Homily on the Sunday After Theophany (St. Luke of Simferopol)

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered in 1957)

At Vespers of Great Feasts, the so-called narratives (paremoias) are read, which are usually excerpts from the books of the Old Testament. They set out the events of former times, reminiscent and even explaining what the Holy Church celebrates on a given day. On the greatest feasts, the number of narratives, usually not exceeding three, greatly increases, and on the day of the Resurrection of Christ it reaches fifteen, and on the day of Theophany - thirteen.

When considering the narratives of Theophany, it is immediately evident that they deal with miraculous changes in the properties of water under the direct influence of the commands of God Himself or the actions of the great Saints inspired by Him.

Homily Two on the Feast of the Lord’s Theophany (St. John Maximovitch)

 

By St. John Maximovitch

"Today You appeared to the world, and Your light, O Lord, has left its mark upon us."

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord was called in ancient times "the Day of Lights".

The Baptism of Christ is the beginning of our enlightenment - the appearance of Christ to the world, the revelation of the Holy Trinity to people.

“Why,” the Golden-mouthed Teacher asks, “not the day on which He was born, but the day on which He was baptized, is it called the Theophany? Because now He has manifested to the world.”

Homily One on the Theophany of the Lord (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered in 1954)

All of you know that the people of Israel were the chosen people of God, but not everyone knows that this people in Holy Scripture is called the people with necks unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.

The brass-foreheaded people took the ardent calls of the great prophets for the correction of their ways and the great predictions about their Savior and the Messiah very hard and did not listen to them. They held their proud head high and did not bend their iron neck in repentance and humility.

The Son of God Himself descended to earth and incarnated in humble human nature. From His mouth the stiff-necked people of Israel heard the Divine message and the revelation of the mysteries of God; they saw many of His miracles.

Homily on the Day of the Theophany Before the Blessing of the Waters (St. John Maximovitch)

By St. John Maximovitch

(Delivered in Shanghai in 1947)

“The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended physically like a dove” on the Son of God standing in the Jordan. The voice from heaven of God the Father is heard: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22; Mark 1:11; Matt. 3:17).

The sky is open now, again the Holy Spirit descends on the waters, and God testifies of His Son.

Oh, that our spiritual eyes would be opened! Oh, that our ears could perceive celestial expressions! We would see the heavens open above us. We would have seen the Son of God standing among us and the Holy Spirit hovering over us, and we would have heard the voice of God proclaiming the divinity of the Savior of the world.

Christ Is Born, Glorify Him! (St. John Maximovitch)

 

By St. John Maximovitch

 

Christ is born, glorify Him!

“You were secretly born in a cave, but the heavens proclaimed You to all, O Savior, using the star as its mouth.”

Quietly, silently, the Son of God descended to earth and incarnated. Like a drop of dew falls on the ground, so the Power of the Most High overshadowed the Most Pure Virgin, and the Savior of the world was born from Her.

But the world did not notice the great work done by God. People were each busy with their own concerns, their attention was directed to the affairs of life and to high-profile worldly events.

1963 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

1963 Christmas Message

By St. John Maximovitch

“Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among those whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

The angels sang in heaven when the Son of God was born in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in the highest” is heard in heaven to this day, in all ages it has not calmed down and never stopped for a moment. The angels are constantly praising Him. “Holy, Holy, Holy,” cry the six-winged seraphim and the many-eyed cherubim, countless hosts of angels worship Him. Soulless creation listens to Him: the sun shines, warming the earth with its rays, the moon dispels the darkness of the night, the stars shine, the material sky, imitating the spiritual Heaven, glorifies the Creator of the universe in its strength in the highest.

Homily on the Coming New Year (St. Kallinikos of Edessa)

By the Grace of the Lord, we are at the beginning of the New Year. Behind us is the past and before us is the future. We were thinking a lot. We learn many lessons. It would be incomprehensible and completely unjustified, for reasonable people to arrive at stations in life, without conclusions.

Being at the beginning of the new year of the Lord's Goodness, we must carry out a double duty in the most serious way, the duty of Gratitude to God and Trust in Him.

Gratitude to our God and Father for the past year. During this year, the goodness of God bestowed upon us many good things. Let's not forget the apostolic words: "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). In His divine presence and goodness we live and move and exist. All good things are from the gift-giving God.

1960 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

 

1960 Christmas Message

By St. John Maximovitch

"Your Kingdom, O Christ our God, is a Kingdom of all the ages, and Your rule is from generation to generation." (Christmas Great Vespers)

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matt. 2:2), said the wise men who came to Jerusalem from the East. Herod the King was confused when he heard this. “Who is the king?” he thought. Will a child who is born, grow up and overthrow me from the throne and reign in my place? He thus ordered all babies in and around Bethlehem to be massacred. But in vain was the shedding of innocent blood. That Child hid Himself and escaped his hands.

2023 Pastoral Encyclical for the New Year (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 PASTORAL ENCYCLICAL 104

Hierotheos
by the grace of God, Bishop and Metropolitan
of the Holy Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios

To
the Clergy, monks and laity
of our Sacred Metropolis

Beloved children in the Lord,

A new year has dawned and we are given the opportunity to exchange wishes, to meet and celebrate solemnly, to renew our love, our hope for life, for health and freedom from what oppresses us.

This new year's holiday gives me the opportunity to communicate with you and to wish this new year that the noble desires will be fulfilled in your life, in your professional field, in your family and in your path according to God.

Homily Three on the New Year and the Circumcision of the Lord (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another" (John 13:34).

For us, listeners, the commandment of mutual love is the newest commandment, because we do not know it, we forget it, we do not fulfill it, we leave it off. And therefore, for the New Year, listen to this new commandment: love one another, love one another.

We are the closest people to each other, the most similar to each other: we are all created in the same image and likeness, the image and likeness of God; we are all redeemed by one blood, the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; we are all members of one body, children of one Father and one Mother.

1956 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

 

1956 Christmas Message to the Western European and Eastern Flock

By St. John Maximovitch

“Let heaven be glad and earth rejoice. Our God is born from the Virgin Maiden."

The Son of God came down to earth. The Creator came to His creation and settled in a miserable cave.

He does not seek wealth and fame, but lay down in a manger in the midst of two animals. He brought to earth not material wealth, but grants heavenly eternal treasures.

On the Spiritual Circumcision of the Heart (St. Gregory Palamas)

 

By St. Gregory Palamas

Even when your body does nothing, sin can be active in your mind.

When your soul inwardly repulses the evil one’s attack by means of prayer, attention, remembrance of death, godly sorrow and mourning, the body, too, takes its share of holiness, having acquired freedom from evil actions.

This is what the Lord meant by saying that someone who cleans the outside of a cup has not cleansed it inside, but clean the inside, and the whole cup will be clean (Matthew 23:25-26).

“Strive as hard as you can to ensure that your inner labour is according to God’s will, and you will conquer the outward passions” (Abba Arsenios, Apophthegmata Pateron 9).

Homily Two on the New Year and the Circumcision of the Lord (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

We now have a New Year, and we have come to the temple of God to pray; what should we pray for now, what should we ask God for ourselves in the New Year? When we came to the temple of God, listeners, did you think about it? And you should definitely think about it. So, at least, let's talk now: what should we ask God for ourselves in the New Year, what should we pray to Him for now?

Here's what: so that the Lord God would help us start a new life from the New Year, live virtuously and not sin. It is necessary, listeners, we must take care of this. For many of us, the coming year may be the last year on earth, and perhaps none of us who are now in this temple will live to see the next New Year. So, many of our relatives, friends, acquaintances also thought, wished, tried to live until this year, but where are they now? However, let it be so that we will live on earth for a long time; what will we lose when we live virtuously? Not only will we not lose anything, but we will gain everything, save it, multiply it.

A Christmas Message From Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna in 1912

 

The Pole Star of the Hope of the Nations, Christ the Lord, the Savior Born To Us

 

 By Saint Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Smyrna

"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great 

joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day
in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." 

(Lk. 2:10-11)

This great and sweet joy, this joy, which human lips cannot express, and the heart of man cannot understand, I proclaim to you on this day of the birth of Jesus Christ, or rather night, which reminds us of that most bright and great and most memorable night, during which the heavens burst and opened, and revealed to the human race all the infinite love and favor and condescension of God for us, all the ineffable glory and majesty of God, and all the divine and heavenly peace which supasses all understanding.

1955 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

 

1955 Christmas Message

By St. John Maximovitch

“When Jesus the Lord was born of the holy Virgin, the whole world was enlightened. The shepherds watched in the fields, the Magi adored and the angels sang hymns of praise; but Herod was troubled: for God appeared in the flesh, the Savior of our souls.” (Christmas Great Vespers)

The invisible God put on a body and visibly appeared on earth.

The angels rejoice in heaven, seeing their Creator God, whose glory they cannot even look at. The people on earth rejoice too. “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10), the angel proclaims to the shepherds. The shepherds glorify and praise God, seeing the Infant lying in the manger.

1954 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

 

1954 Christmas Message to the West European and East Asian Flock

By St. John Maximovitch

“O the depth of the riches and wisdom and mind of God! Thou hast settled in the cave, Christ God: the manger received Thee, the shepherds and the magi worshiped Thee."

On the earth, full of tribulations and sorrows, the Son of God descended from heaven, where angels praise Him with unceasing hymns.

The King of Heaven appeared on earth to live with people.

The Creator and Maker of the world Himself became a man. The incorporeal God, omnipresent and omnipotent, took on human flesh, took on a human body, which is weak and subject to suffering.

Sixth Homily for the Day of the Nativity of Christ (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"And the angel said to them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy that will be for all people" (Luke 2:10).

This was said by an angel to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who were in the field on the night when our Lord Jesus Christ was born.

The shepherds of Bethlehem were, in appearance, probably no better or a little better than our current shepherds, that is, almost the last of the people in the city. But listeners, what mercy they have been granted! The Lord sent His angel to tell them about the birth of Jesus Christ, and they were the first of the entire human race to worship the newborn Savior of the world. How did they deserve this grace of God? Of course, not because they alone did not sleep that night, although they did not sleep for a necessary, honest matter.

Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Remembers the Christmas of 1941

 By Dr. Haralambos Bousias

It was a few days before Christmas in the year 1988. In the Guesthouse of the Agathonos Monastery which has a hanging fireplace, Elder Bessarion was reading a Christian publication. He was engrossed and seemed moved.

Suddenly the current Abbot, Father Damaskenos, who was sitting near him and writing Christmas cards, realized that the Elder was crying and trying to wipe away his tears.

"Why are you crying, my father?" he asked him.

"I'm fine, my child," he replied, "don't worry!"

1953 Nativity Message of St. John Maximovitch

 1953 Christmas Message

By St. John Maximovitch

"All the angels in heaven make merry and dance today, all creation leaps for joy." (Christmas Compline)

Heaven and earth are united today: today the Virgin of the Creator of all gives birth. Eden brings a cave and a star shows Christ the Sun existing in a canopy of darkness.

A great and glorious miracle has taken place today: the Word is incarnate and is not separated from the Father.

Angels with shepherds glorify the invisible God, who created heaven and earth, and is clothed with light like a robe, who became a man and is seen in the flesh.

Fifth Homily for the Day of the Nativity of Christ (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"Magnify, O my soul, her who is more honorable and more exalted in glory than the heavenly hosts." (Ninth Ode of Christmas Matins)

To Jesus Christ now, on the day of His Nativity, everyone gives some kind of honor, everyone somehow rejoices in Him.

Some with the shepherds worship Him, others with the angels glorify Him, those with His Most Pure Mother in silence listen to the singing to His glory, some with the Magi bring some gifts to Him.