Lent

I know that we're only a few days into Lent, but it seems especially meaningful to me this year. I think it's because this is the first year that I have actually taken it seriously. My spirituality and understanding of the purpose of the Christian life has drastically changed and grown in recent times, and the increased focus on the primary purpose of our life in Christ - our striving towards sanctification and deification - is something of which I realise all the more now just how much I fall short.

We had the Ash Wednesday Rite here at the house, followed by the Divine Liturgy of the day. It was very intimate and at the same time quite aweful. For the first time, the imposition of ashes actually meant something quite significant to me, as I intended to immerse myself in the opporunities that Lent provides. How much I shall have successfully done so come the end is something that I do not yet know, but the physical reminder of my mortality and the need for a focus on the life to come was very haunting indeed.

I have begun to make my way through Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey through Lent, which is quite light but at the same time has led me to look a little further at myself and some of my traits that I had previously not noticed, or about which I hadn't much bothered. I'm glad because some of these things, while seemingly innocent, are actually not as harmless as they at first appear.

So yes, I have finally succumbed to pressure and jumped on the Lent book bandwagon. Has anybody else found some publication useful during the past for Lenten reflection, or perhaps this year for the first time? I'd certainly be interested to read more, and may well take recommendations for future years. Please do share.

May you all have a blessed and holy Lent.

Lenten Epistle

Here is the Lenten Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan LAURUS, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad:

Reverend Fathers, Dear in the Lord Brothers, Sisters and Children:

I send my heartfelt greetings to all of you on the arrival of the salvific period of Great Lent, the time designated for our inner self-examination. The Holy Church summons us towards this, that we purify ourselves with augmented prayers and fasting, that we illumine ourselves with the reading of spiritually-beneficial books and approach our God and Creator, our Heavenly Father and Closest Friend, Who invites us into his Kingdom, the Kingdom of Love, Peace, Mercy and Light.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

And also:

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

So, dear in the Lord fathers, brothers, sisters and children, in order that our prayers, labours of fasting and repentance be pleasing to God and that they gain for us the absolution of sins and the renewal of our inner strength, we must be at peace with our neighbour.

In fact, how could our prayers, fasting and repentance be a pure sacrifice before God if they emerge from hearts that are filled with hatred against others? We must read the Lord's Prayer often: 'Our Father… forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.' By keeping enmity within our hearts, how dare we utter these words of the Lord's Prayer? Would not our prayer then remain a hollow sound? Would we not be lying brazenly before God? We often hear the exclamation during divine services: 'In peace let us pray to the Lord; Peace be unto to all.' These words demand of us that we approach prayer having first made peace with everyone, so that we stand before God without anger or malice. Or, when the Holy Church prepares us for the worthy participation in the Divine Liturgy, she also reminds us of reconciliation and love as necessities for our fruitful communion with God and each other in the Mystery of Communion. 'Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.' In the ancient Church, in witness to this mutual love, Christians who prayed during Divine Liturgy kissed one another; now this is performed only by the priests within the altar, while all others, as they hear this exclamation, must establish love and peace for all within their souls. How dare we, fathers, brothers and sisters, perform or pray during Divine Liturgy with hostility in our hearts, and approach Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour, Who, as He was crucified, prayed for His enemies? We will truly enter into communion with God only when we expel from our hearts wrath and wickedness.

St Anastasius of Sinai recounted the story of one monk who led his life in sloth and disregard for monastic rules, who during his final moments felt special spiritual joy. The other monks were amazed at this and asked him what brings him such joy. The dying monk responded thus: 'I watched as the holy angels shredded the lists of my sins, for though I lived carelessly and slothfully, I never condemned anyone, never remembered the evils of others.'

And so, reverend fathers, brothers, sisters and children, as we remember the testament of our Saviour, the call of the Holy Church, and as we immerse ourselves in the spiritually-beneficent Lenten time by taking the example of the Holy Fathers, let us strive especially to prevent enmity, hatred and anger amongst ourselves, and instead let peace, love, trust and other Christian virtues eternally abide among us. Let us try in our earthly lives fulfill in deed fulfill the instructions of Apostle Paul to the Christians:

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Ephesians 4:26

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Romans 12:18

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

And may the Lord help us in these holy days.

Once again I greet you all with the Great Lent and prayerfully wish every one of you reconciliation with God in His image, which is reflected in our neighbours. Let the purified heart of each one of us become the Life-Bearing Tabernacle from which the Resurrected Lord will shine forth. Let everyone see in our eyes and in our lives this Triumph of Christ over evil, over sin and over everything horrible in this world. Greeting the Pascha of Christ in this way will be the finest way to preach the truth of Orthodoxy. In this bright state, I hope, we shall approach the canonical actions which will serve to the reestablishment this year of peace and unity within the Local Russian Orthodox Church.

May this be within the souls of each one of us. Amen.

With love in the Lord, I beseech your prayers,

+ Metropolitan Laurus,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

First Anniversary

Almighty God, in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to allow me a whole year growing and being nourished within the Holy Orthodox Church. Today marks one year since I was baptised and chrismated, rather aptly on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Byzantine run-up to Lent (the Triodion).

The past year has certainly been one of great personal spiritual growth for me. It has been rather lovely to worship in a liturgical tradition with which I haven't been completely familiar. It has meant that I have been able to take a step back from criticism of the manner in which the Liturgy is celebrated and actually been able to worship. I missed this in my previous home, mainly because I had allowed myself to get caught up in rubricism.

I have also settled into a wonderful and loving parish community, for which I am extremely garteful. I have a gentle, loving, and very sensible parish priest who has been a great help and friend to me, and I really have little cause for complaint.

I look forward to seeing what directions God wants to steer me in and finding out what happens.

Thank you, all, for being with me along the way.

My Icons

I noticed today that my icon bar at the left disappeared, and I couldn't figure out why. It turns out that the site that had hosted the picture had deleted it for some reason. As it is something that I painstakingly created by resizing a number of icons using a primitive program(me), it is something that I didn't want to lose so easily. I had created this on my laptop before it got stolen in 2005, and so was just panicking when I realised that some months ago, I had the good sense to save a copy of it to my parish webspace, and so here we go again. That was my minor emergency for the night.

I thank God that I am able to panic about such trivial things. It means that I am blessed.

Archiepiscopal Visitation

Behold a mighty prelate, who in his lifetime pleased God,
and was found righteous.
There was none like unto him,
who kept the law of the Most High all the days of his life.
The Lord, therefore, assured by an oath
that He would bless the nations in his seed.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, my parish had a visitation from one of the emmbers of our Synod of Bishops in the person of His Eminence Archbishop KYRILL, of the Diocese of San Francisco and Western America.

It was a joy to have him. As many of you will remember, there have been some difficult times recently within our diocese, and even within our parish as some people have left more locally. The archbishop spent time with us on Monday evening, and was unbelievably warm and open about the current situation and his own personal experiences. I believe that this will prove to be a very major part of the healing process.

On Tuesday, we went along to venerate the shrine of St Werburgh in Chester. The Dean and his staff at the Anglican cathedral there were extremely hospitable to us. They really went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It was such an awe-inspiring experience to be able to take part in the veneration of the restored shrine of so great a Saint with one of our bishops. I'll never forget that, or the pleasant afternoon that we spant together as a small group, eating and talking in Christian love.

I took my camera along and we got some photographs, which now appear on the parish website. Until this week just gone, I had successfully managed not to appear in any of the photographs on the website, which is an arrangement with which I was quite happy. More seriously, it was good to get more people involved in taking photographs and things, as it means that the site is really turning into a parish effort, even if it does mean that the world has to be subjected to my image all over the show.

More from St Benedict

"Every one hath his proper gift from God, one thus, another thus."

For this reason the amount of other people's food cannot be determined without some misgiving. Still, having regard to the weak state of the sick, we think that a pint of wine a day is sufficient for any one. But let those to whom God gives the gift of abstinence know that they shall receive their proper reward. If either local circumstances, the amount of labour, or the heat of summer require more, it can be allowed at the will of the prior, care being taken in all things that gluttony and drunkenness creep not in.

Although we read that "wine is not the drink of monks at all," yet, since in our days they cannot be persuaded of this, let us at least agree not to drink to satiety, but sparingly, "because wine maketh even the wise to fall away."

The Rule of St Benedict, Chapter 40

I just thought I'd share this because it tickled me. Needless to say, I could quite happily submit myself to being restricted to a pint of wine per day.

St Dyfan, Proto-Martyr of Britain

I had cause today to e-mail an American monastery which sells icons and icon prints. They have one of St Alban, Proto-Martyr of England, and that is how the good Saint is identified on the icon itself, but the monastery's website advertises this icon as being of St Alban, Proto-Martyr of Britain.

I e-mailed them, thanking them for offering icons of such good quality and alerting them of the error, and they have very politely replied to say that they will amend this as necessary, but it got me to thinking about just how many people realise that St Alban is not the First Martyr of Britain, and that it is misleading to refer to him as such. Indeed, there is an icon belonging to my housemate which bears this erroneous label, and which hangs in the oratory photographed in a recent post.

St Alban's death is usually dated about the year AD303, and this makes him the first Saint whose martyrdom in England is recorded. However, St Dyfan, whose Feast we celebrate on the 14th of May, was martyred in approximately AD190 in Wales, and the village still bears the name of Merthyr Dyfan. Therefore, his martyrdom is the earliest in Britain of which we know, and so it is he, and not St Alban, who is rightly and properly referred to as the Proto-Martyr of Britain.

This may seem like nothing more than a bit of pedantry on my part over the use of the word Britain, but where the honour due to a Saint is involved, I think it is rather important. The entire concept of Proto-Martyrdom shows that there were those who were being killed for the Faith before it became something for which one received honour. St Dyfan sought not glory, but rather the Truth of Christ, and received a Martyr's crown as his reward.

St Dyfan, Proto-Martyr of Britain, pray for us!

O Faith of England!

O Faith of England, taught of old
by faithful shepherds of the fold -
the hallowing of our nation;
thou wast through many a wealthy year,
through many a darkened day of fear,
the rock of our salvation.
Arise, arise, good Christian men,
your glorious Standard raise again:
the Cross of Christ Who calls you;
Who bids you live and bids you die
for his great cause, and stands on high
to witness what befalls you.

Our Fathers heard the trumpet call
through lowly cot and kingly hall
from over sea resounding;
they bowed their stubborn wills to learn
the truths that live, the thoughts that burn,
with new resolve abounding.
Arise, arise, good Christian men,
your glorious Standard raise again:
the Cross of Christ Who guides you;
whose arm is bared to join the fray,
Who marshals you in stern array,
fearless, whate'er betides you.

Our Fathers held the Faith received,
by Saints declared, by Saints believed,
by Saints in death defended;
through pain of doubt and bitterness,
through pain of treason and distress,
they for the right contended.
Arise, arise, good Christian men,
your glorious Standard raise again:
the Cross of Christ Who bought you;
Who leads you forth in this new age
with long enduring hearts to wage
the warfare He has taught you.

Though frequent be their loud alarms,
though still we march by ambushed arms
of death and hell surrounded,
with Christ for Chief we fear no foe,
nor craft nor force can overthrow
the Church that He has founded.
Arise, arise, good Christian men,
your glorious standard raise again:
the Cross wherewith He signed you;
the King himself shall lead you on,
shall watch you till the strife be done,
then near his throne shall find you.

T. A. Lacey

I absolutely adore this hymn, as it fits so well my own understanding of where Britain has been and again needs to be. It's has a wonderfully rousing tune, as well, in the form of Psalm 68, (presumably originally composed to accompany the psalm whose name it bears), which may be heard here. I can easily see this being sneaked into a Liturgy one day by yours truly. It's truly rousing. I especially like Our Fathers held the Faith received, by Saints declared, by Saints believed, by Saints in death defended. Glorious!

Pokrov, Manchester

My latest Mystery Worshipper report has been published, for any who may be interested.

Blog

Hello friends,

A number of you have e-mailed me over the past couple of days to let me know that my blog seems to have been hacked into. Worry not.

It was simply the case that I moved my weblog to another URL temporarily while I considered whether to keep it going, only to find upon deciding to do so, that my original URL had since been taken over. I know that you'll not be able to read this until you have rediscovered the blog but this is just to assure you that I'm still about.

Many thanks for your concern and alerts, though.

With much love in Christ,
Michael.

The Saint Colman Prayer Book

St Colman, pray for us!

With the arrival of my monastic visitor has come my long-awaited copy of The Saint Colman Prayer Book. It has not yet been published as a bound volume but I have a loose-leaf version which is held together in a leatherette, zip-up binder. It is exceptionally good. It has the full round of offices, the Divine Liturgies of St Gregory and Sarum, and the English Liturgy, various Sacramental and other rites, and the ceremonies of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week. I am very pleased that so much work and effort has gone into this, and still is ongoing. Once the customary is complete, we shall have a complete liturgical provision for the Western Rite - after over 100 years of waiting!

Blessed be God!

Confession

O God, Who didst vouchsafe to fill thy most blessed Confessor Benedict with the spirit of all the righteous: grant unto us thy servants that, being filled with the same spirit, we may faithfully accomplish that which Thou hast enabled. Through Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, God, now and ever, world without end. Amen.

The Instruments of Good Works

First of all, to love the Lord God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength.
2. Then, to love our neighbour as ourself.
3. Then, not to kill.
4. Not to commit adultery.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to be covetous.
7. Not to bear false witness.
8. To respect all men.
9. Not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.
10. To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.
11. To chastise the body.
12. Not to be fond of pleasures.
13. To love fasting.
14. To give refreshment to the poor.
15. To clothe the naked.
16. To visit the sick.
17. To bury the dead.
18. To come to the help of those in trouble.
19. To comfort those in sadness.
20. To become a stranger to the ways of the world.
21. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
22. To not give way to wrath.
23. Not to harbour anger for any time.
24. Not to foster deceit in the heart.
25. Not to make a false peace.
26. Not to depart from charity.
27. Not to swear at all, lest one forswears.
28. To speak the truth with heart and lips.
29. Not to return evil for evil.
30. Not to do an injury, but patiently to suffer one when done.
31. To love one's enemies.
32. Not to speak ill of those who speak ill of one, but rather to speak well of them.
33. To suffer persecution for justice's sake.
34. Not to be proud.
35. Not to be a winebibber.
36. Not to be a great eater.
37. Not to be given to sleep.
38. Not to be slothful.
39. Not to be a murmerer.
40. Not to be a detractor.
41. To put one's trust in God.
42. When one sees any good in oneself to attribute it to God, not to oneself.
43. That a man recognise that it is he who does evil, and so let him attribute it to himself.
44. To fear the day of judgement.
45. To be afraid of hell.
46. To desire life everlasting with entire spiritual longing.
47. To have the vision of death before one's eyes daily.
48. To watch over the actions of one's life every hour of the day.
49. To know for certain that God sees one everywhere.
50. To dash at once against Christ (as against a rock) evil thoughts which rise up in the mind.
51. And to reveal all such to one's spiritual father.
52. To guard one's lips from uttering evil or wicked words.
53. Not to be fond of much talking.
54. Not to speak idle words, or such as move to laughter.
55. Not to love much or boisterous laughter.
56. Willingly to hear holy reading.
57. Often to devote oneself to prayer.
58. Daily with tears and sighs to confess to God in prayer one's past offences, and to avoid them for the future.
59. Not to give way to the desires of the flesh: and to hate one's own will.
60. In all things to obey the abbot's commands, even though he himself (which God forbid) should act otherwise, remembering Our Lord's precept, "What they say, do ye, but what they do, do ye not".
61. Not to wish to be called holy before one is so; but to be holy first so as to be called such with truth.
62. Daily in one's acts to keep God's commandments.
63. To love chastity.
64. To hate no man.
65. Not to be jealous or envious.
66. Not to love wrangling.
67. To show no arrogant spirit.
68. To reverence the old.
69. To love the young.
70. To pray for one's enemies for the love of Christ.
71. To make peace with an adversary before the sun sets.
72. And, never to despair of God's mercy.

Behold these are the tools of our spiritual craft; when we shall have made use of them constantly day and night, and shall have proved them at the day of judgement, that reward shall be given us by Our Lord, which He has promised, "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those that love him".

Steadfastly abiding in the community, the workshop where all these instruments are made use of is the cloister of the monastery.

This is chapter four of the Holy Rule of St Benedict. I have taken lately to reading a chapter or two of the Rule before sleep each night and have found it just the thing to set me in the right frame of mind for bed, especially as most nights nowadays, I shamefully do not say Compline. I use this particular chapter as a preparation for confession, and it is truly splendid for just this purpose. I very much loved the conversations that I used to have with my godfather in his car on the way to church but now that I make the 36-mile journey on the coach, I have much more time to focus on the spiritual preparation that goes along with the fast before Communion, and I wholeheartedly recommend St Benedict's Rule to anybody seeking some form of self-examination. It is truly humbling.

Schism

As webmaster, I had the painful task today of removing from my parish's website the links to, and details of, three communities which until recently were part of our diocese: The St Edward Brotherhood at the Brookwood monastery, the Annunciation Convent in Willesden, and the Mission Parish of St Boniface, on the Isle of Wight.

While my parish was celebrating the Nativity of Our Lord with much feasting after last Sunday's Liturgy, the regular worshippers at the aforementioned communities were being informed that their churches were to leave the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) to join the Holy Synod in Resistance in protest against the canonical restoration of full communion between ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), now scheduled for the 17th of May, 2007.

I have mixed feelings about this. I have a great deal of sympathy with many of the Greek Old Calendarists (which have different origins from the Russian old Calendarists), especially having read of the situation in which they came about and why they felt the need to separate from the New Calendarist Church of Greece. Reports of the Oecumenical Patriarchate's activity since the 1920s and up to the present day have really not served to further the idea that the Old Calendarists are purely reactionary. Many of them have been very ill treated indeed, and while I do not think that they're stance is ideal, I do sympathise with them. Unlike most of them which seem to use most of their webspace to condemn the New Calendarist churches, the Synod in Resistance seems to put a lot of effort into spreading Orthodoxy through its articles and various publications. I can respect this.

On the other hand, I know that many within ROCOR (and I include myself) are staunchly opposed to Branch Theory Ecumenism. Indeed, in 1983, our Sobor of Bishops condemned this as a heresy and drafted a formula to be added to the list of anathemas on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The concept that a church can adopt heresy as its belief and still remain part of the Church is not in keeping with the Church's self-understanding. The Holy Synod in Resistance takes a similar line - or so it seems at first glance. A closer look at their ecclesiology reveals that, for all of their condemnation of Ecumenism, they have an ecclesiology that allows for churches that are traditionally Orthodox but which they consider to have embraced certain heresies to be, not thereby severed from the Church, but rather, "ailing" parts of the Church - but parts of the Church nonetheless. How this is different from Branch Theory Ecumenism is entirely beyond me! Nor do I stand alone, for this group is rejected by the canonical churches (which it considers to be Ecumenist) for being in schism, and by the Old Calendarists for being Ecumenist. The result is that it stands largely alone, except for relations with small groups of Old Calendarists in Romania and Bulgaria. A greater irony is that their first-hierarch is Metropolitan Cyprian of Opropos and Fili, whose namesake, St Cyprian of Carthage, was adamantly opposed to precisely the sort of ecclesiology now being forwarded by this group.

I really wish that these communities had stuck it out and worked with us. Many people have been hurt by their actions and many more will, no doubt, be unchurched over the next few weeks. Please pray for them.

On the plus side, while our diocese has lost two priests, it has gained one, whom my parish is blessed to have serving with us. Who knows what shape our increasingly small diocese will take in the future?

O Master all-good, watch over Thy flock and all the children of the Russian Church Abroad, that we may bring about the structuring of our Church in a manner well-pleasing to Thee. Grant us the spirit of wisdom and understanding; instill in our hearts the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of piety and zeal for the glory of Thy holy name. Guard us against all temptations, stumbling-blocks and divisions, that, bound together, one to another, by the bond of love for Thee, our Master, we may without hindrance perform the work of our ministry for the edification of the Holy Church as the one Body of Christ. We pray Thee, O greatly Merciful One: hearken and have mercy!

O good Shepherd, Who hast promised to gather Thy scattered sheep into a single flock, put down scandal and division within the Church; all who have strayed from Thy path do Thou lead to repentance and a knowledge of the Truth, and return them to Thy fold; and confirm us all in the Orthodox Faith and the doing of Thy commandments. We pray Thee: hearken and have mercy!

Nativity Epistle

Here is the Nativity Epistle from His Eminence Metropolitan LAURUS, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad:

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

"Today doth Bethlehem receive Him,
Who sitteth with the Father for ever."

(Sticheron, tone 6.)

On this winter night, our Lord Jesus Christ descended to the earth—to one of the smallest specks of His creation. He came to show us how to live, and in order to enter into and abide in those who follow His example.

In his very Birth, the God-child showed love for poverty, meekness and humility. The Master of the world was born of the Most-pure Virgin in one of the lowliest places on earth, in a cold cave where the shepherds of Bethlehem sheltered their flocks from bad weather. He was swaddled and laid in a manger for cattle, warmed by the breath of mute animals.

From His very childhood, Christ knew the sorrow of need, of human cruelty and persecution—together with Righteous Joseph and his Most-Pure Mother, He was forced to flee the sword of Herod beyond the boundaries of His homeland.

For three years, the Holy Family lived abroad, and as He grew, He laboured as a tradesman, earning his bread by the sweat of his brow, and during his three years of preaching, He did not have a place "to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20).

With the fullness of his earthly life, the Lord taught us to patiently endure need and suffering, to live simply, with restraint, applying the greatest efforts to the one thing needful.

The Lord said: 'The rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven,' but He did not say that it was impossible, only difficult, for bound together with wealth are many cares and worldly goods; likewise it is hard for the famous of the world, for they bear the burden of their egos.

Thus the Lord is close to the simple, the poor and the wretched. In the words of the Apostle, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world… and… the weak things of the world… and things which are not"

(I Corinthians 1:26-28).

Within the souls of the wealthy are the cares of this world, they are burdened with fuss and earthly bonds; for him, as was the case with the inns of Bethlehem, there is no vacancy, everyone is occupied with all sorts of earthly "values."

The Lord finds shelter in the hearts of those who love him, who are prepared at his call to leave their homeland and their occupations, as the wealthy and famous but also spiritually-meek Wise Men did, or as the simple fishermen-Apostles who did the same.

In his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord calls these people blessed: 'Blessed are the meek in spirit.' True human blessedness consists of despising all that separates us from God. Only by humbling oneself, by impoverishing one's spirit, only by placing the one thing needful at the forefront, can we achieve eternal blessedness.

The Lord says: 'I stand at the door (of your hearts) and knock.' But amidst the noise of today's world, burgeoning fuss, entertainment and useless information, it is hard to hear this knock. The Lord does not force us, does not impose himself upon us; He merely summons us.

And in order to hear His call, we must find time every day for quietude and prayer.

We are surrounded by eternal values, which we sense like the wind, but, burdened with our daily cares, we do not notice them, or try not to notice them, stifling the voice of conscience within us.

The Lord also blesses those who thirst and hunger for the truth, "for they shall be filled." Only Christ, the Sun of Truth, can satisfy our spiritual hunger, for He is the true nourishment and the true drink.

The Lord was born in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread," He has become for us the living Bread from the heavens, and each who righteously partakes of this Bread, by His word, will live eternally, and each who drinks of His wellspring shall never thirst.

The great, incomparable Gift was granted to mankind from its Creator on the day of the Nativity of Christ. Let us not leave this Gift abandoned, let us bring the Lord the fruits of repentance, for only this sacrifice is acceptable to God.

Dear archpastors, pastors, monastics, brothers and sisters, I express my heartfelt greetings on the day of the Nativity of Christ!

+Metropolitan Laurus

The Nativity of Christ, 2006/2007

The Paradox that is the Incarnation

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

The Incarnation of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - the teaching that the eternal God, existing "before" time, Maker of all things: visible and invisible, He Who is without beginning or end, the ineffable, unknowable God, could become flesh and be born as a tiny baby, is completely absurd. And it is precisely this absurdity that makes it all the more awe-inspiring when we realise that it is indeed true. It is truly a paradox, and there is so much of our hymnody and poetry that reflects this. Only today, I came across this from Blessed Augustine of Hippo:

Who is this infant? Infant, He is called, that is, "in-fans", one who cannot speak. So that He is both speechless infant and Word of God.

Sermon 190 On the Lord's Nativity.

The Troparion for the Feast of the Nativity in the Byzantine Rite encompasses something of this in the wise men coming from afar to pay homage to this baby:

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined upon the world the light of knowledge. For thereby, they that worshipped the stars were taught by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee!

I think, though, that what illustrates this best for me is the Christmass carol, The Great God of Heaven is come down to Earth. The entire carol is simply a series of contrasts between the human and divine natures of Christ, and a rejoicing in the perfect hypostatic union of the two. Here are some excerpts:

The Great God of heaven is come down to earth,
his mother a virgin, and sinless his birth;
the Father eternal, his Father alone;
He sleeps in the manger, He reigns on the throne.

Then there's this wonderfully homely couplet in the second verse:

Before him their faces the Seraphim hide,
while Joseph stands waiting, unscared, by his side.

But finally, what always brings awe to my heart and a tear to my eye, is this verse:

O wonder of wonders! which none can unfold:
the Ancient of Days is an hour or two old,
the Maker of all things is made of the earth,
Man is worshipped by Angels, and God comes to birth!

I don't really think that there's anything more to be said, except perhaps Marana'tha: come, Lord Jesus!