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NATIVITY of CHRIST
Resources for the Journey to Bethlehem
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|  Icon of The Theotokos, The Burning Bush | Icon of The Theotokos, The Burning Bush |
Nov 14, 2011
Dear Parish Faithful,The Nativity Fast is here! Commit yourselves individually and as a family to embrace the “Orthodox Way” of preparing for Christmas. The “world” has really little to offer or add to our understanding of Christ’s nativity in the flesh. Rather, it’s the same old tired package of distractions that leave you “hungering and thirsting” for the very thing you may have neglected in frantically and frenetically trying to have a “merry Christmas.” We are again presented with a gift of forty days that can “profit our souls.” Fast now to feast then, rather than feast now to fizzle out then. Let your church calendar guide you into the Scripture readings, saintly commemorations and fasting discipline that lead us to the Winter Pascha of spiritual renewal.
~ Fr Steven
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|  Posted December 21, 2011
A Word from the Holy Fathers
~ On the Incarnation ~Here we offer a unique collection of reflections on the Incarnation, the Nativity of Christ our God in the Flesh, from the podcast A Word from the Holy Fathers. These brief and clear talks on the Nativity, by Fr. Deacon Matthew (now Hieromonk Irenaeus) Steenburg of Monachos.net, present the insights and wisdom of the Great Fathers of the Church to aid us in our contemplation of the awesome mystery of the Birth of God.
Stream and play right on your computer, or download and save to your iPod, iPhone or other device, or subscribe to the podcast through iTunes.
Why not set aside a few minutes each day during the celebration of the Nativity for these quiet and profound insights...The Fathers on the Nativity of Christ - IntroductionWhat was God to do? - St Athanasius the GreatThe Wonder of the Incarnation - St Gregory the TheologianGlory to God Who has shown Himself to Us - St Ephraim the Syrian and St John MaximovitchRemembering the Mother of God's Role in the Incarnation - St Cyril of AlexandriaThe Coming of the Lord - St Leo the Great, Pope of RomeAncient Faith Radio has dozens more podcasts by its many contributors reflecting on the Feast of the Incarnation. You can explore them on this special page.
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| Conception of the Theotokos by Righteous Anna - (Dec 9) Directly linked to the Nativity of Christ is the commemoration of Joachim and Anna (celebrated at every Orthodox divine service as "the Ancestors of God") and the conception of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. (OCA)
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| Icon 'Unexpected Joy' - (Dec 9) This unique icon of the Theotokos speaking to a sinful youth (who was yet devoted to her and prayed fervently), and leading him to complete repentance and change of heart, is much beloved, and is celebrated also on Jan 25 and May 1. Read the full story of the icon here.
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 St John of Kronstadt, Dec 20 | St John of Kronstadt, Dec 20 |
More Righteous Ones - Many other great saints — including some from the twentieth century! — are commemorated during the Nativity Season, and have much to teach us as we struggle to live God-pleasing lives and grow in Christ. Some of the better known ones who should be known by all Orthodox Christians include: the Apostle Andrew (11/30), Greatmartyr Barbara and St John of Damascus (12/4), Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer and St John of Kronstadt (12/20), the Virgin Martyr Juliana (12/21), and Greatmartyr Anastasia (12/22). Several of the Old Testament Prophets and many more saints are commemorated during the Fast, and after the Nativity, there is a festal period leading up to Theophany (the Baptism of Christ, Jan 6) and on to the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple (Feb 2), which includes St Stephen the Protomartyr (12/27), St Basil the Great (Jan 1), St Seraphim of Sarov (Jan 2), and others. You can use your parish calendar to locate the saints you wish to learn about, and find them by searching the OCA website, which has the lives and icons of all the saints. The saints incarnated Christ in their lives through their faith. May we follow their example and seek their intercessions!
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 2012 Weekly Planner! | |
Added Nov 28, 2011
Spiritual Reflections on the Nativity, 2012 Weekly Planner, by Schema-hieromonk Ambrose Young, Entrance of the Theotokos Skete. Featuring Orthodox guidance on fasting, preparation of the soul, celebratory customs, and the role of the Theotokos. The weekly planner format is both useful, and enables the reader to remain mindful of the Nativity of Christ throughout the year. All proceeds benefit the Entrance of the Theotokos Skete, a womens' monastic settlement in Northern Ohio.
 Added Nov 28, 2011
CONCILIAR PRESS CHRISTMAS GIFTS - A unique and wide range of Orthodox Nativity cards, ornaments, crosses, and gifts, featuring many imported items from Greece, Russia and Jerusalem. Conciliar Press has also released several outstanding new book titles over the last year, including excellent fiction for teens and young adults, as well as new editions of some recent classics. Secure online ordering...
 THE WINTER PASCHA - Fr. Thomas Hopko's classic book of forty meditations for the season of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, ending with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple on the fortieth day after Christ's birth. In the style of his popular book for the paschal fasting season, The Lenten Spring, the author again draws on the biblical readings and liturgical hymns and verses of the season to illumine the way for believers to follow the Church's days of preparation and celebration for the Coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in human flesh. Only $18, from SVS Press.
 DAILY MEDITATIONS for the Christmas/Advent Fast and Epiphany Season, by Presvytera Emily Harakas and Fr. Anthony Coniaris. Scripture readings for each day along with select hymns from the Matins, Vespers, the Hours of the Nativity, etc. with a brief Scripture verse and a prayer—all selected by Presbytera Emily Harakas. An inspiring meditation by Fr. Anthony Coniaris for each day is included. This book will help make Advent and Epiphany come alive with meaning. Just one of the many book selections for the Nativity Fast offered by ArchangelsBooks.com.
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 Special Icon Selection! | |
 Added Nov 28, 2011
On The Incarnation, by St Athanasius the Great - The masterful defense of the Christian Faith, written by one of the great Church Fathers in an easy-to-read style aided by a clear, modern translation. Introduction by C.S. Lewis. Read a classic this Christmas! Only $15 from SVS Press.
 ST HERMAN of ALASKA ~ His Life and Service - This new, large format publication from St Herman Press (Platina CA) features new information about the life of St Herman (celebrated December 13), and includes the complete Vigil Service for the Saint. 48 pages, with Full-color cover - Only $9.00 from St Herman Press.
 PREPARE O BETHLEHEM (hardcover), illustrated by Niko Chocheli - The Orthodox Church's hymns of the prefeast and feast of the Nativity of our Lord celebrate and proclaim in word and song the celestial joy of the incarnation. These beloved texts, so wonderfully illustrated by Niko Chocheli, are filled with beauty and power. They tell in a touching way of the all-embracing participation of creatures in the Creator's coming. Only $18 from SVS Press. Nativity Greeting Cards also available.
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|  The Root of Jesse | The Root of Jesse |
Updated Nov 28, 2011
The Fast of the Nativity is a time of preparation, an ascetical journey — not as rigorous as Great Lent perhaps, but ascetical still — one that is joyously opposed to the frivolous spirit of the world. On this special page we have tried to collect a variety of articles, suggested book titles, and other materials to help us in our journey to Bethlehem. May your journey be blessed!From an article on Monachos.net:
MORE ARTICLES FROM MONACHOS.NET
ON FASTING, AND ADVENT TRADITIONS:
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|  Adoration of the Magi | Adoration of the Magi |
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|  Christ, Angel of Great Counsel | |
Posted December 25, 2010
THE QUESTION RAISED by the NATIVITY of CHRISTMetropolitan Anthony of SourozhWhen we look at this image of the new-born child, lying on an altar of stones, ready for a sacrifice, brought as an offering, we can well ask ourselves, "Who is he who sacrifices this child?" – and we have an answer: it is the Father who gives us His Son that through His death we may live. We see here incarnate, clearly expressed, divine Love, and the measure of this love divine. The Only-Begotten Son is given unto death, delivered unto death for our sakes...Let us then look at this crib not as we do when we are small children, seeing only an image of a child’s birth, miraculous, wonderful; let us look at it with an earnest and adult gaze, and see that this crib is an altar of sacrifice, that this cave where He was born is an image of that cave in which He will be deposited, a young man, killed for God’s sake after the agony of the Garden and the agony of the Cross, and let us ask ourselves, "Are we, each of us, a response to love revealed in such a way, revealed to such degree?" Will we find in ourselves a response, or shall we only say, "It was His choice, I have chosen against Him. He has chosen life for me, I have chosen death for Him"... Or are we going to respond to this revelation of love in which the frailty of love is made visible, perceptible to us in the frailty of this little human body deposited on the straw of a crib, respond to the frailty of God by a mature love?This is the question which, and we now the day of Christmas sets before us have days and months of liturgical unfolding of the year, to grow through it towards a definitive and final answer when we will see love sacrificed on Calvary. We have got this liturgical year to follow step by step, in this year we will discover how the saints of God have responded, and at every step the question will stand before us: “And what about you, what about thee personally, what about us in our togetherness, what is our answer to love?” AmenRead the full article, with more profound insights, here...
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|  Journey to Bethlehem, 11th c. Mosaic, Constantinople | Journey to Bethlehem, 11th c. Mosaic, Constantinople |
MAKE READY O BETHLEHEM!2010 Nativity Message of St Gregory Palamas Monastery, Hayesville OH:“Make ready O Bethlehem” is the constant refrain of the prefeast and it certainly should be our personal prayer in the time of the Nativity Fast. Bethlehem means “house of bread” and its importance in the Old Testament was that it figured prominently in the story of St. Ruth the great-grandmother of the Holy King David. Most important was the fact that this was the home of St. David and the place of his anointing as the King.
This call to preparation for the city of David, “let the manger be prepared, let the cave show its welcome”, is also a call to each of us to prepare our hearts and our homes for the coming of the Savior of the world who comes to us in meekness and humility.
In a sense this exhortation, “Make ready O Bethlehem”, is shorthand for the call to purification and union with the God-man Jesus Christ. There is no higher or more urgent activity for a man than to prepare himself, and cleanse the house of his soul so that he can be Bethlehem, the cave and manger where Christ the uncontainable God is laid...
Read the full text...
Also from St Gregory Palamas Monastery:Homily on The Nativity 2009, by Archimandrite Joseph Morris, Superior, St Gregory Palamas Monastery
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|  Click to Launch the Slide Show | |
Updated Nov 28, 2011
The Nativity Icon Explained
To aid us in contemplating the Awesome Mystery and Great Feast of the Nativity, we offer here a media presentation illuminating the iconographic tradition of the Church. The Nativity icon is one of the richest in the Orthodox Church, depicting the many historical events surrounding the Birth of the God-Man Jesus Christ, as well as symbolic images filled with spiritual meaning. Angels watch over the scene, announcing the Good News to the shepherds and guiding the Magi who bring their gifts. The Virgin Mary reclines in the cave beside her Divine Son, who is depicted as light in darkness among the animals of the manger. Midwives prepare to bathe the new-born Christ-child, and Joseph is troubled by temptations from the devil (depicted as an old man). And over it all, the wondrous star shines...Click here for a Media Presentation explaining the Nativity icon (4:55, from the OCA website). Troparion - Tone 4
Your Nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shone to the world the Light of wisdom!
For by it, those who worshiped the stars,
Were taught by a Star to adore You,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know You, the Orient from on High.
O Lord, glory to You!
Kontakion - Tone 3
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One,
And the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One!
Angels with shepherds glorify Him!
The wise men journey with a star!
Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!
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|  Posted Dec 26, 2010
The Massacre of 14,000 Holy Innocent Infants, In Bethlehem And Its Borders, The Memory Of Which The Holy Church Celebrates On The 29th Of Decemberby Father Demetrios Serfes... How precious is the child within the womb of a mother who spiritually prepares herself for the birth, who knows that the birth will be blessed within our Holy Orthodox Church as is the custom after forty days. Both the mother and the new-born child are brought to the Holy Orthodox Church, and prayers are read over both of them on their entrance into the Holy Church. After this entrance, the days ahead are a time of preparation for the Holy Baptism of the newly-born child, a child so precious to our Lord God, and to the Holy Orthodox Christian community, that a Godfather and Godmother are provided to be the witnesses of this Holy Baptism, and to help assist in teaching the child the Holy Orthodox Faith throughout his or her life.
Every women who bears a child always exults in the joy of the birth, as well as in the joy of having a living mind, heart, and soul within their womb. We must realize that within the Holy Orthodox Church and its teachings there is a clear direction against abortion. This teaching is not something new in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as it evident that in the first three centuries of the early Church, the Orthodox holy Fathers spoke frequently against abortion.
The Holy Rachel wept unceasingly when King Herod had ordered his soldiers in both Bethlehem and Judea to have all the children massacred, from the newly born up to the age of two years old. Ever since this appalling, unlawful act of the massacre of the 14,000 Holy Innocent Infants, it seems that the loving Holy Rachel has not stopped weeping to this very hour, as we continue to see abortions being performed in America and in other countries around the world, often with the approval of local governments. The Orthodox Church cries out against this act of abortion. But is it not true that our ears often remain closed as we are afraid of the truth? We are allowing death to happen, murder, before our eyes! Death of an innocent child!
The weeping for all martyred children by Rachel has not ceased today! It seems that this holy mother and woman continues to weep! Every time we hear about another abortion Rachel weeps again! ...
Read the full text here...
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An iconographic slide show . . .
The Nativity Icon is rich in its depiction of the mystical events surrounding the Birth of Christ, but the Orthodox iconographic tradition portrays just as powerfully other events detailed in the Gospel accounts. Also shown here are some of the great saints commemorated during the Nativity Fast, and profound icons of mystical realities.
(46 images)
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- Feasts of the Church
- Orthodox Dogma and Doctrine
- Orthodox Icons
- Orthodox Scripture
- Orthodox Worship
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