, with a great voice let us cry aloud: / Rejoice, O thou fulfillment // of the Creator’s dispensation.
Festal Kontakion, Tone 4 The most pure temple of the Saviour, / the most precious bridal-chamber and Virgin, / the sacred treasury of the glory of God, / is on this day brought into the house of the Lord, / bringing with her the grace that is in the Divine Spirit. / And the angels of God chant praise unto her: // she is the heavenly tabernacle.
Morning fog, on local beach – photo shared by Katherine
Keep looking up! Blue skies and Sunshine are above all those clouds!
For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. ~ Psalm 18:28
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ~ Ephesians 5:8
I have passed my life ever in night, for the night of sin has been to me thick fog and darkness; but make me, O Saviour, a son of the day. ~ The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete
Pray in peace and serenity, sing intelligently and in a good state – and you will be like a young eagle soaring high in the sky. ~ St. Nilus of Mt Sinai (The Philokalia)
Afflictions for God’s sake are dearer to Him than any prayer or sacrifice. ~ St. Issac the Syrian (Homily 58)
…Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear. Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ St. John 1:5
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face… ~ 1 Corinthians 13:12
Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing Life! ~Paschal Tropar
What is dying? Just what it is to put off a garment. For the body is about the soul as a garment; and after laying this aside for a short time by means of death, we shall resume it again with more splendour. ~ St. John Chrysostom
Congratulations on entering the Nativity Fast! Although we’re in a different “liturgical season” than the Great Lent which precedes Pascha (Easter)… We are nonetheless, on day #3 into the40 day Nativity Lenten period. Advent helps us properly prepare for the upcoming Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
The birth and death of Christ are very connected. Sometimes Nativity (Christmas) is even called the Winter Pascha.
Today is also a friend’s funeral… and the Mystery ofPascha is very much on my mind.
The Nativity Icon deliberately connects events… the manger resembles a stone coffin, the swaddling clothes resemble a burial shroud, and the cave itself prefigures Christ’s tomb. Theox and ass portrayed, are from the prophesy of Isaiah.
Jesus came to us in order to die, and this was known by Him even from the very beginning.He took away death, by conquering death, through His Glorious Resurrection!
Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, the first created man and woman, and now we all sin. There are big sins and little sins, but everyone sins, and any sin separates us from God.
Because of God’s great love for each one of us, He did something incredibly special. Jesus Christ the Son of God, willingly took all the sins of everyone ever born, that means you, me, the whole world, and put them all upon Himself.When Jesus died and was buried, all our sins died and were buried too. We also remember this at our baptism, and are now forgiven because of what Jesus did for us on the cross!
He is the Son of God – and arose victorious, from the dead!
This is why we no longer fear death.
Death is a new beginning.
Those who have gone on before us, are alive in Christ… For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. ~St. Luke 20:38
I’ve been singing and humming the Paschal Tropar a lot today. It helps softens sadness, and bestows hope and joy.
Paschal Tropar – Appalachian melody, English
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ~ Revelation 21:4
With the saints give rest, O Christ our God to the soul of Thy servant, Nicholas. Memory Eternal.
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? ~ St. Luke 12: 27-28
As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consume a person. ~ St. John Chrysostom
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. ~ Hebrews 1:10-12
…O Christ, who art covered with light as though with a garment, who for my sake stood naked in front of Pilate, clothe me with that might which you caused to overshadow the saints, whereby they conquered this world of struggle. May your Divinity, Lord, take pleasure in me, and lead me above the world to be with you.~St. Isaac the Syrian
If our human nature is not kept pure or else restored to its original purity by the Holy Spirit, it cannot become one body and one spirit in Christ, either in this life or in the harmonious order of the life to come. For the all-embracing and unifying power of the Spirit does not complete the new garment of grace by sewing on to it a patch taken from the old garment of the passions. ~ St. Gregory of Sinai (The Philokalia)
The Spiritual Sustainability of our Garments of Grace, is a Lifetime Labour. We’re all works in progress, and by standing still, go nowhere. As thread follows a needle (African proverb), it’s through good actions and efforts that we move forward and obtain results.
By directing our numinous eyes on the binding of torn seams, the darning of tiny holes before they grow and gape, and reinforcing loose buttons before they fall off – forever lost; it’s only with God’s help, that we mend.
Whether offering a stitch in time to aid a friend or brother in need, or faithfully tempering choices by measuring at least seven times, before cutting once (Russian proverb), these too, are inclusive of the Sewing Circle.
We can’t work it alone.
Let’s try to remember more often, to reach out to the Giver of Light for help to persevere until the end, to enlighten the vesture of our soul… and to save us.
