Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



November 1, 2018

The Month of November in the Orthodox Church


By John Sanidopoulos

November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar. It retained its name (from the Latin novem meaning "nine") when January and February were added to the Roman calendar. November is a month of late spring in the Southern hemisphere and late autumn in the Northern hemisphere.

The month of November in the Orthodox Church is full of major ecclesiastical events and great saints. In this month the forty-day Nativity Fast begins leading us to Christmas, and a Great Feast of the Mother of God is celebrated that focuses on her Entrance into the Temple of Jerusalem as a child. Among the many great and beloved Saints we celebrate this month are Kosmas and Damian the Unmercenaries (Nov. 1), the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Nov. 8), Nektarios the Wonderworker (Nov. 9), Menas the Great Martyr (Nov. 11), John Chrysostom (Nov. 13), Philip the Apostle (Nov. 14), Gregory Palamas (Nov. 14), Matthew the Apostle (Nov. 16), Katherine of Alexandria (Nov. 25) and Andrew the Apostle (Nov. 30).

The first great festival of the month of November takes place on the 8th when the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are celebrated. These Archangels are highly honored in the Orthodox Church, with numerous churches dedicated to them throughout the world, having played a major role in the history of our salvation. Traditionally, the most pious of Orthodox Christians would even keep a fast from November 1st to the 8th in their honor and in imitation of their angelic life. Though the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are primarily honored on this day, with them the Church honors all the nine Angelic Orders.

The second major event in the month of November falls on the 15th, when the forty-day Nativity Fast begins. Though this fast is not as rigorous as Great Lent, and throughout the history of the Church various lengths were given to it, in the year 1156 it was established as a forty-day fast by Patriarch Lukas of Constantinople. Remnants of the shorter seven-day fast still remain as a rule for this fast, since after December 17th fish is no longer permitted. Also, hymns in anticipation of Christmas do not begin until the Apodosis of the Entrance of the Theotokos on November 25th.

This leads us to the last major event of November, which is numbered among the Twelve Major Feasts of the Ecclesiastical Year - the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple on November 21st. We remember on this day when the Virgin Mary was a young girl, she was brought by her parents Joachim and Anna to be dedicated to the service of the temple, and was received by the High Priest Zechariah, who brought her prophetically into the Holy of Holies, in anticipation of becoming herself the Holy of Holies who contained within her womb the Lord Himself. This feast contains some of the most beautiful hymns of the Church, and is celebrated for five days until the Apodosis.

November is a month of many festivals in the Orthodox Church, allowing us to daily reflect on the meaning of our salvation, especially as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord next month.



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