By God’s ineffable goodness, we enter once more into the joyous days of the great feasts of Christ’s Nativity and Theophany. I sincerely greet you all with this world-saving joy!
The Gospel account of the Nativity of Christ is filled with joy and light. In the sky, we see the angelic star, the host of angels appear in glory, hymning the Newborn Saviour, bringing peace on earth, good will toward men.
"No mind or understanding of angels or men is able to comprehend the mystery of Thine unapproachable nativity, O Master; yet do Thou accept our love and faith, O good Master..."
"O Christ our God, Who didst choose the most pure Virgin from among all generations and wast born of her in the flesh, we Thy servants offer hymns of thanksgiving unto Thee."
"One thing alone has remained as unchanging as eternity itself: the gentle yet commanding summons that the world heard from angelic lips two thousand years ago."
By God’s ineffable goodness, we enter once more into the joyous days of the great feasts of Christ’s Nativity and Theophany. I sincerely greet you all with this world-saving joy!
A handwritten gift from the Royal Martyr, H.I.M. Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, to her children's English tutor, Charles Sydney Gibbes, during their exile in Tobolsk, 1917.
By comparison to Great Lent, the Nativity fast may leave us feeling liturgically unmoored. But if we delve into the services of this season, we will find a great wealth of liturgical texts and commemorations that are beautifully and intrinsically tied to the coming birth of our Saviour.