THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD AND NEW SERIES OF POKROV LEAFLETS
Last year we dedicated our monthly parish leaflets to short descriptions of great feasts and lives of saints from the Ochrid Prologue, written by St Nikolai Velimirovic.
We begin a new series with the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. In this series we will attempt to present monthly instalments on the teaching of the Church. Whenever possible we will connect this to the events of the liturgical year, as in this presentation. Also, we will build up a picture of the dynamics of interaction between three main points: Who am I? Who is Christ? What is the Church?
Who is Christ? The Nativity
The Gospel story of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, given by two of the four Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, gives the picture of the human birth of the Word of God from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. This is read in the services of the feast of Christmas. Another story is read at the liturgy of Pascha, the feast of feasts. This is the beginning of John’s Gospel, which first speaks of the pre-eternal birth of the Godman from the Father and then His coming into the world as the Incarnate Saviour.
This last word is the key to the question of Who is Christ? After the naïve and tragic error of Adam and Eve we were promised a Saviour. Over thousands of years humanity in its best representatives had yearned for Him. The Sacred Books of the descendants of God’s chosen – Abraham – beginning with the books of Moses are filled with prophesies and symbols pointing to the Lamb of God, sacrificed as a gift of love to initiate and enable our Salvation.
Saviour, Salvation are words used often by the Church. In the ancient Church adults were required to undergo a course of study before baptism. This ensured that their children would be educated in the elements of Christian faith. There is a dire need in the current times to be knowledgeable in the faith, as our faith, as never before, is tested by the life of the world in which we live.
The feast of Holy Nativity gives the initial elements for our understanding of Who our Saviour is, in the sense of what He saves us from. As we move along the feasts of Theophany, the Meeting of the Lord and then towards preparation for Great Lent this will become increasingly clear. The precious weeks of Great Lent before Pascha give us an annual opportunity to pray with the whole Church using the words of St Ephraim the Syrian: “ …enable me to see my transgressions and not to judge my brother …”. Looking inside ourselves we can better understand what Salvation means and what the Saviour does for us, as well as what how we need to participate in our own Salvation. The feasts of Annunciation, Palm Sunday, the Pascha of the Cross (Passion Week), the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost complete the picture and answer all three questions: about our humanity, about the Saviour and the Church He has prepared for our Salvation.
In the ancient Church before Nativity was established as a separate feast, it was celebrated on the 6 (19) January as Theophany, the appearance of God, together with Christ’s Baptism which initiated His Ministry of Salvation. The services tell us that He came “in the fullness of time”, i.e. at the right time. The world at that time was unified under one ruler, Augustus, signifying the end of polytheism (competing religions with many gods); Greek philosophy developed precise language of thought, but failed to find the Truth.
“What is truth?” (Jn.18:38), cries Pilate. The Truth is born not in the palace of the Kings, but in a humble cave, used as a barn. From the moment of His birth He begins to teach about the essential problem of humanity: pride as a disconnection from God and the attempt to build a life without Him. Christ Child begins to teach: “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29, in earlier versions: “meek and humble of heart”). That is the only way that the relationship with God can be re-established.
As an adult the Lord teaches that He is the door to the sheepfold (The Church, Jn.10:1-9). It is important that we understand clearly Who our Saviour Jesus Christ is. Most of us were baptised as infants carried through that door by parents and sponsors. However, as adults we have to re-affirm our faith at a mature level, otherwise how can we say that we have entered by the door into the life of the Church, the life of Salvation in Christ?
The feast of Holy Nativity, Christmas, invites us annually to think about our life as a journey in following the new born Child in His growing up and adult life to full maturity.
Archpriest Nicholas Karipoff,
Rector
Last year we dedicated our monthly parish leaflets to short descriptions of great feasts and lives of saints from the Ochrid Prologue, written by St Nikolai Velimirovic.
We begin a new series with the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. In this series we will attempt to present monthly instalments on the teaching of the Church. Whenever possible we will connect this to the events of the liturgical year, as in this presentation. Also, we will build up a picture of the dynamics of interaction between three main points: Who am I? Who is Christ? What is the Church?
Who is Christ? The Nativity
The Gospel story of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, given by two of the four Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, gives the picture of the human birth of the Word of God from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. This is read in the services of the feast of Christmas. Another story is read at the liturgy of Pascha, the feast of feasts. This is the beginning of John’s Gospel, which first speaks of the pre-eternal birth of the Godman from the Father and then His coming into the world as the Incarnate Saviour.
This last word is the key to the question of Who is Christ? After the naïve and tragic error of Adam and Eve we were promised a Saviour. Over thousands of years humanity in its best representatives had yearned for Him. The Sacred Books of the descendants of God’s chosen – Abraham – beginning with the books of Moses are filled with prophesies and symbols pointing to the Lamb of God, sacrificed as a gift of love to initiate and enable our Salvation.
Saviour, Salvation are words used often by the Church. In the ancient Church adults were required to undergo a course of study before baptism. This ensured that their children would be educated in the elements of Christian faith. There is a dire need in the current times to be knowledgeable in the faith, as our faith, as never before, is tested by the life of the world in which we live.
The feast of Holy Nativity gives the initial elements for our understanding of Who our Saviour is, in the sense of what He saves us from. As we move along the feasts of Theophany, the Meeting of the Lord and then towards preparation for Great Lent this will become increasingly clear. The precious weeks of Great Lent before Pascha give us an annual opportunity to pray with the whole Church using the words of St Ephraim the Syrian: “ …enable me to see my transgressions and not to judge my brother …”. Looking inside ourselves we can better understand what Salvation means and what the Saviour does for us, as well as what how we need to participate in our own Salvation. The feasts of Annunciation, Palm Sunday, the Pascha of the Cross (Passion Week), the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost complete the picture and answer all three questions: about our humanity, about the Saviour and the Church He has prepared for our Salvation.
In the ancient Church before Nativity was established as a separate feast, it was celebrated on the 6 (19) January as Theophany, the appearance of God, together with Christ’s Baptism which initiated His Ministry of Salvation. The services tell us that He came “in the fullness of time”, i.e. at the right time. The world at that time was unified under one ruler, Augustus, signifying the end of polytheism (competing religions with many gods); Greek philosophy developed precise language of thought, but failed to find the Truth.
“What is truth?” (Jn.18:38), cries Pilate. The Truth is born not in the palace of the Kings, but in a humble cave, used as a barn. From the moment of His birth He begins to teach about the essential problem of humanity: pride as a disconnection from God and the attempt to build a life without Him. Christ Child begins to teach: “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29, in earlier versions: “meek and humble of heart”). That is the only way that the relationship with God can be re-established.
As an adult the Lord teaches that He is the door to the sheepfold (The Church, Jn.10:1-9). It is important that we understand clearly Who our Saviour Jesus Christ is. Most of us were baptised as infants carried through that door by parents and sponsors. However, as adults we have to re-affirm our faith at a mature level, otherwise how can we say that we have entered by the door into the life of the Church, the life of Salvation in Christ?
The feast of Holy Nativity, Christmas, invites us annually to think about our life as a journey in following the new born Child in His growing up and adult life to full maturity.
Archpriest Nicholas Karipoff,
Rector
