On February 2nd (February 15th n.s.) the Church celebrates the great feast of The Meeting of our Lord in the Temple. The Gospel lesson for that day relates how the mother of Jesus brought Him to the temple, as was the custom and requirement under the God-given Law of Moses, of Israel (Exodus 13: 2,12; Leviticus 12:2-8). When the righteous Simeon, who received Christ in his arms at the temple, saw the child he knew immediately that this was the Redeemer promised by all of Israel’s prophecies, for the elder was inspired by the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:26-27). Being inspired he himself uttered prophetic words which form the hymn sung or chanted at the end of every Vespers service: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before the face of Thy people, a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).
This particular feast is part of the great celebration that began forty days prior, with the Nativity of Christ (December 25). Eight days later (January 1) we remembered the Circumcision of Christ and then His Baptism (January 6). The commemoration of these events in our Lord’s earth life basically form one feast, the feast of the Incarnation of God the Word.
God literally entered the world, into time and history. He was physically present in the midst of His people, His creatures whom He loves. Our Lord took on human nature in order to reconcile unto Himself, man who had strayed far from the Source of his life.
In taking on the "form of a servant" God, at the same time, in the Person of Christ, fulfilled every requirement of the Law that He Himself had given to His people through Moses. He demonstrated, thereby, that everything that had happened in Israel’s history could not be described merely as a succession of unrelated events. Rather this was a history with a definite goal: the salvation of mankind. He identified Himself as the Director of that history and fulfilled its expectation.
When the righteous Simeon took the child into His arms and declared that this indeed was Salvation Incarnate, the "Light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of Israel," a new era began; the era of God’s presence among His children.
To this day, all of the Church’s celebrations, no matter what the event commemorated may be, whether in the life of Christ, of the Theotokos, or of the saints, all are celebrations of Christ and the establishment on earth of the Kingdom of His presence. He initiated this Kingdom and promised its ultimate realization. And now, just as the Old Israel had awaited the beginning of God’s Kingdom, the New Israel (the Church) awaits the Second and Glorious Coming of Christ and the fullness of His Kingdom, revealed.
Although all of our celebrations are intimately rooted in the knowledge that we have been called for complete communion with Christ and to live in function of His Kingdom to which we already belong, we still live in a world that has for the most part rejected what Christ gave it, that is, authentic life "in abundance," life with real purpose and meaning. We Christians, in spite of having accepted what God’s intervention in human affairs gave us, slip repeatedly and fall into the great temptation to convert the things of this world into gods. We are constantly attracted by ways of seeking happiness and fulfillment that exclude God. This, of course, always proves to be vain and futile.
So our lives vacillate, back and forth, between the assurance of salvation and indifference, between moments of real joy because we know that God is with us, and moments of boredom because we cannot give ourselves totally over to Him.
Every Christian celebration reaches its climax in the Divine Liturgy for the feast. In this sacred work, when God’s people assemble in His name, we actually become participants in the Heavenly Kingdom to come. We are as literally present with Christ in His future Kingdom as the Apostles were with Him at the Last Supper. So the Kingdom is initiated among us and we enjoy it before our time, by anticipation. This is what every Eucharist is; this is what our feasts and celebrations are all about, and that is why the Eucharist is the very center of all of them.
I will emphasize again, however, that although what we have said is true, we continually orient our lives towards everyday pursuits, often living as though we had never experienced this divine reality. That is why repentance and penitential seasons are in order. That is why in approximately one month we will enter the Great Fast or Lent during which time we are exhorted to repent of our sins.
It is a particularly fortunate coincidence that in 1999 the feast of the Meeting of our Lord, a feast of His Kingdom, coincides almost to the day with the start of the Lenten Triodion and the announcement of the beginning of the Great Fast. On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (January 31) we are reminded of one of the basic reasons for our need of repentance: our self-righteousness, our pride, our feeling of superiority and mistreatment and intolerance of our neighbor.
Basically what is important for us Christians is that we have really "seen the True Light, received the Heavenly Spirit, found the true faith" in this experience of the Kingdom of God. The question we must all ask ourselves sincerely, however, is "what are we like when we return into this world after this Heavenly experience?"
To Christ Who willed to be held in the arms of the righteous Simeon for our salvation be glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
FEAST DAYS IN THE
MONTH OF JANUARY
THE
NATIVITY OF CHRIST
Commemorated
on December 25 (January 7 n.s.)
Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, was born of the MostHoly Virgin
Mary in the city of Bethlehem during the reign of the emperor Augustus
(Octavian). Caesar Augustus decreed that an universal census be made throughout
all his empire, which then also included Palestinian Israel. The Jews were
accustomed to carry out the nation's census-taking according to
ancestral-origins, tribes and family-relations. Every ancestral-origin and
family-relation had its own designated city as its place of ancestry. The
MostBlessed Virgin Mary and Righteous Joseph, descended from the family line of
King David, had to go to Bethlehem (the city of David), to register their names
on the census-list of Caesar's subjects. At Bethlehem they did not find a
single place vacant at any of the city's inns. In the celebrated cave, used as
a stable, amidst the hay and the straw, strewn about as food and bedding for
the cattle, far from the hearth of home, amidst people that were total
strangers, on the cold winter night, and in a setting deprived not only of
worldly grandeur but even of the basic amenities – was born the God-Man, the
Saviour of the world. "I behold a strange and most glorious mystery, –
with awe sings Holy Church, – Heaven – the Cave; the Throne of the Cherubim –
the Virgin; the Manger – the Crib, in which lay the placeless Christ God"
(Irmos in 9th Ode of the Festal Canon). Without defilement having given birth
to the Divine Infant the MostHoly Virgin, Herself without help from strangers,
"wraps Him in swaddling cloths and places Him in the manger" (Lk. 2).
But amidst the midnight stillness, when all mankind was shrouded in its deepest
sinful sleep, the proclaiming of the Birth of the Saviour of the world was
heard by shepherds, watching their flocks by night. And the Angel of the Lord
came before them and said: "Fear not, for lo I proclaim ye tidings of
great joy, which shalt be for all people, for this day is born unto you the
Saviour, Which be Christ the Lord in the city of David". The humble
shepherds were the first deemed worthy to offer worship for the salvation of
mankind unto He That hath condescended to "the image of an humble servant".
Besides the Angelic glad tidings to the Bethlehem shepherds, the Nativity of
Christ by means of a wondrous star was made known to Magi "knowing the
stars", and in the person of these Eastern wise-men all the pagan world,
imperceptibly – bent down upon its knees before the true Saviour of the world,
the God-Man. Entering wherein the Infant lay, the wise-men Magi – "falling
down they worshipped Him, and opening their treasure they presented Him gifts:
gold and frankincense and myrh" (Mt. 2: 11).
In remembrance of the Nativity in the flesh
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the feastday was established by the Church. Its very
origin is related to the times of the Apostles. In the Apostolic Constitutions
it says: "Brethren, observe the feastdays, and among the chief such the day
of the Birth of Christ, which make ye celebration of on the 25th day of the
tenth month" (from March, which in those days began the year). There also
in another place it said: "Celebrate ye the day of the Nativity of Christ,
in the which unseen grace is given man by the birth of the Word of God from the
Virgin Mary for the salvation of the world".
In the II Century also Sainted Clement of
Alexandria indicates that the day of the Nativity of Christ is 25 December. In
the III Century as before Saint Hypolitus of Rome makes mention concerning the
feastday of the Nativity of Christ, and designates the Gospel readings for this
day from the beginning chapters of Saint Matthew. It is known also, that during
the time of persecution of Christians by Maximian in the year 302, Nicomedia
Christians numbering 20,000 were burned in church on the very feastday of the
Nativity of Christ (Comm. 28 December). In that same century, but later on
after the persecution when the Church had received freedom of religion and had
become the official religion in the Roman empire, we find the feastday of the
Nativity of Christ observed throughout all the Universal Church. And this is
evidenced from the works of saint Ephrem the Syrian, Sainted Basil the great,
Sainted Gregory the Theologian, Sainted Gregory of Nyssa, Sainted Ambrose of
Milan, Sainted John Chrysostom and other fathers of the Church of the IV
Century concerning this feastday. Saint John Chrysostom, in his sermon which he
gave in the year 385, points out that the feast of the Nativity of Christ is
ancient and indeed very ancient. In this same century also at the place of the
Bethlehem Cave, made famous by the Birth of Jesus Christ, the
Equal-to-the-Apostles empress Helen erected a church, which her mighty son
Constantine strove after her to make resplendid. In the Codex of the emperor
Theodosius from 438, and of the emperor Justinian – in 535, is promulgated as
law the universal celebration of the day of the Nativity of Christ. It is in
this sense, truly, that Nicephoros Kallistos, a writer of the XIV Century, says
in his history that the emperor Justinian in the VI Century established the
celebration of the Nativity of Christ throughout all the world.
In the V Century the Patriarch of
Constantinople Anatolios, in the VII – Sophronios and Andrew of Jerusalem, in
the VIII – Saints John of Damascus, Cosma of Maium and the Patriarch of
Tsar'grad Germanos, in the IX – the Nun Cassia and others of names unknown, all
these wrote for the feast of the Nativity of Christ many sacred hymns, used at
present by the Church to the glory of this radiant festal event.
However, during the first three centuries,
when persecutions hindered the freedom of Christian Divine-services, in certain
places in the East – in the Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and
Cyprus – the feastday of the Nativity of Christ was combined together with the
feastday of the Baptism of Christ on 6 January, under the in-common term
"Theophany" ["Bogoyavlenie" – which both in the Greek and
the Slavonic means "Manifestation of God"]. The reason for this,
actually, was from the view, that Christ was baptised at a later time on His
birthday, as might be inferred concerning this from the discourse of Saint John
Chrysostom who, in one of his sermons on the Nativity of Christ, says: "it
is not that day on which Christ was born which is called Theophany, but rather
that day on which He was baptised". Towards suchlike a viewpoint also it
is possible to consider a nuance in the words of the Evangelist Luke who,
speaking about the Baptism of Jesus Christ, testifies, that then "Jesus
being incipient [incipiens, arkhomenos] upon His thirtieth year" (Lk.
3:23). The celebration of the Nativity of Christ conjointly with Theophany in
certain of the Eastern Churches continued to the end of the IV Century, and in
some – until the V or even the VI Century. Remembrance of the ancient
conjoining of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany at present
enters into the making of the order of services in the celebration of these
feasts. For both – on the eve-day preceding the feast, there is a similar
tradition among the people, that on the festal eve-days the fast ought to be
kept until the stars appear. The order of Divine-services on the eve of both
feastdays and the feastdays themselves is done the same.
The day of the Nativity of Christ from of
old was numbered by the Church among the Twelve Great Feasts, – in accord with
the Divine witness of the Gospel in depicting these festal events as the
greatest, most all-joyful and wondrous. "Behold, I proclaim unto you glad
tidings, – said the Angel to the Bethlehem shepherds, – of great joy, for all
mankind. For unto you this day is born the Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, in
the city of David. And this for ye is the sign: ye will find the Infant wrapped
in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. Then suddenly with the Angel was a
multitude of the heavenly hosts, glorifying God and saying: Glory to God in the
Highest, and on earth peace, good-will to mankind. Those hearing of this were
awestruck at the sayings of the shepherds concerning this Child. And the
shepherds themselves returned back, glorifying and praising God for everything
they had heard and seen" (Lk. 2: 10-20). Thus the Nativity of Christ, as
an event most profound and extraordinary, was accompanied by the wondrous
tidings to the shepherds and the Magi about the universal rejoicing for all
mankind, – "for the Saviour is Born!", by the Angelic proclamation of
glory to the new-born Saviour, by the worship to him by shepherds and wise-men,
by the reverent awe of many, hearkening to the words of the shepherds about the
new-born Child, amidst glory and praise of Him by the Shepherds.
In accord with the Divine witness of the
Gospel, the fathers of the Church in their God-imbued writings also depict the
feast of the Nativity of Christ as most profound, universal and all-joyous,
which serves as a basis and foundation for all the other feastdays.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
DISCOURSE ON THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST
by
Sainted Gregory Thaumatourgos,
Bishop
of Neo-Caesarea
Brethren, we behold now a great and
wondrous mystery. Shepherds with cries of joy come forth as messengers to the
sons of mankind, not on their hilly pastures with their flocks conversing and
not in the field with their sheep frolicking, but rather in the city of David
Bethlehem spiritual songs exclaiming. In the highest sing Angels, proclaiming
hymns Archangelic; the heavenly Cherubim and Seraphim sing out praises to the
glory of God: "Holy, Holy, Holy..." Together all do celebrate this
joyous feast, beholding God upon the earth, and mankind of earth amidst the
heavens. By Divine providence the far distant are uplifted to the highest, and
the highest, through the love of God for mankind, have bent down to the far
distant, wherefore the MostHigh, through His humility, "is exalted through
humility". On this day of great festivity Bethlehem hath become like unto
heaven, taking place amidst the glittering stars are Angels singing glory, and
taking the place of the visible sun – is the indefinable and immeasurable Sun
of Truth, having made all things that do exist. But who would dare investigate
so great a mystery? "Wherein God doth wish it, therein the order of nature
is overturned", and laws cannot impede. And so, of that which was
impossible for mankind to undertake, God did aspire and did descend, making for
the salvation of mankind, since in the will of God this is life for all
mankind.
On the present joyous day God hath come to
be born; on this great day of arrival God is become That Which He was not:
being God, He hath become Man, so to speak as though removed from Divinity (though
His Divine Nature be not divested of); in being made Man, He hath remained God.
Wherefore, though He grew and flourished, it however was not thus as it were by
human power to attain to Divinity nor by any human ability to be made God; but
rather as the Word, by miraculous sufferance, wherein He was incarnated and
manifest not being transformed, not being made something other, not deprived of
that Divine Nature which He possessed previously. In Judea the new King is
born; but this new and wondrous nativity which pagan Gentiles have come to
believe, the Jew have eschewed. The Pharisees comprehended incorrectly the Law
and the prophets. That which therein was contradictory for them, they explained
away mistakenly. Herod too strove to learn of this new birth, full of mystery,
yet Herod did this not to reverence the new-born King, but to kill Him.
That One, Who did forsake the Angels,
Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, and all the constant and luminous spirits, – He
alone having come a new path, does issue forth from an inviolate of seed
virginal womb. The Creator of all comes to enlighten the world, indeed not
leaving His angels orphaned, and He appears also as Man, come forth from God.
And I, though I see by the NewBorn neither
trumpets (nor other musical instruments), nor sword, nor bodily adornments,
neither lampadas nor way-lamps, and seeing the choir of Christ composed of
those humble of birth and without influence, – it doth persuade me to praise of
Him. I see speechless animals and choirs of youth, as though some sort of
trumpet, songfully resonant, as though taking the place of lampadas and as it
were shining upon the Lord. But what shall I say about what the lampadas do
light? He – is the verymost Hope and Life Itself, He is Salvation Itself,
Blessedness Itself, the focal point of the Kingdom of Heaven. He is Himself
borne as offering, so that there would in power transpire the proclamation of
the heavenly Angels: "Glory to God in the Highest", and with the
shepherds of Bethlehem be pronounced the joyous song: "And on earth peace,
good-will to mankind!" Born of the Father, in His Person and in His Being
passionless, now in a manner dispassionate and incomprehensible He is born for
us. The praeternal birth, He alone Who was born dispassionately doth know of;
the present birth, is supernaturally known only by the grace of the Holy
Spirit; but in both the first birth truly, and in the present birth in kenotic
humbling, actually and immutably God was born from God, but He – is also Man,
having received flesh of the Virgin. In the highest of the One Father – He is
One, the Only-Begotten Son of the One Father; in kenotic humbling Unique of the
unique Virgin, the Only-Begotten Son of the one Virgin... God suffereth not
passions, in being born God of God; and the Virgin did not suffer corruption,
since in a manner spiritual was born the Spiritual. The first birth – is
inexplicable and the second – is insurmiseable; the first birth was without
travail and the second was without impurity... We know, Who now is born of the
Virgin, and we believe, that it is He, born of the Father praeternally. But
what manner of birth it was we would not hope to explain. Neither with words
would I attempt to speak of this, nor in thought would I dare to approach it,
since the Divine Nature is not subject to observation, nor approachable by
thought, nor containable by the hapless reasoning. Needful only is to believe
in the power of His works. The laws of corporeal nature are evident: a married
woman conceives and gives birth to a son in accord with the purpose of
marriage; but when the Unwedded Virgin gives birth to the son miraculously, and
after birth remaineth a Virgin, – then is manifest an higher corporeal nature.
We can comprehend what exists according to the laws ofd corporeal nature, but
afront that which is beyond the laws of nature, we fall silent, not through
fear, but moreso through sin-wrought fallibility. We mustneeds fall silent, in
silent stillness to reverence virtue with a worthy reverence and, not going beyond
the far limits (of word), to be vouchsafed the heavenly gifts.
What to say and what shalt I proclaim? To
speak more concerning the Virgin Birth-Giver? To deliberate more on the
miraculously new birth? It is possible only to be astonished, in contemplating
the miraculous birth, since it overturns the ordinary laws and order of nature
and of things. About the wondrous works (of God) one might say in brief, that
they are more wondrous than the works of nature, since in nature nothing begets
itself by its own will, though there be the freedom thereof: wondrous therefore
are all the works of the Lord, Who hath caused them to be. O, immaculate and
inexplicable mystery! That One, Who before the very creation of the world
was the Only-Begotten, Without‑Compare, Simple, Incorporeal, is incarnated and
descends (into the world), clothed in a perishable body, so that He be visible
to all. For if He were not visible, then by what manner would He teach us to
keep His precepts and how would He lead us to the invisible reality? It was for
this therefore that He became openly visible, to lead forth those of the
visible world to the invisible. Far moreso do people reckon their eyesight as
more credible a witness than mere hearsay; they trust that which they see, and doubt
that which they see not. God willed to be visible in body, to resolve and
dispel the doubts. He willed to be born of the Virgin, not to initiate of Her
something unneeded and wherein the Virgin knew not the reasons of the matter,
but rather the mystery of His birth is an immaculate act of goodness, wherein
the Virgin Herself asked of Gabriel: "How can this be, in that I know not
a man", – to which She received in reply: "The Holy Spirit shalt come
upon Thee, and the power of the MostHigh shalt overshadow Thee" (Lk. 1:
34-35). But in what manner did the Word, Who was God, therefore issue forth
from the Virgin? This – is an inexplicable wonder. Just as a goldsmith, having
obtained the metal, makes of it a thing suitable for use, thus did Christ also:
finding the Virgin immaculate both in spirit and in body, He assumed of Her a
spirit-fashioned body conformable to His intents, and was arrayed in it, as in
clothing. On this wondrous day of the Nativity the Word was neither afraid nor
ashamed to issue forth from the virginal womb, nor did He consider it unworthy
of Himself to assume flesh from His creation, – so that the creation, made the
attire of the Creator, should be esteemed worthy of glory, and so that mercy
should be made known when revealed, from whence God through His goodness hath
descended. Just as it would be impossible for an earthen vessel to appear
before it be clay in the hands of the potter, so likewise would it be
impossible for the perishable vessel (of human nature) to be renewed otherwise,
to make it the attire of the Creator, Who is garbed in it.
What more to say, what shall I expound on?
The new wonders do strike me with awe. The Ancient of Days is become a Child,
to make people children of God. Sitting in glory in the Heavens, because of His
love for mankind, He now layeth in a manger of dumb beasts. The Inpassionate,
Incorporeal, Incomprehensible One is taken by human hands, in order to atone
the violence of sinners and the iniquitous and free them of their slavery, to
be wrapped in swaddling cloths and be nourished on the knees of Woman, so that
shame be transformed into honour, the impious to be led to glory, and in place
of thorns a crown. He hath taken on my body, so that I be made capable to have
within myself His Spirit, – He hath appropriated unto Himself (my nature),
being garbed in my body, and doth give unto me His Spirit, so that I, giving
and in turn receiving, might discover the treasure of life.
What shall I say and what proclaim?
"Behold, a Virgin in womb shalt conceive and She shalt give birth a Son,
and they will call Him the name Emmanuel, in interpretation: God is with us [S
nami Bog; Meth' hemon ho Theos; Nobiscum Deus]" (Mt. 1: 23). The saying
here deals not with something for future whereof we might learn to hope, but
rather it tells us about something that already has occurred and it awes us
with something that already has been fulfilled. What formerly was said to the
Jews and fulfilled amidst them, is now thus amidst us realised as an
occurrence, whereof we have received (this prophecy), and adopted it, and
believed in it. The prophet says to the Jews: "Behold, a Virgin shalt
conceive" (Is. 7: 14); for Christians however, the saying devolves upon
the fulfilling of the actual deed, the full treasure-trove of the actual event.
In Judea a Virgin gave birth, but all the lands of the world accepted Her Son.
There – was the root of the vine; here – the vine of truth. The Jews squeezed
the wine-press, and the Gentiles have tasted of the sacramental Blood; those others
planted the kernel of wheat, and these thrive by the grain harvest of faith.
The Jews were pricked to death by the thorns, the Gentiles are filled by the
harvest; those others sat beneathe the tree of desolation, and these – beneathe
the tree of life; those expounded the precepts of the Law, but the Gentiles
reap the spiritual fruits. The Virgin gave birth not Herself of Herself, but as
willed He needing to be born. Not in corporeal manner did God act, not to the
law of the flesh did God subordinate Himself, but the Lord of corporeal nature
manifested Himself to appear in the world by a miraculous birth, in order to
reveal His power and to show, that in having been made Man, He is born not as a
mere man, – that God is made Man, since for His will nothing be difficult.
On the present great day He is born of the
Virgin, having overcome the natural order of things. He is higher than wedlock
and free from defilement. It sufficed that He the preceptor of purity should
shine forth gloriously, to emerge from a pure and undefiled womb. For He – is
That Same, Who in the beginning did create Adam from the virgin soil, and from
Adam without wedlock did bring forth for him his wife Eve. And as Adam was
without wife before that he had a wife, and the first woman then was brought
into the world, so likewise on the present day the Virgin without man giveth
birth to That One, about Whom spake the prophet: "He – is Man, who is he
that doth know Him?" The Man Christ, clearly seen by mankind, born of God,
is such that womankind was needed to perfect that of mankind, so that perfectly
would be born man for woman. And just as from Adam was taken woman, without
impairment and without diminishing of his masculine nature, so also from woman
without man was needed to bring forth a man, similar to the bringing forth of
Eve, so that Adam be not extolled in that without his means woman should bring
forth woman. Therefore the Virgin without cohabitation with man gave birth to
God the Word, made Man, so that in equal measure it was by the same miracle to
bestow equal honour to both the one and the other half – man and woman. And
just as from Adam was taken woman without his diminishing, so likewise from the
Virgin was taken the body (Born of Her), wherein also the Virgin did not undergo
diminishing, and Her virginity did not suffer harm. Adam dwelt well and
unharmed, when the rib was taken from him: and so without defilement dwelt the
Virgin, when from Her was brought forth God the Word. For this sort of reason
particularly the word assumed of the Virgin Her flesh and Her (corporeal) garb,
so that He be not accounted innocent of the sin of Adam. Since man stung by sin
had become a vessel and instrument of evil, Christ took upon Himself this
receptacle of sin into His Own flesh so that, the Creator having been co‑united
with the body, it should thus be freed from the foulness of the enemy, and man
thus be clothed in an eternal body, which be neither perished nor destroyed for
all eternity. Moreover, He that is become the God-Man is born, not as
ordinarily man is born, – He is born as God made Man, manifest of this by His
Own Divine power, since if He were born according to the general laws of
nature, the Word would seem something imperfect. Therefore, He was born of the
Virgin and shone forth; therefore, having been born, He preserved unharmed the
virginal womb, so that the hitherto unheard of manner of the Nativity should be
for us a sign of great mystery.
Is Christ God? Christ is God by nature, but
not by the order of nature did He become Man. Thus we declare and in truth
believe, calling to witness the seal of intact virginity: as Almighty Creator
of the womb and virginity, He chose an unshameful manner of birth and was made
Man, as He did will.
On this great day, now being celebrated,
God hath appeared as Man, as Pastor of the nation of Israel, Who hath enlivened
all the universe with His goodness. O dear warriors, glorious champions for
mankind, who did preach Bethlehem as a place of Theophany and the Nativity of
the Son of God, who have made known to all the world the Lord of all, lying in
a manger, and did point out God contained within a narrow cave!
And so, we now glorify joyfully a feast of
the years. Just as hence the laws of feasts be new, so now also the laws of
birth be wondrous. On this great day now celebrated, of shattered chains, of
Satan shamed, of all demons to flight, the all‑destroying death is replaced by
life, paradise is opened to the thief, curses be transformed into blessings,
all sins forgiven and evil banished, truth is come, and they have proclaimed
tidings filled with reverence and love for God, traits pure and immaculate are
implanted, virtue is exalted upon the earth, Angels are come together with
people, and people make bold to converse with Angels. Whence and why hath all
this happened? From this, that God hath descended into the world and exalted
mankind unto Heaven. There is accomplished a certain transposition of
everything: God Who is perfect hath descended to earth, though by Nature He remaineth
entirely in the Heavens, even at that time when in His wholeness He be situated
upon the earth. He was God and was made Man, not negating His Divinity: He was
not made God, since He was always such by His very Nature, but He was made
flesh, so that He be visible to everything corporeal. That One, upon Whom even
the Heaven-dwellers cannot look, chose as His habitation a manger, and when He
came, all around Him became still. And for naught else did He lay in the
manger, than for this, that in giving nourishment to all, He should for Himself
extract the nourishment of infants from maternal breasts and by this to bless
wedlock.
On this great day people, leaving off from
their arduous and serious affairs, do come forth for the glory of Heaven, and they
learn through the gleaming of the stars, that the Lord hath descended to the
earth to save His creation. The Lord, sitting upon a swift cloud, in the flesh
wilt enter into Egypt (Is. 19: 1), visible fleeing from Herod, on that very
deed which inspires the saying by Isaiah: "On that day Israel wilt be
third amidst the Egyptians" (Is. 19: 24).
People entered into the Cave, thinking not
at all about this beforehand, and it became for them an holy temple. God
entered into Egypt, in the place of the ancient sadness there to bring joy, and
in the place of dark gloom to shed forth the light of salvation. The waters of
the Nile had become defiled and harmful after infants perished in it with
untimely death. There appeared in Egypt That One, Who upon a time turned the
water into blood and Who thereafter transformed these waters into well-springs
of the water of rebirth, by the grace of the Holy Spirit cleansing away sins
and transgressions. Chastisement once befell the Egyptians, since in their
errors they defied God. But Jesus now is come into Egypt and hath sown in it
reverence for God, so that in casting off from the Egyptian soul its errors,
they are made amicable unto God. The river waters concurred worthily to
encompass His head, like a crown.
In order not to stretch out in length our
discourse and briefly to conclude what is said, we shall ask: in what manner
was the passionless Word made flesh and become visible, while dwelling
immutably in His Divine Nature? But what shall I say and what declare? I see
the carpenter and the manger, the Infant and the Virgin Birth-Giver, forsaken
by all, weighed down by hardship and want. Behold, to what a degree of
humiliation the great God hath descended. For our sakes "impoverished, Who
was rich" (2 Cor. 8: 9): He was put into but sorry swaddling cloths –
not on a soft bed. O poverty, source of all exaltation! O destitution,
revealing all treasures! He doth appear to the poor ‑‑ and the poor He maketh
rich; He doth lay in an animal manger – and by His word He sets in motion all
the world. He is wrapped in tattered swaddling cloths – and shatters the bonds
of sinners having called the entire world into being by His Word alone.
What still should I say and proclaim? I see
the Infant, in swaddling cloths and lying in the manger; Mary, the Virgin
Mother, stands before it together with Joseph, called Her husband. He is called
Her husband, and She – his wife, in name but so and seemingly wedded, though in
fact they were not spouses. she was betrothed to Joseph, but the Holy Spirit
came upon Her, as about this the holy evangelist doth speak: "The Holy
Spirit shalt come upon Thee, and the power of the MostHigh wilt overshadow
Thee: and He to be born is Holy" (Lk. 1: 35) and is of the seed of Heaven.
Joseph did not dare to speak in opposition, and the righteous man did not wish
to reprove the Holy Virgin; he did not want to believe any suspicion of sin nor
pronounce against the Holy Virgin words of slander; but the Son to be born he
did not wish to acknowledge as his, since he knew, that He – was not of him.
And although he was perplexed and had doubts, Who such an Infant should be, and
pondered it over – he then had an heavenly vision, an Angel appeared to him and
encouraged him with the words: Fear not, Joseph, son of David; He That shalt be
born of Mary is called Holy and the Son of God; that is: the Holy Spirit shalt
come upon the Immaculate Virgin, and the power of the MostHigh wilt overshadow
Her (Mt. 1: 20‑21; Lk. 1: 35). Truly He was to be born of the Virgin,
preserving unharmed Her virginity. Just as the first virgin had fallen, enticed
by Satan, so now Gabriel bears new tidings to the Virgin Mary, so that a virgin
would give assent to be the Virgin, and to the Nativity – by birth. Allured by
temptations, Eve did once utter words of ruination; Mary, in turn, in accepting
the tidings gave birth to the Incorporeal and Life-Creating Word. For the words
of Eve, Adam was cast out of paradise; the Word, born of the Virgin, revealed
the Cross, by which the thief entered into the paradise of Adam. Though neither
the pagan Gentiles, nor the Jews, nor the high-priests would believe, that from
God could be born a Son without travail and without man, this now is so and He
is born in the body, capable to endure suffering, while preserving inviolate
the body of the Virgin.
Thus did He manifest His Almightiness, born
of the Virgin, preserving the virginity of the Virgin intact, and He was born
of God with neither complication, travail, evil nor a separation of forsaking
the immutable Divine Essence, born God from God. Since mankind abandoned God,
in place of Him worshipping graven images of humans, God the Word thus assumed
the image of man, so that in banishing error and restoring truth, He should
consign to oblivion the worshipping of idols and for Himself to be accorded
Divine honour, since to Him becometh all glory and honour unto ages of ages.
Amen.
The
Circumcision (Obrezanie) of the Lord: On the eighth day after His Nativity, our
Lord Jesus Christ – in accordance with the Old Testament Law, accepted
circumcision, which was decreed for all infants of the male gender as a sign of
the Covenant of God with the Forefather Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:
10-14, Lev. 12: 3). Upon the performing of this ritual the Divine Infant
was given the name Jesus, which had been announced by the Archangel Gabriel on
the day of the Annunciation (Blagoveschenie) to the MostHoly Virgin Mary (Lk.
1: 31-33, 2: 21). According to the explanation of the fathers of the Church the
Lord, the Creator of the Law, accepted circumcision, giving example for people
how faithfully the Divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord accepted
circumcision for this reason – so that later on no one should be in doubt that
He was truly Man, rather than merely being the bearer of illusion-seeming flesh
as certain heretics (Docetism) happened to teach. In the New Testament
(Covenant) the ritual of circumcision gave way to the sacrament of Baptism,
which it pre-figured (Col. 2: 11-12). Accounts about the feastday of the
Circumcision of the Lord in the Eastern Church continue right up through the IV
Century. The Canon of the feast was written by the Monk Stephen Savvaites
(Comm. 28 October and 13 July). Together with the Circumcision, accepted by the
Lord as a sign of the Covenant of God with mankind, He received also the Name
Jesus (Saviour) as the seal of His service – the deed of the Salvation of the
world (Mt. 1: 21; Mk. 9: 38-39, 16: 17; Lk. 10: 17; Acts 3: 6, 16;
Phil. 2: 9-10). These two events, the Circumcision and Naming, remind
Christians that they have entered into a New Covenant (Testament) with God and
"are circumcised with a circumcision not done by hand, in putting off the
sinful body of the flesh, by the Circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: 11). The
very name "Christian" witnesses to an entrance of mankind into a New
Covenant with God.
Theophany
/ Bogoyavlenie denotes the feast whereby through the Baptism of the Lord the
MostHoly Trinity has been revealed to the world (Mt. 3: 13-17; Mk. 1:
9-11; Lk. 3: 21-22). God the Father spoke from Heaven about the Son, the
Son was baptised by the holy ForeRunner of the Lord John, and the Holy Spirit
descended upon the Son in the form of a Dove. From ancient times this feast was
called the Day of Illumination and the Feast of Lights, since that God is Light
and has appeared to illumine "those sitting in darkness and the shadow of
death" (Mt. 4: 16) and to save through grace the fallen race of mankind.
In the ancient Church it was the custom to
baptise catechumens at the vespers of Theophany, such that Baptism also is
revealed as a spiritual illumination of mankind.
The origin of the feast of Theophany came
about in Apostolic times. Mention is made concerning it in the Apostolic
Decretals. From the II Century there is preserved the testimony of Sainted
Clement of Alexandria concerning the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord and
performing the night vigil before this feast.
In the III Century on the feast of
Theophany there is known the dialogue concerning Divine-services between the
holy martyr Hyppolitus and Saint Gregory the WonderWorker. In the following
centuries – from the IV to IX Century – all the great fathers of the Church –
Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostomos, Ambrose of Milan, John Damascene,
had their own comments about the feast of Theophany. The monks Joseph the
Studite, Theophanes and Byzantios composed much liturgical music for this
feastday, which even now is sung for Divine-services. The Monk John
Damascene said, that the Lord was baptised not because He Himself had need for
cleansing, but so that "by water to bury human sin", to fulfill the
law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to sanctify
"watery nature" and to proffer it to us in the form and example of
Baptism.
On the feastday of the Baptism of Christ,
Holy Church asserts our faith in the mystery – most sublime and
incomprehensible to human intellect – of the Three Persons of the One God. It
teaches us to confess and glorify as equally-honoured the Holy Trinity
One-Essence and Undivided. It exposes and collapses the fallacies of the
ancient pseudo-teachings, which attempted with reason and by human terms to
explain the Creator of the world. The Church shews the necessity of Baptism for
believers in Christ, and it inspires for us a sense of deep gratitude for the
Illumination and Purification of our sinful nature. The Church teaches that our
salvation and cleansing from sin is possible only by the power of the grace of
the Holy Spirit, wherefore it is necessary to preserve worthily these gifts of
the grace of holy Baptism – keeping clean this priceless garb, about which the
feast of the Baptism tells us: "As many as have been baptised into Christ,
have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27).
[Translator Note: literally rendered from Greek "Theophany" means
"Manifestation of God", whereas "Epiphany" connotes
"Manifest upon"; "Theophany" is the more accurate rendering
of Slavonic "Bogoyavlenie".]
____________________________________
DISCOURSE ON THE
DAY OF THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST: St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople
We shall now say something about the
present feast. Many celebrate the feastdays and know their designations, but
the cause for which they were established they know not. Thus concerning this,
that the present feast is called Theophany – everyone knows; but what this is –
Theophany, and whether it be one thing or another, they know not. And this is
shameful – every year to celebrate the feastday and not know its reason.
First of all therefore, it is necessary to
say that there is not one Theophany, but two: the one actual, which already has
occurred, and the second in future, which will happen with glory at the end of
the world. About this one and about the other you will hear today from Paul,
who in conversing with Titus, speaks thus about the present: "The grace of
God hath revealed itself, having saved all mankind, decreeing, that we reject
iniquity and worldly desires, and dwell in the present age in prudence and in
righteousness and piety", – and about the future: "awaiting the
blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus
Christ" (Tit. 2: 11-13). And a prophet speaks thus about this latter:
"the sun shalt turn to darkness, and the moon to blood at first, then
shalt come the great and illuminating Day of the Lord" (Joel 2:31). Why is
not that day, on which the Lord was born, considered Theophany – but rather
this day on which He was baptised? This present day it is, on which He was
baptised and sanctified the nature of water. Because on this day all, having
obtained the waters, do carry it home and keep it all year, since today the
waters are sanctified; and an obvious phenomenon occurs: these waters in their
essence do not spoil with the passage of time, but obtained today, for one
whole year and often for two or three years, they remain unharmed and fresh,
and afterwards for a long time do not stop being water, just as that obtained
from the fountains.
Why then is this day called Theophany?
Because Christ made Himself known to all – not then when He was born – but then
when He was baptised. Until this time He was not known to the people. And that
the people did not know Him, Who He was, listen about this to John the Baptist,
who says: "Amidst you standeth, Him Whom ye know not of" (Jn. 1:26).
And is it surprising that others did not know Him, when even the Baptist did
not know Him until that day? "And I, – said he, – knew Him not: but He
that did send me to baptise with water, about This One did tell unto me: over
Him that shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, This One it is
Who baptiseth in the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 1:33). Thus from this it is
evident, that – there are two Theophanies, and why Christ comes at baptism and
on whichever baptism He comes, about this it is necessary to say: it is
therefore necessary to know both the one and equally the other. And first it is
necessary to speak your love about the latter, so that we might learn about the
former. There was a Jewish baptism, which cleansed from bodily impurities, but
not to remove sins. Thus, whoever committed adultery, or decided on thievery,
or who did some other kind of misdeed, it did not free him from guilt. But
whoever touched the bones of the dead, whoever tasted food forbidden by the
law, whoever approached from contamination, whoever consorted with lepers –
that one washed, and until evening was impure, and then cleansed. "Let one
wash his body in pure water – it says in the Scriptures, – and he will be
unclean until evening, and then he will be clean" (Lev. 15: 5, 22: 4).
This was not truly of sins or impurities, but since the Jews lacked perfection,
then God, accomplishing it by means of this greater piety, prepared them by
their beginnings for a precise observance of important things.
Thus, Jewish cleansings did not free from
sins, but only from bodily impurities. Not so with ours: it is far more sublime
and it manifests a great grace, whereby it sets free from sin, it cleanses the
spirit and bestows the gifts of the Spirit. And the baptism of John was far
more sublime than the Jewish, but less so than ours: it was like a bridge
between both baptisms, leading across itself from the first to the last.
Wherefore John did not give guidance for observance of bodily purifications,
but together with them he exhorted and advised to be converted from vice to
good deeds and to trust in the hope of salvation and the accomplishing of good
deeds, rather than in different washings and purifications by water. John did
not say: wash your clothes, wash your body, and ye will be pure, but what? –
"bear ye fruits worthy of repentance" (Mt. 3: 8). Since it was more
than of the Jews, but less than ours: the baptism of John did not impart the
Holy Spirit and it did not grant forgiveness by grace: it gave the commandment
to repent, but it was powerless to absolve sins. Wherefore John did also say:
"I baptise you with water...That One however will baptise you with the
Holy Spirit and with fire" (Mt. 3: 11). Obviously, he did not baptise with
the Spirit. But what does this mean: "with the Holy Spirit and with
fire?" Call to mind that day, on which for the Apostles "there
appeared disparate tongues like fire, and sat over each one of them" (Acts
2: 3). And that the baptism of John did not impart the Spirit and remission of
sins is evident from the following: Paul "found certain disciples, and said
to them: received ye the Holy Spirit since ye have believed? They said to him:
but furthermore whether it be of the Holy Spirit, we shall hear. He said to
them: into what were ye baptised? They answered: into the baptism of John. Paul
then said: John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance", –
repentance, but not remission of sins; for whom did he baptise? "Having
proclaimed to the people, that they should believe in the One coming after him,
namely, Christ Jesus. Having heard this, they were baptised in the Name of the
Lord Jesus: and Paul laying his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon
them" (Acts 19: 1-6). Do you see, how incomplete was the baptism of John?
If the one were not incomplete, would then Paul have baptised them again, and
placed his hands on them; having performed also the second, he shew the
superiority of the apostolic Baptism and that the baptism of John was far less
than his. Thus, from this we recognise the difference of the baptisms.
Now it is necessary to say, for whom was
Christ baptised and by which baptism? Neither the former the Jewish, nor the
last – ours. Whence hath He need for remission of sins, how is this possible
for Him, Who hath not any sins? "Of sin, – it says in the Scriptures, –
worked He not, nor was there deceit found in His mouth" (1 Pet. 2: 22);
and further, "who of you convicteth Me of Sin?" (Jn. 8: 46). And His
flesh was privy to the Holy Spirit; how might this be possible, when it in the
beginning was fashioned by the Holy Spirit? And so, if His flesh was privy to
the Holy Spirit, and He was not subject to sins, then for whom was He baptised?
But first of all it is necessary for us to recognise, by which baptism He was
baptised, and then it will be clear for us. By which baptism indeed was He baptised?
– Not the Jewish, nor ours, nor John's. For whom, since thou from thine own
aspect of baptism dost perceive, that He was baptised not by reason of sin and
not having need of the gift of the Spirit; therefore, as we have demonstrated,
this baptism was alien to the one and to the other. Hence it is evident, that
He came to Jordan not for the forgiveness of sins and not for receiving the
gifts of the Spirit. But so that some from those present then should not think,
that He came for repentance like others, listen to how John precluded this.
What he then spoke to the others then was: "Bear ye fruits worthy of
repentance"; but listen what he said to Him: "I have need to be
baptised of Thee, and Thou art come to me?" (Mt. 3: 8, 14). With these
words he demonstrated, that Christ came to him not through that need with which
people came, and that He was so far from the need to be baptised for this
reason, – so much more sublime and perfectly purer than Baptism itself. For
whom was He baptised, if this was done not for repentance, nor for the
remission of sins, nor for receiving the gifts of the Spirit? Through the other
two reasons, of which about the one the disciple speaks, and about the other He
Himself spoke to John. Which reason of this baptism did John declare? Namely,
that Christ should become known to the people, as Paul also mentions:
"John therefore baptised with the baptism of repentance, so that through
him they should believe on Him that cometh" (Acts 19: 4); this was the
consequence of the baptism. If John had gone to the home of each and, standing
at the door, had spoken out for Christ and said: "He is the Son of
God", such a testimony would have been suspicious, and this deed would
have been extremely perplexing. So too, if he in advocating Christ had gone
into the synagogues and witnessed to Him, this testimony of his might be
suspiciously fabricated. But when all the people thronged out from all the
cities to Jordan and remained on the banks of the river, and when He Himself
came to be baptised and received the testimony of the Father by a voice from
above and by the coming-upon of the Spirit in the form of a dove, then the
testimony of John about Him was made beyond all questioning. And since he said:
"and I knew Him not" (Jn. 1: 31), his testimony put forth is
trustworthy. They were kindred after the flesh between themselves
"wherefore Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, hath also conceived a son" –
said the Angel to Mary about the mother of John (Lk. 1: 36); if however the
mothers were relatives, then obviously so also were the children. Thus, since
they were kinsmen, – in order that it should not seem that John would testify
concerning Christ because of kinship, the grace of the Spirit organised it
such, that John spent all his early years in the wilderness, so that it should
not seem that John had declared his testimony out of friendship or some similar
reason. But John, as he was instructed of God, thus also announced about Him,
wherein also he did say: "and I knew Him not". From whence didst thou
find out? "He having sent me that sayeth to baptise with water, That One
did tell me" What did He tell thee? "Over Him thou shalt see the
Spirit descending, like to a dove, and abiding over Him, That One is baptised
by the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 1: 32-33). Dost thou see, that the Holy Spirit
did not descend as in a first time then coming down upon Him, but in order to
point out that preached by His inspiration – as though by a finger, it pointed
Him out to all. For this reason He came to baptism.
And there is a second reason, about which
He Himself spoke – what exactly is it? When John said: "I have need to be
baptised of Thee, and Thou art come to me?" – He answered thus: "stay
now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill every righteousness" (Mt. 3:
14-15). Dost thou see the meekness of the servant? Dost thou see the humility
of the Master? What does He mean: "to fulfill every righteousness?"
By righteousness is meant the fulfillment of all the commandments, as is said:
"both were righteous, walking faultlessly in the commandments of the
Lord" (Lk. 1: 6). Since fulfilling this righteousness was necessary for
all people – but no one of them kept it or fulfilled it – Christ came then and
fulfilled this righteousness.
And what righteousness is there, someone
will say, in being baptised? Obedience for a prophet was righteous. As Christ
was circumcised, offered sacrifice, kept the sabbath and observed the Jewish
feasts, so also He added this remaining thing, that He was obedient to having
been baptised by a prophet. It was the will of God then, that all should be
baptised – about which listen, as John speaks: "He having sent me to
baptise with water" (Jn. 1: 33); so also Christ: "the publicans and
the people do justify God, having been baptised with the baptism of John; the
pharisees and the lawyers reject the counsel of God concerning themselves, not
having been baptised by him" (Lk. 7: 29-30). Thus, if obedience to God
constitutes righteousness, and God sent John to baptise the nation, then Christ
has also fulfilled this along with all the other commandments.
Consider, that the commandments of the law
is the main point of the two denarii: this – debt, which our race has needed to
pay; but we did not pay it, and we, falling under such an accusation, are
embraced by death. Christ came, and finding us afflicted by it, – He paid the
debt, fulfilled the necessary and seized from it those, who were not able to
pay. Wherefore He does not say: "it is necessary for us to do this or
that", but rather "to fulfill every righteousness". "It is
for Me, being the Master, – says He, – proper to make payment for the
needy". Such was the reason for His baptism – wherefore they should see,
that He had fulfilled all the law – both this reason and also that, about which
was spoken of before. Wherefore also the Spirit did descend as a dove: because
where there is reconciliation with God – there also is the dove. So also in the
ark of Noah the dove did bring the branch of olive – a sign of God's love of
mankind and of the cessation of the flood. And now in the form of a dove, and
not in a body – this particularly deserves to be noted – the Spirit descended,
announcing the universal mercy of God and showing with it, that the spiritual
man needs to be gentle, simple and innocent, as Christ also says: "Except
ye be converted and become as children, ye shalt not enter into the Heavenly
Kingdom" (Mt. 18: 3). But that ark, after the cessation of the flood,
remained upon the earth; this ark, after the cessation of wrath, is taken to heaven,
and now this Immaculate and Imperishable Body is situated at the right hand of
the Father.
Having made mention about the Body of the
Lord, I shall also say a little about this, and then the conclusion of the
talk. Many now will approach the Holy Table on the occasion of the feast. But
some approach not with trembling, but shoving, hitting others, blazing with
anger, shouting, cursing, roughing it up with their fellows with great
confusion. What, tell me, art thou troubled by, my fellow? What disturbeth thee?
Do urgent affairs, for certain, summon thee? At this hour art thou particularly
aware, that these affairs of thine that thou particularly rememberest, that
thou art situated upon the earth, and dost thou think to mix about with people?
But is it not with a soul of stone naturally to think, that in such a time thou
stand upon the earth, and not exult with the Angels with whom to raise up
victorious song to God? For this Christ also did describe us with eagles,
saying: "where the corpse is, there are the eagles gathered" (Mt. 24:
28) – so that we might have risen to heaven and soared to the heights, having
ascended on the wings of the spirit; but we, like snakes, crawl upon the earth
and eat dirt. Having been invited to supper, thou, although satiated before
others, would not dare to leave before others while others are still reclining.
But here, when the sacred doings are going on, thou at the very middle would
pass by everything and leave? Is it for a worthy excuse? What excuse might it
be? Judas, having communed that last evening on that final night, left hastily
then as all the others were still reclining. Here these also are in imitation
of him, who leave before the final blessing! If he had not gone, then he would
not have made the betrayal; if he did not leave his co-disciples, then he would
not have perished; if he had not removed himself from the flock, then the wolf
would not have seized and devoured him alone; if he had separated himself from
the Pastor, then he would not have made himself the prey of wild beasts.
Wherefore he (Judas) was with the Jews, and those (the apostles) went out with
the Lord. Dost thou see, by what manner the final prayer after the offering of
the sacrifice is accomplished? We should, beloved, stand forth for this, we
should ponder this, fearful of the coming judgement for this. We should
approach the Holy Sacrifice with great decorum, with proper piety, so as to
merit us more of God's benevolence, to cleanse one's soul and to receive
eternal blessings, of which may we all be worthy by the grace and love for
mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to with Whom the Father, together with the
Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and worship now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
Orthodoxy in America
Russian Version
