Monday, December 25, 2006


“I BEHOLD A NEW AND WONDROUS MYSTERY!

MY EARS RESOUND TO THE SHEPHERD’S SONG, PIPING NO SOFT MELODY, BUT LOUDLY CHANTING A HEAVENLY HYMN!

THE ANGELS SING!

THE ARCHANGELS BLEND THEIR VOICES IN HARMONY!

THE CHERUBIM RESOUND THEIR JOYFUL PRAISE!

THE SERAPHIM EXALT HIS GLORY!

ALL JOIN TO PRAISE THIS HOLY FEAST, BEHOLDING THE GODHEAD HEREIN...ON EARTH AND MAN IN HEAVEN. HE WHO IS ABOVE NOW, FOR OUR SALVATION, DWELLS HERE BELOW; AND WE WHO WERE LOWLY, ARE EXALTED BY DIVINE MERCY!

TODAY BETHLEHEM RESEMBLES HEAVEN, HEARING FROM THE STARS THE SINGING OF ANGELIC VOICES AND IN PLACE OF THE SUN, WITNESSING THE RISING OF THE SUN OF JUSTICE!

ASK NOT HOW THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED, FOR WHERE GOD WILLS, THE ORDER OF NATURE IS OVERTURNED. FOR HE WILLED. HE HAD THE POWERS. HE DESCENDED. HE SAVED. ALL THINGS MOVE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD.

TODAY HE WHO IS, IS BORN . AND HE WHO IS BECOMES WHAT HE WAS NOT! FOR WHEN HE WAS GOD, HE BECAME MAN - WHILE NOT RELINQUISHING THE GODHEAD THAT IS HIS...

AND SO THE KINGS HAVE COME, AND THEY HAVE SEEN THE HEAVENLY KING THAT HAS COME UPON THE EARTH, NOT BRINGING WITH HIM ANGELS, NOR ARCHANGELS, NOR THRONES, NOR DOMINIONS, NOR POWERS, NOR PRINCIPALITIES, BUT, TREADING A NEW AND SOLITARY PATH, HE HAS COME FORTH FROM A SPOTLESS WOMB.

YET HE HAS NOT FORSAKEN HIS ANGELS, NOR LEFT THEM DEPRIVED OF HIS CARE, NOR BECAUSE OF HIS INCARNATION HAS HE CEASED BEING GOD. AND BEHOLD, KINGS HAVE COME, THAT THEY MIGHT SERVE THE LEADER OF THE HOSTS OFHEAVEN; WOMEN, THAT THEY MIGHT ADORE HIM WHO WAS BORN OF A WOMAN SO THAT HE MIGHT CHANGE THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH INTO JOY; VIRGINS, TO THE SON OF THE VIRGIN...

INFANTS, THAT THEY MAY ADORE HIM WHO BECAME A LITTLE CHILD, SO THAT OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS HE MIGHT PERFECT PRAISE; CHILDREN, TO THE CHILD WHO RAISED UP MARTYRS THROUGH THE RAGE OF HEROD; MEN, TO HIM WHO BECAME MAN THAT HE MIGHT HEAL THE MISERIES OF HIS SERVANTS;

SHEPHERDS, TO THE GOOD SHEPHERD WHO HAS LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP;

PRIESTS, TO HIM WHO HAS BECOME A HIGH PRIEST ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK;

SERVANTS, TO HIM WHO TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE FORM OF A SERVANT, THAT HE MIGHT BLESS OUR STEWARDSHIP WITH THE REWARD OF FREEDOM;

FISHERMEN, TO THE FISHER OF HUMANITY;

PUBLICANS, TO HIM WHO FROM AMONG THEM NAMED A CHOSEN EVANGELIST;

SINFUL WOMEN, TO HIM WHO EXPOSED HIS FEET TO THE TEARS OF THE REPENTANT WOMAN

AND THAT I MAY EMBRACE THEM ALL TOGETHER, ALL SINNERS HAVE COME, THAT THEY MAY LOOK UPON THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD!


SINCE, THEREFORE, ALL REJOICE, I TOO DESIRE TO REJOICE!, I TOOWISH TO SHARE THE CHORAL DANCE, TO CELEBRATE THE FESTIVAL! BUT I TAKE MY PART, NOT PLUCKING THE HARP NOR WITH THE MUSIC OF THE PIPES, NOR HOLDING A TORCH, BUT HOLDING IN MY ARMS THE CRADLE OF CHRIST!

FOR THIS IS ALL MY HOPE! THIS IS MY LIFE! THIS IS MY SALVATION THIS IS MY PIPE, MY HARP!

AND BEARING IT I COME, AND HAVING FROM ITS POWER RECEIVED THE GIFT OF SPEECH, I TOO WITH THE ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS SING:

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST! AND ON EARTH PEACE TO MEN OF GOOD WILL!”

- The Nativity Sermon of St John Chrysostom

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Forefeast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ

Troparion - Tone 4


Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all!
Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the tree of life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave!
Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the Divine Fruit:
If we eat of it, we shall live forever and not die like Adam.
Christ comes to restore the image which He made in the beginning!

Kontakion - Tone 3

Today the Virgin comes to the cave
to give birth to the Eternal Word.
Hear the glad tidings and rejoice, O universe!
Glorify with the angels and the shepherds
the Eternal God, who is willing to appear as a little child!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Please remember...

Father Matthew Jackson, priest in charge of Christ our Saviour in McComb, Mississippi, in your prayers. He's recently been diagnosed with acute inflammatory arthritis and is proceeding with the first stage of treatment. Also remember Matushka Xenia and their children during this time of trial.

Read his email, posted on the Diocesan website, here.

"O holy Father, heavenly Physician of our souls and bodies, who hast sent thine Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to heal all our ailments and deliver us from death: do thou visit and heal thy priest Matthew, granting him release from pain and restoration to health and vigor, that he may give thanks unto thee and bless thy holy Name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen."

Monday, December 11, 2006

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you…,”


reads the beginning of Matthew 28:19-20. At first glance, this appears to be one of the more straightforward verses in the New Testament. Known as the Great Commission, it a clear and concise call to all Christians to share the Gospel with the world. How they are to accomplish this feat has been the source of numerous prayers, spirited debate, and sometimes bloody conflict.

The question of how to most effectively and appropriately enhance its Orthodox Christian missions outreach was the question that OCMC’s Board of Directors tried to answer in its Fall meeting at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff-By-the-Sea, California. The Board consists of dedicated clergy and lay people from various Orthodox jurisdictions in America...


Read the entire article on the OCMC website.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker...
Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had vowed to dedicate him to God.

As the fruit of the prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very day of his birth revealed to people the light of his future glory as a wonderworker. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant, while still in the baptismal font, stood on his feet three hours, without support from anyone, thereby honoring the Most Holy Trinity. St Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he would not accept milk from his mother until after his parents had finished their evening prayers.

From his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine Scripture; by day he would not leave church, and by night he prayed and read books, making himself a worthy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Bishop Nicholas of Patara rejoiced at the spiritual success and deep piety of his nephew. He ordained him a reader, and then elevated Nicholas to the priesthood, making him his assistant and entrusting him to instruct the flock...

Read it all here.

Monday, December 04, 2006

We will welcome...

Father Sergius Clark as our visiting priest this weekend, December 9-10, for Great Vespers at 5:00PM Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy at 10:00AM Sunday morning.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Missing from local media coverage...

has been any significant analysis of the meeting of Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope Benedict XVI this past week in Constantinople (Istanbul). Dallas Morning News editor and Beliefnet columnist Rod Dreher offers an important corrective to this oversight.

Here's a snippet:

"...the division between and among Christians is indeed, as Pope Benedict said, a scandal. I do pray -- literally, I do pray -- that the goodwill between Catholics and Orthodox that comes out of this historical pilgrimage will bear fruit in the near and long term. There is so much good in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and as someone who has lived on both sides, I earnestly believe there is much we have to learn from one another, and thank God for the marvelous work He did in Constantinople this week."

Read all of Rod's column here.

Also, be sure to visit the official website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which has a number of press releases and magnificent photos of the various events of the week.