St. John Chrysostom on the mystery of Christ’s being conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18)
“Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, ‘But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin?’ For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then, when the Spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes?”
“Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, ‘But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin?’ For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then, when the Spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes?”
Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?
Again the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. (Exodus 14:20) The people that sat in the darkness of ignorance, let it see the Great Light of full knowledge. (Isaiah 9:6) Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. (1 Corinthians 5:17) The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the Truth comes in upon them. Melchisedec is concluded. He that was without Mother becomes without Father (without Mother of His former state, without Father of His second). The laws of nature are upset; the world above must be filled. Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O clap your hands together all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, Whose Government is upon His shoulder (for with the Cross it is raised up), and His Name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. (Isaiah 9:6) Let John cry, Prepare the way of the Lord: (Matthew 3:3) I too will cry the power of this Day. He Who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ the Same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Let the Jews be offended, let the Greeks deride; (1 Corinthians 1:23) let heretics talk till their tongues ache. Then shall they believe, when they see Him ascending up into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming out of heaven and sitting as Judge.
—Oration 38, I-II, St Gregory the Theologian ☦️
Photo: Grotto of the Nativity of our Lord, Bethlehem
—Oration 38, I-II, St Gregory the Theologian ☦️
Photo: Grotto of the Nativity of our Lord, Bethlehem
The Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen (Dec 27/ Jan 9), the first martyr for Jesus Christ, entered into Christ's Kingdom asking for forgiveness towards his murderers: "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." Acts 7:59
"You confounded the council of those who persecuted you, beholding your Savior enthroned at the Father’s right hand. Never cease praying that our souls may be saved!"
"You confounded the council of those who persecuted you, beholding your Savior enthroned at the Father’s right hand. Never cease praying that our souls may be saved!"
Our Lord shows that He is the fullness and the completion of the Old Covenant by submitting to the Law of Circumcision. These words of the Holy Apostle Paul are read on the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Jan 1/ Jan 14):
“For in [Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in Him, Who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.” (Col. 2:9-11).
“Enthroned on high with the Eternal Father and Your divine Spirit, O Jesus, You willed to be born on earth of the unwedded handmaid, your Mother. Therefore You were circumcised as an eight-day old Child. Glory to Your most gracious counsel; glory to Your dispensation; glory to Your condescension, O only Lover of mankind.”
“For in [Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in Him, Who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.” (Col. 2:9-11).
“Enthroned on high with the Eternal Father and Your divine Spirit, O Jesus, You willed to be born on earth of the unwedded handmaid, your Mother. Therefore You were circumcised as an eight-day old Child. Glory to Your most gracious counsel; glory to Your dispensation; glory to Your condescension, O only Lover of mankind.”
The Feast of the Theophany (Epiphany) of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Jan 6/Jan 19) predates the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. After Pascha and Pentecost, it is the greatest Feast of the Orthodox Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ is baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan, this being the first public manifestation of God the Word Incarnate to the world.
The holy hand that baptized our Lord and Saviour has traveled far and wide. A colossal pilgrimage through many centuries would be required in order to follow the relics of the hand of St John the Forerunner and Baptist (Synaxsis Jan 7).
The most sacred Forerunner, John is hymned as "even more venerable than the Prophets" since he "was granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed" (Apolytikion, Tone 2). At the same time, we also commemorate the translation of the Holy Prophet's right hand from Antioch to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of Peribleptos in Constantinople in 956-- a significant journey, but neither the first nor the last of many journeys of the Baptizer's holy right hand.
The story begins in Samaria. According to the Church’ tradition, John was buried in the city of Sebaste, Samaria. The holy Evangelist Luke, who went preaching Christ in various cities and towns, came to Sebaste.
The most sacred Forerunner, John is hymned as "even more venerable than the Prophets" since he "was granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed" (Apolytikion, Tone 2). At the same time, we also commemorate the translation of the Holy Prophet's right hand from Antioch to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of Peribleptos in Constantinople in 956-- a significant journey, but neither the first nor the last of many journeys of the Baptizer's holy right hand.
The story begins in Samaria. According to the Church’ tradition, John was buried in the city of Sebaste, Samaria. The holy Evangelist Luke, who went preaching Christ in various cities and towns, came to Sebaste.
There he was given the right hand of the holy Forerunner, the hand with which he had baptized Jesus. The Evangelist Luke took it with him to his native city of Antioch.
Lives of the Saints records that, during the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1263, the Latin emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin I, gave one bone from the wrist of St John to Ottonus de Cichon. De Cichon then gave it to a Cistercian abbey in France. However, the rest of the hand remained at Constantinople until its fall in 1453. The hand of St John was then seized by the Turks and kept in the imperial treasury.
Turkish archives indicate that in 1484, the Sultan Bayezid the II sent the hand of St. John to the Knights Hospitaller, a papal military order at Rhodes. The Knights later took the relics to the island of Malta. However, some of St John's relics remain in Constantinople. A relic of his right arm is displayed at Topkapi Museum, once the palace of the Ottoman sultans in Constantinople.
Turkish archives indicate that in 1484, the Sultan Bayezid the II sent the hand of St. John to the Knights Hospitaller, a papal military order at Rhodes. The Knights later took the relics to the island of Malta. However, some of St John's relics remain in Constantinople. A relic of his right arm is displayed at Topkapi Museum, once the palace of the Ottoman sultans in Constantinople.