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A wish for the New Year: towards eternity…
[…] Towards the eternity we step, my brothers. And now, another year had passed. We welcome a new year. What will it bring us? We do not know.
As for us been dull, we do not know if we will live tomorrow. Unceasingly one has to wait his departure, especially us elders, reaching the sunset of life. But also the young. We do not know “What the present moment will offer “. And I wonder next year, in a day like this, how many of us will still be here living? And what events await our people in the New Year? What will it happen in the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the world? … Are you imagining dreams and envision an endless life? But eternity is approaching my dear; the biggest moment is waiting to rise.
What should I wish you, my dear? Wealth, glory, honors, delights, pleasures? … How meaningless is everything. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity“ (Ecclesiastes 1, 2). Only one thing remains: your belief in Christ. There is no other name that can give us joy and hope during this coming year, of Whom, children praise and exalt into the ages of ages. Amen!
+ Bishop Augustine
(Fragment of a Homily delivered by Metropolitan Augustine of Florida in the Church of St. Panteleimon, Florida, 31.12.1974, during the New Year’ Eve services)
Fragments from a Sermon delivered by Fr. George Calciu on January 1st 2000!
This end of the year – the New Year’ Eve that the world celebrates – not been established or sanctified by the church, cannot be considered sacred, but only a human invention. Do we (Christians) have to celebrate it? Are we to attend the fireworks, the songs and all sorts of scandals, parties? … No.
We praise our Lord in the church. For it is in the church we’re awaiting “the end”. If God would have ordained the end of times tonight, He wouldn’t made His Son’ Nativity at Christmas!
What is the relation between a sacred event and the first of January? Absolutely no connection. And why some say that the end (of the world) is when the world decides – as a new millennium begins – and not when Christ will come? Or at least at the Annunciation!
All these are for the devil’ deceit. The overcrowding of people, the delirium seizing all, the craziness, the fireworks, the drinks, the champagne flowing … I was watching last night what happened in Paris. Someone said that in Rome, where the congregation of the Pope gathered (and I could not understand why he gave blessing to the world and the city on January 1st 2000 when there is no sacred event to celebrate)… we do not know how many millions of bottles of champagne flowed…. And someone else wound announce: more champagne in Paris! Then, more beer in Germany! So, this is the measure of “sanctity” for the New Year!
In general, the beginning of the mundane New Year is something diabolical. It was established by the servants of Satan, to tempt us from the Christian path and the truth of the faith. And our Lord revealed the lies of all. God uncovered the sham of those that wanted to murder a mass crowd of people – I’m referring to the Muslim attacks. God proved the delusion of those who would say Jesus will come tonight so we have to commit murder, suicide, to increase the world’ suffering so God will have “pity on us” and come to end it!
So for the sake of Satan, they proved the deceit. For their inspiration came not from God but from the evil one.
The truth was (here), in the church. Last night we observed Vespers and prayed to the Lord, today we celebrated Divine Liturgy. All those who choose otherwise are far from the Christian truth.
There are people who bare the name of St. Basil the Great and they knew that today is his feast but did not come. We’ve prayed for them, that God will turn their path away from drunkenness and parties and towards Christ, so they may come and celebrate their name in the church. We prayed for those present and those absent for good reasons.
My beloved, I’d like you to know that the life of the church was so striked by worldly prejudices and satanic influences, so as the saints have profesized, there will come a time when churches will be everywhere you look, when the name of Christ will be on everyone’s lips, some churches will even be full, but the true faith and sanctity will be lacking. It will be a false, a deception of Satan. And we live those times […]
(Translation by EC)
THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (OT)
ON THE MESSAYAH
AND THEIR FULLFILMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (NT)
(Part One)
For Part II see Here
Study done by Archipriest/Hieromonk Michael (Mikhail) Stanciu
(Please do not copy without referencing the original text!)
The 1st Prophecy: A WOMAN’ “SEED” TO CRUSH the Head of the SERPENT
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Genesis 3:15] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, he shall watch against thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel.
IT’S FULFILLMENT IN THE NT.
[Galatians 4:4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law…
[Hebrew 2:14] Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
[Hebrew 2:15] And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
[Colossians 1:13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son…
[Revelation 20:10] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
02. A DESCENDENT FROM AVRAAM AND THE BLESSED SEED FOR ALL NATIONS
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Genesis 12:3] And I will bless those that bless thee, and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
[Genesis 12:18] And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast hearkened to my voice.
[Genesis 26:4] And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven; and I will give to thy seed all this land, and all the nations of the earth shall be blest in thy seed,…
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 1:1] The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham…
[Hebrew 2:16] For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
03. SUCCESSOR OF ISAAC
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Genesis 17:19 p.m.] And God said to Abraam, Yea, behold, Sarrha thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to him and to his seed after him.
ITS FULFILLMENT IN THE NT.
[Luke 3:34] Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, …
04. SUCCESSOR OF JACOB
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Numbers 24:17] I will point to him, but not now; I bless him, but he draws not near: a star shall rise out of Jacob, a man shall spring out of Israel; and shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall spoil all the sons of Seth.
[Numbers 24:19] And one shall arise out of Jacob, and destroy out of the city him that escapes.
THE FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 1:2] Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
05. DESCENDENT OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Genesis 49:10]. A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of nations.
ITS FULFILLMENT
[Luke 3:33] Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda, …
06. Successor of the throne of David
The OT. PROPHECY
[Esaias 9:6,7] For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him. 7 His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end: it shall be upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgement and with righteousness, from henceforth and forever. The seal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
IT’S FULFILLMENT
[Luke 1:32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
07. NUS and Eternal
The OT. PROPHECIES
[Daniel 9:25] And thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the prince there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then the time shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted.
[Psalms 44:9] Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Wherefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness more than Thy fellows.
[Psalms 44:10] Myrrh and stacte and cassia exhale from Thy garments;
[Psalms 101:25] Take me not away at the half of my days; in generations and generations are Thy years.
[Psalms 101:27]They shall perish, but Thou abidest; and all like a garment shall grow old, And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them, and they shall be changed;
[Psalms 101:28] But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.
THE FULFILLMENT
[Luke 1:33] And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
[Hebrew 1:9] Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
[Hebrew 1:12] And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
08. BORN IN BETHLEHEM
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Michaeas 5:1] And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Juda; yet out of thee shall one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel; and his goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity.
ITS FULFILLMENT
[Luke 2:4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
[Luke 2:5] To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
[Luke 2:7] And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
09. THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Daniel 9:25] And thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the prince there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then the time shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted.
ITS FULFILLMENT
[Luke 2:1] And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
[Luke 2:2] And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
10. BORN OF A VIRGIN
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Esaias 7:14] Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.
ITS FULFILLMENT
[Luke 1:26] And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
[Luke 1: 27] To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
[Luke 1:30] And the angel said unto her, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”
[Luke 1:31] “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
11. HEROD’S MASSACRE OF THE INOCENT
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Jeremias 31:15] Moab is ruined, even his city, and his choice young men have gone down to slaughter.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 2:16] Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
[Matthew 2:17] Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
[Matthew 2:18] “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”
12. THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Osee 11:1] Early in the morning were they cast off, the king of Israel has been cast off: for Israel is a Child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called Him.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 2:13] And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
[Matthew 2:14] When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt
[Matthew 2:15] And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.”
13. GOD PREPARED HIS WAY
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Esaias 40:3] The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.
[Esaias 40:4] Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.
[Esaias 40:5] And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Luke 3:3] And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
[Luke 3:4] As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight
[Luke 3:5] Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
[Luke 3:6] And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
14. THE FORERUNNER (JOHN THE BAPTIST)
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Malachias 3:1] Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Luke7:24] And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
[Luke7:25] But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings courts.
[Luke7:26] But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
[Luke7:27] This is he, of whom it is written, “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee”.
15. PRECEEDED BY ELIAS
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Malachias 3:23] And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes…
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 11:13] For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
[Matthew 11:14] And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
16. NAMED THE “SON OF GOD”
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Esaias 9: 5) For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him.
[Psalm 2:7] …the Lord said, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 3:17] And lo a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.“
17. SERVING IN GALILEE
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Esaias 9: 1] Drink this first. Act quickly, O land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest inhabiting the sea-coast, and the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
[Esaias 9:2] O people walking in darkness, behold a great light: ye that dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 4:12] Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
[Matthew 4:13] And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
[Matthew 4:14] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying:
[Matthew 4:15] “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
[Matthew 4:16] The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
18. ZEAL FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Psalm 68:11] For the zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach Thee are fallen on me.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[John 2:14] And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
[John 2:15] And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
[John 2:16] And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
[John 2:17] And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”
19. HE SPOKE IN PARABLES
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Psalm 77:2] I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter dark sayings which have been from the beginning…
[Esaias 6:9] And he said, “Go, and say to this people,Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive”.
[Esaias 6:10] For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Matthew 13:13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
[Matthew 13:14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive”.
[Matthew 13:15] For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
[Matthew 13:34] All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
[Matthew 13:35] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
20. HE CAME TO HEAL THE BROKEN HEARTS
THE OT. PROPHECIES
[Esaias 61:1] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind;
[Esaias 61:2] to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompence; to comfort all that mourn;
[Esaias 61:3] that there should be given to them that mourn in Sion glory instead of ashes, the oil of joy to the mourners, the garment of glory for the spirit of heaviness: and they shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[Luke 4:18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
[Luke 4:19] To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
[Luke 4:21] And he began to say unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
21. REJECTED BY HIS PEOPLE
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Esaias 53:3] But his form was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men; he was a man in suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of sickness, for his face is turned from us: he was dishonoured, and not esteemed.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[John 1:11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[Luke 23:18] And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas
22. HIM “THE PROPHET”
THE OT. PROPHECY
[Deuteronomy 18:15] The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy brethren, like me; him shall ye hear…
[Deuteronomy 18:18] I will raise up to them a prophet of their brethren, like thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them as I shall command him.
THE NT. FULFILLMENT
[John 6:14] Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
[John 7:40] Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
[Luke 24:19] And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…
[Acts 3:20] when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord ; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.
[Acts 3:21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
(Translated by EC, to be continued)
Testimonies on the Icon of Nativity
A study by Archimandrite Michael (Mikhail) Stanciu
(Please do not copy without referencing the original post!)
Our Lord’ Nativity
A Feast of Lights – the Day of Recreation of the World
Originally celebrated with Epiphany (Theophany) on January 6, the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was established by the early Christian church (in 354) for December 25th. According to St. Gregory of Nazianzus, “the Feast of the Nativity is the re-creation of the world” and the restoration of the human nature fallen in sin.
The Iconographic representation of the Nativity has its scriptural basis in the testimonies of the Holy Gospels of Matthew and Luke: see Mathew 1, 18-25; 2, 1-12 and Luke 2, 4-20.
Icon’ s Composition
In the icon of the Nativity, the focus is placed on three dogmatic aspects of the Incarnation and Nativity of the Son of God:
1st – God in descending motion (kenosis);
2nd – The Miracle of virginal birth (the creature gives birth to her Creator);
3rd– Human Deification.
The scenes from the iconographic image are divided into three parts:
I. The top portion of the icon – the prophetic and theophanic aspect
|
To the Left |
In the Center | To the Right |
| ◦ the angels praising God | ◦ the radius (the star)
◦ the mountains (the rocks) |
◦ the angel proclaiming the Nativity to the shepherds on the field |
II. The central part – the mysterious appearance
|
To the Left |
In the Center | To the Right |
| ◦ the Magi bringing gifts |
◦ Christ the Child ◦ the Virgin ◦ the cave (the manger) ◦ the ox and the ass |
◦ the shepherds |
III. The bottom portion – the human aspect
|
To the Left |
In the Center | To the Right |
| ◦ The Right Joseph sitting/meditating on a rock | ◦ the devil disguised as a shepherd (Thyrros) |
◦ the midwives Salome and Zelemi caring for the child
|
People, edifying symbols and meanings in the icon of the Nativity
I. 1. The Ray of Light – a Revelation of the Holy Trinity
The ray descending from the single radius-circle at the top of the icon signifies The One and Unique Nature of God, the light and coming from the star is divided into three elements to describe the participation of the Three DIVINE PERSONS in the fellowship/ iconomy of our salvation. The iconographic representation of the star suggests that this is beyond just a cosmic phenomenon, the star is being sent by God to preach to the Magi the supernatural birth of the Heavenly King and also to guide them to the place where the miracle took place.
I. 2. The Mountain: an austere mountain suggests an inhospitable world, hostile, a world after the fall of our first parents Adam and Eve and their descendants.
The sharp rocks, also illustrated as steps seem to be united with the sky, indicating the descent of God to man but also the ascent of man to God, both becoming possible with the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. And the whole earth rejoices.
“Wholly present among those below, yet in no way absent from those above, was the Word that cannot be encircled by words; for thus did God condescend, and not merely descend to a different place. He was born from a God-receiving Virgin…” (the Akathist of the Annunciation – Oikos 8)
“Today, Heaven and earth joined together, today Christ is born, today God descended on earth and man rose up to heaven.” (From the Vespers of the Nativity Feast)
“Every order of angels was amazed at your mighty work when you assumed human nature; for they saw the one who is unapproachable as God become approachable to all as man, dwelling among us and hearing from all…” (The Akathist of the Annunciation; Kontakion 9)
I. 3. The Angels are represented in their dual work: doxology and proclamation (of the good news).
Some angels (the group from the left) are moving towards the Source of Light, unceasingly praising God.
The angel from the right side leans towards the shepherds, proclaiming them the Nativity of the King of Israel. The angelic presence testifies the deity of the Child.
II. 1. The Christ child is either asleep or awake, looking towards His Mother. His changing nappies are shaped like narrow strips similar to the burial shrouds, his arms are crossed over his chest in the sign of the Cross, and the crib where the child is seated resembles a shrine – the later tomb.
All these representations foreshadow Christ’s death and descent into hell. But “The Light shines into the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1, 5) For Christ will rise from the dead as God Almighty.
II. 2. The Virgin is pictured sitting next to the child in the manger, half resting on a bed of the kind carried by the Hebrew in their travels. Its color is red, signifying a royal bed and the honor the Mother of God deserves.
This iconographic depiction of the Mother of God affirms the truth of the supernatural Birth (of a Virgin, barring no pain) of our Savior Jesus Christ, fact that also emphasizes the deity of the Child. (1-see Fr. D. Staniloae)
The three stars from the head and the shoulders of Mary, symbolize her perpetual virginity before, during and after the birth of Christ (the Ever-Virgin Mary).
Her facial expression is one in meditation in anticipation of the suffering she will endure as a Mother of Him Who was to suffer death on the Cross for the salvation of the world. “And Mary kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2, 19)
Our most pure Lady was the highest gift that mankind was ever able to bring to Him, the Creator.
“What shall we offer Thee, O Christ? for Thou hast appeared on earth as man for our sakes. Of all the creatures made by Thee, each offereth Thee thanksgiving. The Angels offer Thee the hymn; the Heavens, the star; the Magi, their gifts; the shepherds, their wonder, the earth, her cave; the wilderness, the manger; and we offer Thee a Virgin Mother, O God, Who wast before the ages, have mercy on us” (Menaion for December, Stichera D, Verse #7)
II. 3. The Cave (the Manger)
The place of birth of the Son of God was not an inn, but a place with stalls where animals are kept.
The Gospels do not mention the cave, but the iconographic representation finds its grounds in the Tradition of the church and in its liturgical texts. The opening of the dark cave in the middle of sharp rocks symbolizes the fallen cosmos, the world overwhelmed by sin through the fall of man, the depths of darkness (the inferno/hell), which only Him, the Sun of Righteousness, scattered by His birth. The cave and the manger are an evidence of the profound humility of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. 4. The ox and the ass are also mentioned in the Gospel, their presence along with Christ Child (inspired by the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew, chapter XIV) suggests the fulfilling of a prophecy (the prophet Isaiah): “The ox knows his master and of the donkey his Lord’s crib, but Israel does not know me, my people, knows me not. “ (Isaiah 1, 3)
The animals presence, appears as a symbolism of the sacrificial bull and of the donkey the the King will ride when entering Jerusalem (see Psalm Sunday). In some Russian icons, a horse is depicted instead of a donkey.
II. 5. The Shepherds are portrayed listening to the message of the angels. Often, one of them adds his (human) art of singing in the choir of angels.
In the middle of everyday activities, they are the first to receive the wondrous news of the birth of Christ, being paradoxically, through their simplicity, closer to the heavenly world.
The shepherds represent the first sons of Israel (God’s chosen people), who worship the Child; they symbolize the beginning of the Church among the Jews, while the magi represent the Church of the Gentiles.
II. 6. The Magi are represented either on horses riding towards the place indicated by the star, or by bringing the Child: threefold – gold, incense and myrrh – foreshadowing the myrrh bearing women, who came to our Lord’ tomb on Easter morning:
◦ Gold – for the King of all ages;
◦ Incense – as to the One who is the God of the Universe;
◦ Myrrh – to the One who died on the cross.
“By the mirth, they pre imagine Thy mortal state, by royal gold Thy majesty and by the incense, Thy Divine nature.” (Nativity Matins, the fifth song, voice, VI)
The Magi are portrayed as three men of different ages, proving that this revelation is given to man regardless of their physical age, but according to their spiritual level and their comprehension of the mysteries of God. The Magi represent the pagan nations that are outside the chosen people. Although they are learned men, however, they have to come a long way towards knowing the true God.
Their presence reveals that the Church receives and sanctifies human knowledge when it leads to the truth of the faith towards the knowledge of God.
III. 1. The Righteous Joseph is depicted in the corner (either left or right, to the bottom part of the icon) sitting away from the Blessed Virgin Mary; this iconographic detail is designed to highlight the truth that the Scriptures and the Church teach that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, and Joseph was not the father of the Heavenly Child.
His appearance should suggest a man advanced in years (the Holy Tradition holds that he was 84 years old). He is surrounded by a halo to represent his place among the righteous of God (cf. Matthew 1, 19).
Joseph has a meditative expression, somewhat worried, a state of turmoil caused by the virginal birth of Jesus. Joseph illustrates every man weak in faith, whose mind can not exceed the boundaries of this reality, and the difficulty in accepting the supernatural reality of God’s mysteries.
In the person of Joseph, the icon reveals not only his personal drama, but the drama of all mankind, comprehending the mystery not through the eyes of faith, but by the limited mind/rationality.
“ A storm of doubtful thoughts roiled within the prudent Joseph, for he looked on you unwedded and he feared a stolen union, O Blameless One; but on learning that your child-bearing was of the Holy Spirit, he said: Alleluia!”(Akathist Hymn of the Annunciation; Kontakion 4)
He appeared to be listening to a figure representing the voice of the darkened mind.
III. 2. the Strange old man, clad in a letter jacket, leaning before Joseph, represents the deceiver: Satan disguised as a shepherd, and harassing Joseph, the Virgin fiancé, with treacherous questions.
The scene is inspired by the apocryphal Gospel of James which says that the wicked speaks through the Shepherd Thyrros: “As the rod [that is bent or broken= the symbol of his former powers] will not be able to give offspring, so an old man like you just can not conceive a baby and a virgin cannot bare a child “ [but the rod blossomed soon].
III. 4. The Infant bathing scene is based on passages from the apocryphal gospels of Jacob and Matthew (which speak about the presence of two women: Salome and Zelemi, called by Joseph to attend the Virgin birth).
The Infant bathing scene has sparked much controversy and discussion based on the following reasons:
– the bathing does not belong to the canonical gospels;
– the Child was totally clean and did not need washing;
– Our Lady had a supernatural birth (with no pain), and the presence of midwives is unnecessary.
The arguments favoring the representation of a bathing scene were: – that the scene is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels is not a reason to exclude it (the entry into the temple of God of the Virgin Mary is also not mentioned in the New Testament, but the Church did not rejected). Our Lord Christ, through the custom of bathing, had voluntarily agreed to follow a human custom as He will later undergo the practice of circumcision and baptism (which He did not need);
– none of the Holy Ecumenical Councils had opposed the scene;
– during the iconoclasts period when they called into question many iconographic scenes, the bathing scene did not pose an issue;
– even after iconoclasm, when the iconographic representations became a mean to express the dogma, no objections existed to the representation of this scene.
The bathing scene suggests that the Most High God is subject to human habits and customs, this been also a true testimony to the Incarnation of the Lord, Who has become willingly “just as one of his people” (Matins of the Nativity feast, Canon of St. John of Damascus, the fourth song). The scene foreshadows that of His baptism in the Jordan River.
Western innovations in representing the Nativity
Compared to Orthodox iconographic canonical representation, in the Western religious painting several innovations were introduced distorting historical and dogmatic truth and leading to heresy:
– The star is represented as a natural phenomenon, and does not clearly indicate the Child. (St. John Chrysostom interprets that the star guiding the wise men did not remain high –up in the sky, but came down, over the head of the Child);
– The cave is replaced by a man-made construction, the popular image of the crib, giving a more picturesque and naturalist representation;
– The donkey and the ox, and the bathing scene are often removed from the composition;
– A lots of compositional elements and insignificant details: horses, camels, dogs, lots of people etc are introduced, which detract from the real center of interest: Christ the Child.
– The Child is shown naked (in the Orthodox icons, the clothes suggest the mystery that surrounds the deity of Christ);
– Joseph is depicted standing next to the Virgin Mary, kneeling with her before the Child;
– In the physiognomic details, of the western paintings, Joseph appears as a handsome young man, of an age close to the Virgin Mary, detail that brings a lot of confusion regarding the actual relationship full of purity that existed between the old Joseph as the guardian of Mary, and the young Virgin;
– The representation the Holy Family in the western iconography “greatly distorts the truth of the Gospel” (as the Creed: the symbol of our faith confesses) that the word of God came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary and became man;
– The scene takes on a fantasy look through the sweet atmosphere of a fairy Bethlehem bathed by the light of a sky full of stars…, insisting more on the human aspect rather than on the mystery of the Incarnation (the man-God rather than God-Man).
In the West, the representation of the Nativity, has no edifying symbols for the soul (so consistently depicted in the Orthodox iconography), and it mostly calling upon the natural human feelings, thus remaining at the level of a superficial understanding and far from the true meaning of the Incarnation of the Son of God and His work for the salvation of the world.
It should be noted that the process of de-sanctification of the Catholic theology after the Great Schism of 1054 had gradually led to the distortion in representating God and the Saints. The revival of paganism, which began in the fourteenth century, had lead to the replacing of icons by so called religious paintings where the aura of holiness disappears under the camouflage of the sensuous realism of the fallen human nature. In the Western Europe, the devaluation of the sacred images was synchronous with the deformation concept about God, man and the world, the contemporary Western society been long poisoned by atheism and materialism.
The removal of icons and of the sacraments had depleted the Catholic and the (neo) Protestant world, of a proper understanding of the words of Christ, sinking further into interpretations subjective to human passions, slanders and evil blasphemies.
The Orthodox iconography, through the development and maintenance of certain canons (rules) in representing/revealing the holy images in accordance with the early church tradition, it maintains the true theological knowledge of the spiritual life and it avoids the promotion of artistic means of expression that emphasize emotions or other subjective and shallow interpretations.
The Nativity Icon reveals therefore, in its content two fundamental Christian doctrines:
– the essence of the event, as a visible testimony to the fundamental dogma of the Christian faith: the Incarnation of the Son of God;
– the effect of this event on all creation that had acquired a new meaning – the transfiguration through the Holy Spirit, as the final aim of her existence.
All Orthodox traditions mark the joy of Christ’s coming among us and within us by carols, hymns… and good merriment brought by God’s blessing. These are the real beauties that adorn our soul at Christmas! Amen.
Selective Bibliography:
Father Dumitru Staniloae, Theology of the icon;
Paul Evdokimov, The Art of the icon. A theology of beauty;
Egon Sendler, The Icon, image of the invisible,
Leonid Uspensky, Vladimir Lossky, Lead by the world of icons,
Dionysius of furnaces, The origins of the Byzantine paintings,
Cavarnos Constantine, A Guide to the Byzantine iconography,
Quenot Michel, The icon challenge,
Michel Quenot, From the icon to the nuptial banquet.
(Translation by EC)
Sermons at the Feast of Archdeacon Stephen the First Martyr
(by Fr George Calciu – 2005)
The Holy Scripture teastifies: “And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep”(Acts 7, 59-60).
According to the Jewish law of the time, if someone was accused, those witnesses testifying against him had to also be the executors, if a death sentence was set. So, there wasn’t just an outside executioner with no conscience whatsoever and paid for such. In the case of Stephen, the accusers that most likely made use of their Jewish law, had to strip off their clothes, and place them at the feet of a very zealous young Jew, who by being a minor, could not take part in the execution. This young man was named Saul and would later become the Apostle Paul, through conversion. Saul was a persecutor of Christians. And because he could not participate in the stoning of Stephen, he was happy at least to watch the clothes of those who killed Stephen.
I was reflecting on this, making a parallel with what is happening today. If in times of persecution under communism and even in our times, when Christians were denounced to the authorities that convicted and inprisoned them, I thought that those who testified against them were not the executors. If they would have kept the Jewish law – “Those who have testified against him, kill him!” – I think that many would have been hesitat and would avoid to condemn. But because their denouncement was kept anounimously, they seemed to bare no responsibility; and because of this, the human villains and wickedness have multiplied. In this sense, I think that the Jewish law was better: You’ve testified against him, you will be responsible…! And perhaps many people would have given back.
Let us be attentive!
(Fragment from a Sermon delivered by Fr. George in 1999)
Throughout Christian history and its martyrdom either earlier in the Roman times or later in the modern times, this martyrdom takes sometimes violent and other times less violent forms: trials, falsifying the truth, mockery and so on. All these take part in the string of Christian suffering.
We live in a world where Christianity is not too applauded or loved. We live in a world in which modernism, science, libertinism (…) mock (in) Christianity and us. They say that to believe in God means to be mentally retarded, for indeed, those so called semi- docts (and when I say semi-docts I mean people who read a lot… scientists) fail to raise themselves outside the boundaries of intellectual, physical or sensual knowledge. For beyond all these, you ask yourself, is there something else? And they do not ask and know only in part.
Peter Tutea (a Christian philosopher) used to say “all sciences including mathematics reached a high school level, only theology goes beyond and has achieved a license,”… because theology works with things beyond the cognitive and sensory knowledge, it works with the absolute elements of the faith. And I agree with him. That is why, symbolically, he called those people who stayed at the “high school level”: “semi- docts”, because they have no power to know more.
And they do not wish to raise themselves outside this box, because they are the prisoners of their intellect and senses, and the devil holds them back not allowing them to reach God, and because they feared nothing.
It’s not so easy to deny one self and to ascend into the Divine. It is not simple for us to give up some things, (right?): to give up pride, your position, your economic status and to say, “today is Sunday, I will not work and I will go to church; today is a feast day, I’m not going to attend a party, I will go to church, to glorify God” – I can do the rest other days. It’s hard to do these things. (…)
So I am very glad to see you here (in church) and I pray God to keep your heart clean and grounded in faith and despite our infirmities, to be numbered among those who renounce at least a part – of this world so we may receive Christ, to be near Him, to follow the example of St. Stephen and all the great martyrs and in a world where martyrdom is no longer asked of us, we are required at least the courage to confess Christ, to bear the scorn of those who know nothing but what they comprehend with the mind, to bear their shame because we know through faith more than anything: we know God and know Jesus Christ, in our hearts we caved the manger where He was born at Christmas, and we are ready to follow Him to His baptism (Theophany) and beyond, to death on the cross, that we may die with Him and be resurrected with Him! Amen. “
(Translations by EC)
(an OCN radio production)
Inviting Saint Nicholas Into Our Christmas
by Daria Gray and Jan Bear
Every year, Christian parents face a dilemma: what to do about Santa Claus.
He’s everywhere, that “jolly old elf,” hawking tires, toys, and Playboy magazine, sitting in shopping malls taking orders for the latest batteries-not-included whizbang. Although movies about him portray him as someone concerned about the left-out child, his hymnography (think about the words to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town!”) carries a theology of vengeful justice that is strange to be associated with One who said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
As a matter of fact, this Santa Claus is not associated with Christ. He may be appropriate to affluent Victorian Christmases with huge candle-laden Christmas trees and middle-class American living rooms (with or without chimneys) where a snack awaits near the comfy chair. But in a stable with the Infant Jesus? They’re from different worlds.
Even the Supreme Court acknowledged the anomaly in Lynch vs. Donnelly (1984), when it ruled that Santa Claus and other secular symbols overcome the religious connection of a crèche in a public display. Santa may have his good points, but he has become our society’s way of keeping a happy winter holiday without facing up to the reality of Christ. So, cut off from the Triune God, the basis of all good, the “good” of Santa is defined by the movies, books, and advertisements that characterize him, and this good is ultimately answerable only to conventional morality. In a commercial society, it’s a commercial “good.”
Another dilemma that parents may find more immediately painful is that every year brings a new decision – whether to maintain the lie of Santa’s existence or to tell children the truth, at the risk of imitating that bah-humbugging (and also fictional) Christmas character, Scrooge.
There is an answer, though: Saint Nicholas, the real Saint Nicholas, a bishop of Myra in Lycea, who died around AD 350.
Romanian Byzantine Christmas Carol
South of the North Pole
No, Myra wasn’t located at the North Pole. It was an important seaport of the early Christian centuries, situated in what is now known as Turkey. Nicholas, a wealthy young man brought up in a godly home, gave away his inheritance to the needy. The young Bishop Nicholas was imprisoned for his faith during the persecutions under the Roman emperor Diocletian, and he was set free when Constantine released the religious prisoners.
One of the most famous legends about his life tells of a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters. If he couldn’t get them married, he’d have to sell them into slavery. Hearing of the family’s predicament, Nicholas took a bag (or a sock, as some versions have it) of gold, enough for a dowry, and tossed it into the family’s house through the window (or down the chimney). He repeated his anonymous gift for each of the daughters, enabling the girls to marry.
Another legend says that Saint Nicholas participated in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea. He was so incensed at some remark of the heretic Arius about Christ and the Theotokos that he punched Arius in the nose. That was considered an inappropriate debating technique, even in that distant time when theology was important enough to fight about, and the leaders of the council took away Nicholas’ bishopric and put him in prison.
Christ and His mother appeared to those leaders, one bearing Nicholas’ omophorion (the stole marked with crosses that he and other bishops of that period wear in iconographic depictions), and the other the book of the Gospel. Taking their meaning, Nicholas’ fellow bishops set him free and returned him to office.
Serbian Christmas Song – Angels are Singing,
verses by Serbian Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
“Saint Nicholas, Hold the Tiller!”
There are many early legends about the miraculous interventions of Saint Nicholas in the lives of those in peril. In one, Bishop Nicholas helped three prisoners wrongly condemned to death. Coming to the scene of their execution, he stopped the executioner and berated the governor until he repented of having taken a bribe to have them killed. Three imperial officers passing through the area learned of these events.
Later, back in Constantinople, these three officers were themselves imprisoned and sentenced to death because of the intrigues of an official in Constantine’s court. Remembering Nicholas’ mercy, the officers prayed to God that through the bishop’s intercession they might be saved. That night, both the unjust official and Constantine himself received a very early visit from Bishop Nicholas, in a dream. The next morning, Constantine and the official agreed to set the officers free.
When sailors in the Christian East bless each other with the words, “May Saint Nicholas hold the tiller!” they are alluding to a story of sailors caught in a terrible storm. Having heard of the holiness and power of the bishop of Myra, these sailors called on his intercession. Nicholas came to them in a vision and took the helm himself and guided the ship into port. When the sailors reached Myra, they went to the Church, where they recognized their mysterious pilot.
Another time, a famine hit Lycea, and ships loaded with wheat came into the harbor on the way from Alexandria to Constantinople. Bishop Nicholas asked the crews to leave some of the wheat for his starving people. The sailors refused at first, afraid of arriving at their destination with less than a full load. At Nicholas’ promise that there would be no trouble, the sailors relented. And even though they left two years’ supply in Myra, the ships were full when they arrived in Constantinople.
Greek Christmas songs
Christmas Carryovers
These and many other acts of virtue (some, indeed, more credible than others) have become Saint Nicholas’ legacy to the Church. His feast day, December 6, goes far back in Christian history – at least to the ninth century, and very likely further than that. And the Church has celebrated his memory in many ways: in processions, in pageants, with special foods – some of which have become American Christmas customs without our even realizing it.
Many of the fun activities that we now associate with the holidays arise from commemorations of Saint Nicholas. Our practice of giving gifts at Christmas time came from the commemoration of the dowries, as well as the gifts of the Magi. The foil-covered chocolate coins that find their way into Christmas stockings are reminiscent of the dowries, as are the stockings themselves. And when we awake to find gifts that arrived anonymously in the night, we can recall the socks full of gold that came through the chimney (or the window) to save the lives of the three young women.
Our hooked candy canes are symbols of the bishop’s crosier. And, early in their history, gingerbread men wore bishops’ robes. The image of Saint Nicholas appeared on Byzantine seals more often than the image of any other person, and stamps are still available to imprint the seal of Saint Nicholas on cookies and other baked goods.
The Spirit of Saint Nicholas
These merriments can save our religious life from a dreary solemnity, but if they’re the whole focus, we’ve missed the point. The more important lesson of Saint Nicholas’ miracles is that he sacrificed to help people in need. And if we look carefully at those miracles, we see that people like the ones he helped are still with us today: The young women about to be sold into slavery? Our cities are full of young people enslaved to drugs, prostitution, and violence. The prisoners? Penitentiary inmates and their families have many needs, which translate into opportunities to serve. The drowning sailors? In many parts of the country, nonprofit organizations provide equipment and rescue teams to save drowning boaters, lost hikers, and snowed-in skiers. The famine in Lycea? We can find hungry people from the downtown of our nearest city to the most remote place in the world.
The more we understand the spirit of Saint Nicholas – the real man behind the myth – the more we can begin to pattern our lives after his godly example. Why should our children’s only glimpse of this saint be that of a phony dime-store Santa with a fake beard, before whom they must wait in line for the opportunity to rehearse their list of Christmas “gimmees”? The real Saint Nicholas has so many wonderful traits around which we all could be patterning our lives.
Instead of spending hours thinking up new and expensive gifts for “Santa” to bring them, many children could clean out their closets of toys they’ve outgrown or grown tired of, passing them on to other children who would be overjoyed to get them. Many adults could do the same with coats and clothes and blankets, sporting goods and books.
Some families might want to return to the ancient practice of giving modest gifts on Saint Nicholas’ feast day, and celebrating Christmas in ways that don’t require a garbage-truckload of wrapping paper. One family we know of anonymously gives five percent of their December income to a needy family. To make the feast of Saint Nicholas a special day, their children give puppet shows with home-made stocking puppets. The parents tell stories about Saint Nicholas to the children and discuss why he is worth imitating. They celebrate December 6 with a festive dinner and decorations.
Some families may wish to give up giving each other gifts altogether for Christmas. Others, though, remembering the model of the Magi and Saint Nicholas, may want to continue to give Christmas gifts, to honor the image of Christ that everyone bears. Remembrance is the key.
Russian Christian Song; Ты с нами Бог – Молодёжный хор
Teaching Our Children
We Americans often lament our lack of roots, the absence of tradition in our lives. And it’s truly a poverty – but it can also be an opportunity. We can look at Saint Nicholas (and other heroes of the faith) and ask, “How can we make this image of Christ tangible to ourselves and our children?” A suburban family will find a different answer than a rural one.
It will take creativity to bring Saint Nicholas to our time, but that can be fun. With a little imagination (and the help of someone who can sew), Dad can trade in that moth-eaten Santa suit for a Saint Nicholas outfit. Families in some places may be able to take a boat ride on the ocean, where the salt air and the swells, even on a calm day, can make it easy to imagine being a frightened sailor with a worthy pilot at the helm. Families or church youth groups can put on plays to illustrate stories of Saint Nicholas’ life.
Children can make a Saint Nicholas bank on his feast day, then collect coins throughout the Nativity fast and feast and give the money to charity.
Or they can make a “wheat candle,” a candle set in a tiny wheat field in a margarine tub, which grows up during the Nativity fast. This little garden commemorates both Saint Nicholas’ response to the famine in Myra and the light and new life in Christ.
These crafts link the Feast of Saint Nicholas and the Nativity of Christ in such a way that each infuses the other with meaning. The ways we find to kindle our children’s imagination today are tomorrow’s traditions – as today’s children, in turn, call the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycea to remembrance for their children.
Choosing the Real Santa
Saint Nicholas models obedience to Christ by feeding the hungry, helping strangers, and caring for prisoners (Matthew 25:34-36). He is an image, an icon, of the Triune God, and that gives his goodness a foundation that challenges every culture. It is not merely the whim of this year’s fashion.
Unlike the mythical Santa running a toy shop far off at the North Pole, Saint Nicholas presents us with an authentic witness of Christian virtue. Instead of beckoning us to join the holiday rat-race, Saint Nicholas calls us to run the great race of faith (II Timothy 4:7). The Church’s traditions can make us aware of this reality by making it tangible, like the twelve stones of Joshua, pointing to the power of God (Joshua 4).
So it’s appropriate, in a way, that the Feast of Saint Nicholas and the Feast of the Nativity have come together in our culture. The Incarnation was God’s arrival among humanity, and Saint Nicholas witnesses to His continued presence among us.
Note from the Authors
For more information about alternative Christmas traditions, read the Sherer family’s Christmas without Santa, available through Alternatives. [See In the Spirit of Saint Nicholas by Mike & Kathe Sherer in OFL! Ed.]
Jan Bear, a news editor and freelance writer, and Matushka Daria Gray, are both members of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Portland, OR. Reprinted from …Again, Vol. 13, Iss. 4, pages 13-15.
English: “A Child Was Born”
Miracles constitute irrefutable testimony of the sanctity of the person who works them. What follows will show what zeal for the faith the Saint had. When Constantine the Great was the emperor of Rome, and the first Christian emperor, and Plaulinus and Julian were consuls, in 325 in Nicaea the famous synod of the Holy Fathers took place. This council aimed to depose Arius, who with impiety, called the Son of God a creature, and to proclaim that the Son was of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father.
The first and the most well known supporters of this blasphemy were Eusebius of Nicomedia, Maris, bishop of Calcedon and Theognis, bishop of Nicaea. With the fanatic Arius at their head, these perverted creatures proclaimed the dogma that the Son of God is a creature. Those who fought in defence of the Orthodox faith, those who came into prominence by their speeches and their life were the holy Alexander, a simple priest, but a representative of blessed Patriarch Mitrofan, who was absent because of illness and the famous Athanassius, deacon of the Church of Alexandria, who would later become the ornament of the Episcopal throne. They were also strongly envied, because they did not distinguish themselves from the others by their ecclesiastic rank, but they were more powerful than them in the word of faith. Among them was equally found the Great Spyridon, whose life and the divine Grace that rested on him convinced more than the rhetorical skill, the powerful reasoning and the eloquence of the others. According to the will of the emperor, the philosophers were to assist in the council and they displayed their knowledge with arrogance. They were well educated in the art of Sophist rhetoric. One of them, a famous speaker, possessed an irresistible force of persuasion. He conversed with the bishops and supported Arius strongly. He pleaded insistently on his behalf, so that many, wishing to see which of the opposing parties would win, were urged to listen to him. There was no objection so difficult that his rhetorical ability could not remove with ease! Moreover, if his plea led him into an impasse, he would slip out like an eel by means of specious arguments and language tricks. There was therefore a competition between truth and rhetorical art.
Those who defended the truth with loyal arguments attacked the Sophist, but he made use of the ambiguities of language, insidious arguments and misleading tricks like weapons, and he believed that like this he would win. However, so that words would not be those that would finally win, but Christ and Truth, the victory «passed over» the learned men and «stopped» upon the simple Spyridon. As soon as the Saint, who did not know anything save «Christ, and him crucified» (1Cor.2,2), as the Apostle Paul says, saw the philosopher become heated with his sophisms, speak about Christ using offensive language and trying to denigrate the Orthodox dogmas, he drew near and asked to speak to him. Nevertheless, the pious Orthodox, who knew the simple ways of the Saint and that he was ignorant of the Greek culture, prevented him from going to oppose the Sophist. Saint Spyridon, however, did not let them stop him, because he knew that the Wisdom from on high is superior to the human and ephemeral wisdom; he approached the Sophist, then, and said to him: «In the Name of Jesus Christ, note my words, philosopher, and listen to what I want to tell you!». The Sophist replied to him: «Speak and I will listen to you! ». Spyridon then said: «There is only one God, Creator of heaven and earth. He created the heavenly Powers, made man from clay and created simultaneously all things visible and invisible. It was by His Word and His Spirit that heaven and earth were created, the sea flew out, the firmament stretched out, the animals were born, man was created, the most beautiful of His creatures. All the stars were created, the sun and the moon, night, day and all the rest. We know, then, that the Word is the Son of God and God Himself. We believe that, for us, He was born of the Virgin, was crucified and buried. Then he rose and raised us with Him, granting us incorruptible and immortal life. We assert that He will come a second time to judge all people and examine our own works, words and thoughts. He is of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father, equal in dignity, and reigns with Him. Don’t you agree philosopher? », he asked him.
We must relate here the famous miracle of the tile. After these words, the Saint took a tile in his left hand and held it tight. Moreover, for a wonder! Fire rose up immediately in the air, water poured out on the earth and the argyle of the clay remained in the hands of the Saint, symbolising in this way the life giving and indivisible Trinity. Everybody was amazed. The philosopher did not seem to be the same person any more, to possess neither the same mind nor the same language, he that knew so well to oppose and to quarrel. He remained stunned, his soul was filled with surprise and his voice faded away. After some time of silence, he could not say anything else but: «I share the same view! ». Then the Saint said to him: «Then go on, if you agree with me, don’t be in disagreement by your works! Since you know who is the God who created all things, get up and go to church to confess the Orthodox Creed».
At these words, the philosopher returned to the true faith and addressing himself to his disciples and to the other listeners, he said: «Until now, we fought in words and I won by means of my rhetorical skill. However, since a divine force which opposed me has manifested an ineffable and mystical power through the simple words of bishop Spyridon, I do not feel ashamed to admit that I have been defeated. I would joyfully advise then, myself as well as the others: if they are not so perverted so as to wish to change the Truth, to believe in Christ and to follow this saintly Venerable Father, whose human words are nothing else than the Words of God. »
Imagine the disgrace of the Arians at those words and the joy of the Orthodox mixed with pride! The victory of the Orthodox was so brilliant and the defeat of the heretics so bitter that almost all embraced the Orthodox faith. Only six bishops remained by the side of Arius in order to become the party of the devil, the father of lies, who is from the beginning the implacable enemy of truth.
After this manifest condemnation of the heretics, the bishops returned, filled with joy for the victory and full of admiration before the miracle, giving thanks to God for the miraculous things they had seen and for the defeat of Arius. Struck by the miracle, the emperor himself honoured the Saint greatly and saw him off, asking him to pray for him.
(Taken from “St Spyridon the Wonderworker” Monastery of Pantokrator St Athanasios Ed., Corfu, Greece)
Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Father, God-bearer, Spyridon, you were proven a champion and
Wonder Worker of the First Ecumenical Council. You spoke to the girl in
the grave and turned the serpent to gold. And, when chanting your
prayers, most sacred One, angels ministered with you. Glory to Him who
glorified you; glory to Him who crowned you; glory to Him who, through you, works healing for all.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
Wounded by your love for Christ, O holy One, your mind given wings by the
radiance of the Spirit, you put the practice of theory into deeds,
becoming a sacred altar, O Chosen by God, and praying for the divine
illumination of all.
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