Fr. George Florovsky: "And Ascended into Heaven..."

The Holy Ascension of Christ (source)

  
“AND ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN....”
V. Rev. George Florovsky, D.D.
“I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God, and Your God” (John 20:17). In these words the Risen Christ described to Mary Magdalene the mystery of His Resurrection. She had to carry this mysterious message to His disciples, “as they mourned and wept” (Mark 16:10). The disciples listened to these glad tidings with fear and amazement, with doubt and mistrust. It was not Thomas alone who doubted among the Eleven. On the contrary, it appears that only one of the Eleven did not doubt—Saint John, the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” He alone grasped the mystery of the empty tomb at once: “and he saw, and believed” (John 20:8). Even Peter left the sepulcher in amazement, “wondering at that which was come to pass” (Luke 24:12).  
  
The disciples did not expect the Resurrection. The women did not, either. They were quite certain that Jesus was dead and rested in the grave, and they went to the place “where He was laid,” with the spices they had prepared, “that they might come and anoint Him.” They had but one thought: “Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher for us?” (Mark 16:1-3; Luke 24:1). And therefore, on not finding the body, Mary Magdalene was sorrowful and complained: “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him” (John 20:13). On hearing the good news from the angel, the women fled from the sepulchre in fear and trembling: “Neither said they anything to any man, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). And when they spoke no one believed them, in the same way as no one had believed Mary, who saw the Lord, or the disciples as they walked on their way into the country, (Mark 16:13), and who recognized Him in the breaking of bread. “And afterward He appeared unto the Eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them who had seen Him after He was risen” (Mark 16:10-14).  
  
From whence comes this “hardness of heart” and hesitation? Why were their eyes so “holden,” why were the disciples so much afraid of the news, and why did the Easter joy so slowly, and with such difficulty, enter the Apostles’ hearts? Did not they, who were with Him from the beginning, “from the baptism of John,” see all the signs of power which He performed before the face of the whole people? The lame walked, the blind saw, the dead were raised, and all infirmities were healed. Did they not behold, only a week earlier, how He raised by His word Lazarus from the dead, who had already been in the grave for four days? Why then was it so strange to them that the Master had arisen Himself? How was it that they came to forget that which the Lord used to tell them on many occasions, that after suffering and death He would arise on the third day?  
  
The mystery of the Apostles’ “unbelief” is partly disclosed in the narrative of the Gospel: “But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel,” with disillusionment and complaint said the two disciples to their mysterious Companion on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:21). They meant: He was betrayed, condemned to death and crucified. The news of the Resurrection brought by the women only “astonished” them. They still wait for an earthly triumph, for an exernal victory. The same temptation possesses their hearts, which first prevented them from accepting “the preaching of the Cross” and made them argue every time the Saviour tried to reveal His mystery to them. “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26). It was still difficult to understand this.  
  
He had the power to arise, why did He allow what that had happened to take place at all? Why did He take upon Himself disgrace, blasphemy and wounds? In the eyes of all Jerusalem, amidst the vast crowds assembled for the Great Feast, He was condemned and suffered a shameful death. And now He enters not into the Holy City, neither to the people which beheld His shame and death, nor to the High Priests and elders, nor to Pilate—so that He might make their crime obvious and smite their pride. Instead, He sends His disciples away to remote Galilee and appears to them there. Even much earlier the disciples wondered, “How is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22). Their wonder continues, and even on the day of His glorious Ascension the Apostles question the Lord, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They still did not comprehend the meaning of His Resurrection, they did not understand what it meant that He was “ascending” to the Father. Their eyes were opened but later, when “the promise of the Father” had been fulfilled.   In the Ascension resides the meaning and the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection.  
  
The Lord did not rise in order to return again to the fleshly order of life, so as to live again and commune with the disciples and the multitudes by means of preaching and miracles. Now he does not even stay with them, but only “appears” to them during the forty days, from time to time, and always in a miraculous and mysterious manner. “He was not always with them now, as He was before the Resurrection,” comments Saint John Chrysostom. “He came and again disappeared, thus leading them on to higher conceptions. He no longer permitted them to continue in their former relationship toward Him, but took effectual measures to secure these two objects: That the fact of His Resurrection should be believed, and that He Himself should be ever after apprehended to be greater than man.” There was something new and unusual in His person (cf. John 21:1-14). As Saint John Chrysostom says, “It was not an open presence, but a certain testimony of the fact that He was present.” That is why the disciples were confused and frightened. Christ arose not in the same way as those who were restored to life before Him. Theirs was a resurrection for a time, and they returned to life in the same body, which was subject to death and corruption—returned to the previous mode of life. But Christ arose for ever, unto eternity. He arose in a body of glory, immortal and incorruptible. He arose, never to die, for “He clothed the mortal in the splendor of incorruption.” His glorified Body was already exempt from the fleshly order of existence. “It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (I Cor. 15:42-44). This mysterious transformation of human bodies, of which Saint Paul was speaking in the case of our Lord, had been accomplished in three days. Christ’s work on earth was accomplished. He had suffered, was dead and buried, and now rose to a higher mode of existence. By His Resurrection He abolished and destroyed death, abolished the law of corruption, “and raised with Himself the whole race of Adam.” Christ has risen, and now “no dead are left in the grave” (cf. The Easter Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom). And now He ascends to the Father, yet He does not “go away,” but abides with the faithful for ever (cf. The Kontakion of Ascension). For He raises the very earth with Him to heaven, and even higher than any heaven. God’s power, in the phrase of Saint John Chrysostom, “manifests itself not only in the Resurrection, but in something much stronger.” For “He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19).  
  
And with Christ, man’s nature ascends also.   “We who seemed unworthy of the earth, are now raised to heaven,” says Saint John Chrysostom. “We who were unworthy of earthly dominion have been raised to the Kingdom on high, have ascended higher than heaven, have came to occupy the King’s throne, and the same nature from which the angels guarded Paradise, stopped not until it ascended to the throne of the Lord.” By His Ascension the Lord not only opened to man the entrance to heaven, not only appeared before the face of God on our behalf and for our sake, but likewise “transferred man” to the high places. “He honored them He loved by putting them close to the Father.” God quickened and raised us together with Christ, as Saint Paul says, “and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephes. 2:6). Heaven received the inhabitants of the earth. “The First fruits of them that slept” sits now on high, and in Him all creation is summed up and bound together. “The earth rejoices in mystery, and the heavens are filled with joy.”  
  
“The terrible ascent....” Terror-stricken and trembling stand the angelic hosts, contemplating the Ascension of Christ. And trembling they ask each other, “What is this vision? One who is man in appearance ascends in His body higher than the heavens, as God.”   Thus the Office for the Feast of the Ascension depicts the mystery in a poetical language. As on the day of Christ’s Nativity the earth was astonished on beholding God in the flesh, so now the Heavens do tremble and cry out. “The Lord of Hosts, Who reigns over all, Who is Himself the head of all, Who is preeminent in all things, Who has reinstated creation in its former order—He is the King of Glory.” And the heavenly doors are opened: “Open, Oh heavenly gates, and receive God in the flesh.” It is an open allusion to Psalms 24:7-10, now prophetically interpreted. “Lift up your heads, Oh ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty....” Saint Chrysostom says, “Now the angels have received that for which they have long waited, the archangels see that for which they have long thirsted. They have seen our nature shining on the King’s throne, glistening with glory and eternal beauty.... Therefore they descend in order to see the unusual and marvelous vision: Man appearing in heaven.”  
  
The Ascension is the token of Pentecost, the sign of its coming, “The Lord has ascended to heaven and will send the Comforter to the world”   For the Holy Spirit was not yet in the world, until Jesus was glorified. And the Lord Himself told the disciples, “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you” (John 16:7). The gifts of the Spirit are “gifts of reconciliation,” a seal of an accomplished salvation and of the ultimate reunion of the world with God. And this was accomplished only in the Ascension. “And one saw miracles follow miracles,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “ten days prior to this our nature ascended to the King’s throne, while today the Holy Ghost has descended on to our nature.” The joy of the Ascension lies in the promise of the Spirit. “Thou didst give joy to Thy disciples by a promise of the Holy Spirit.” The victory of Christ is wrought in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.  
  
“On high is His body, here below with us is His Spirit. And so we have His token on high, that is His body, which He received from us, and here below we have His Spirit with us. Heaven received the Holy Body, and the earth accepted the Holy Spirit. Christ came and sent the Spirit. He ascended, and with Him our body ascended also” (Saint John Chrysostom). The revelation of the Holy Trinity was completed. Now the Spirit Comforter is poured forth on all flesh. “Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of good gifts, the heavenly citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God, the being made like to God, and, highest of all, the being made God!” (Saint Basil, On the Holy Spirit, IX). Beginning with the Apostles, and through communion with them—by an unbroken succession—Grace is spread to all believers. Through renewal and glorification in the Ascended Christ, man’s nature became receptive of the spirit. “And unto the world He gives quickening forces through His human body,” says Bishop Theophanes. “He holds it completely in Himself and penetrates it with His strength, out of Himself; and He likewise draws the angels to Himself through the spirit of man, giving them space for action and thus making them blessed.” All this is done through the Church, which is “the Body of Christ;” that is, His “fullness” (Ephesians 1:23). “The Church is the fulfillment of Christ,” continues Bishop Theophanes, “perhaps in the same way as the tree is the fulfillment of the seed. That which is contained in the seed in a contracted form receives its development in the tree.”  
  
The very existence of the Church is the fruit of the Ascension. It is in the Church that man’s nature is truly ascended to the Divine heights. “And gave Him to be Head over all things” (Ephesians 1:22). Saint John Chrysostom comments: “Amazing! Look again, whither He has raised the Church. As though He were lifting it up by some engine, He has raised it up to a vast height, and set it on yonder throne; for where the Head is, there is the body also. There is no interval of separation between the Head and the body; for were there a separation, then would the one no longer be a body, nor would the other any longer be a Head.” The whole race of men is to follow Christ, even in His ultimate exaltation, “to follow in His train.” Within the Church, through an acquisition of the Spirit in the fellowship of Sacraments, the Ascension continues still, and will continue until the measure is full. “Only then shall the Head be filled up, when the body is rendered perfect, when we are knit together and united,” concludes Saint John Chrysostom.   The Ascension is a sign and token of the Second Coming. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).The mystery of God’s Providence will be accomplished in the Return of the Risen Lord. In the fulfillment of time, Christ’s kingly power will be revealed and spread over the whole of faithful mankind. Christ bequeathes the Kingdom to the whole of the faithful. “And I appoint unto you a Kingdom as My Father has appointed unto me. That ye may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:29-30). Those who followed Him faithfully will sit with Him on their thrones on the day of His coming. “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Rev. 3:21). Salvation will be consummated in the Glory. “Conceive to yourself the throne, the royal throne, conceive the immensity of the privilege. This, at least if we chose, might more avail to startle us, yea, even than hell itself” (Saint John Chrysostom).  
  
We should tremble more at the thought of that abundant Glory which is appointed unto the redeemed, than at the thought of the eternal darkness. “Think near Whom Thy Head is seated....” Or rather, Who is the Head. In very truth, “wondrous and terrible is Thy divine ascension from the mountain, O Giver of Life.” A terrible and wondrous height is the King’s throne. In face of this height all flesh stands silent, in awe and trembling. “He has Himself descended to the lowest depths of humiliation, and raised up man to the height of exaltation.”What then should we do? “If thou art the body of Christ, bear the Cross, for He bore it” (Saint John Chrysostom).“With the power of Thy Cross, Oh Christ, establish my thoughts, so that I may sing and glorify Thy saving Ascension.” Originally published in Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly, Vol. 2 # 3, 1954.
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The Ascension of Christ (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"The Ancient of Days becomes a child for me..."

The Meeting of Christ in the Temple (source)

  
The Ancient of Days becomes a child for me, and God Who is the purest, comes for purification, that I might believe in His flesh from the Virgin. And Symeon meditates on this, and, coming to know Him as God Who has been revealed in the flesh, takes hold of his Life, and rejoices, and cries out as a priest: Grant me to depart, for I have seen You, the Life of all.
-Kathisma from the Feast of the Meeting of Christ
  
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Excerpt from the Third Theological Oration of St. Gregory the Theologian

Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior of the world (source)

  
For He Whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. He Who is now Man was once the Uncompounded. What He was He continued to be; what He was not He took to Himself. In the beginning He was, uncaused; for what is the Cause of God? But afterwards for a cause He was born. And that cause was that you might be saved, who insult Him and despise His Godhead, because of this, that He took upon Him your denser nature, having converse with Flesh by means of Mind. While His inferior Nature, the Humanity, became God, because it was united to God, and became One Person because the Higher Nature prevailed in order that I too might be made God so far as He is made Man. He was born — but He had been begotten: He was born of a woman— but she was a Virgin. The first is human, the second Divine. In His Human nature He had no Father, but also in His Divine Nature no Mother. Both these belong to Godhead. He dwelt in the womb — but He was recognized by the Prophet, himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for Whose sake He came into being. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes Luke 2:41 — but He took off the swathing bands of the grave by His rising again. He was laid in a manger— but He was glorified by Angels, and proclaimed by a star, and worshipped by the Magi. Why are you offended by that which is presented to your sight, because you will not look at that which is presented to your mind? He was driven into exile into Egypt— but He drove away the Egyptian idols. He had no form nor comeliness in the eyes of the Jews Isaiah 53:2 — but to David He is fairer than the children of men. And on the Mountain He was bright as the lightning, and became more luminous than the sun, Matthew 17:2 initiating us into the mystery of the future.
XX. He was baptized as Man — but He remitted sins as God — not because He needed purificatory rites Himself, but that He might sanctify the element of water. He was tempted as Man, but He conquered as God; yea, He bids us be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. John 16:33 He hungered — but He fed thousands; yea, He is the Bread that gives life, and That is of heaven. He thirsted — but He cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. Yea, He promised that fountains should flow from them that believe. He was wearied, but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden. Matthew 11:28 He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. He rebuked the winds, He made Peter light as he began to sink. He pays tribute, but it is out of a fish; yea, He is the King of those who demanded it. John 19:19 He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac; — but He saves him that came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves; the demons acknowledge Him, and He drives out demons and sinks in the sea legions of foul spirits, Luke 8:28-33 and sees the Prince of the demons falling like lightning. He is stoned, but is not taken. He prays, but He hears prayer. He weeps, but He causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God. John 11:43 He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; Matthew 26:15 but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood. 1 Peter 1:19 As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, Isaiah 53:7 but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word, and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness. John 1:23 He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity. Isaiah 53:23 He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restores us; yea, He saves even the Robber crucified with Him; Luke 23:43 yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned the water into wine John 2:1-11, who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, who is Sweetness and altogether desire. Song of Songs 5:16 He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again; John 10:18 and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are cleft, the dead arise. Matthew 27:51 He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is buried, but He rises again; He goes down into Hell, but He brings up the souls; He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead, and to put to the test such words as yours. If the one give you a starting point for your error, let the others put an end to it.
-St. Gregory the Theologian, Excerpt from his Third Theological Oration
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St. Gregory the Theologian (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Gregory of Nyssa: "Which faith we guard as we received it, word for word, in purity..."

Christ Pantocrator (source)

  
” …and that we might receive the teaching concerning the transcendent nature of the Deity which is given to us, as it were, ‘through a glass darkly’ from the older Scriptures,—from the Law, and the Prophets, and the Sapiential Books, as an evidence of the truth fully revealed to us, reverently accepting the meaning of the things which have been spoken, so as to accord in the faith set forth by the Lord of the whole Scripture, which faith we guard as we received it, word for word, in purity, without falsification, judging even a slight divergence from the words delivered to us an extreme blasphemy and impiety.”
— St. Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius
  
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista: "What does Christmas mean to us?"

This is a beautiful recording of a Greek talk with English subtitles from Metropolitan Pavlos of Siatista of blessed memory (who reposed almost a year ago exactly, on January 13th, 2019) on the meaning of Christmas and on finding Christ in the feast as the source of our true joy. May he have a blessed Paradise, may we have his blessing, and may our newly-born and baptized Lord save His children! Amen! (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

A New Year's Blessing from Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra

The Adoration of the Magi (source)

  
"My brethren, I wish that the new year will be full of joy and happiness. I wish you many years. Many years, that your joy may increase along with your happiness. Many years that will bring to you and to your families the good things of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, of the Saints. May all good things come to your village, to your city and to your homes. I know that you are a people beloved by God. Many years, therefore, that we might say, as our Megalynarion says: 'Magnify my soul, Basil, the Great one among the Hierarchs', for he gave us an experience of God that has held fast in our lives. You open the heavens, O Basil, and revealer of heavenly things, and reveal to us that God has descended from there and has come among us."
-Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra (+2019)

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St. Basil the Great (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"The Savior, condescending to the race of mankind..."

The Circumcision of Christ (source)

  
The Savior, condescending to the race of mankind, accepted to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and did not refuse the circumcision of His flesh, He Who is eight days old from His Mother, but beginningless from the Father. Let us, O faithful, cry out to Him: You are our God, have mercy on us.
-Idiomelon from the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
  
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The Circumcision of Christ (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Gregory Palamas: "This is the Festival of the virgin birth!"

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

"This is the Festival of the virgin birth! Our address must be exalted therefore in accordance with the greatness of the feast, and enter into the mystery, as far as this is accessible and permissible, and time allows, that something of its inner power might be revealed even to us. Please strive, brethren, to lift up your minds as well, that they may better perceive the light of divine knowledge, as though brightly illuminated by a holy star. For today I see equality of honour between heaven and earth, and a way up for all those below to things above, matching the condescension of those on high. However great the heaven of heavens may be, or the upper waters which form a roof over the celestial regions, or any heavenly place, state or order, they are no more marvellous or honourable than the cave, the manger, the water sprinkled on the infant and His swaddling clothes. For nothing done by God from the beginning of time was more beneficial to all or more divine than Christ’s nativity, which we celebrate today. The pre-eternal and uncircumscribed and almighty Word is now born according to the flesh, without home, without shelter, without dwelling, and placed as a babe in the manger, seen by men’s eyes, touched by their hands, and wrapped in layers of swaddling bands. He is not a spiritual creature coming into being after previously not existing; nor flesh which is brought to birth but will soon perish; nor flesh and mind united to form a rational creature, but God and flesh mingled unconfusedly by the divine Mind to form the existence of one theandric hypostasis, who entered the Virgin’s womb for a time. By the good pleasure of the Father an the co-operation of the Spirit, the Word who transcends being came into being in this womb and by means of it, and now He is delivered from it and born as an infant, not loosing but preserving the signs of virginity. He is born without suffering, as He was conceived without passion, for as His mother was shown to be above the pleasure of passion when she conceived, so she is above grievous pains when she gives birth. “Before the pain of travail came upon her, she escaped it” as Isaiah says (Isaiah 66.7 LXX), and she brought forth in the flesh the pre-eternal Word. Not only is His divinity inscrutable, but the manner in which He was united with the flesh is past understanding, His condescension unsurpassable, and the human nature He assumed divinely, ineffably sublime, and so far above all thought and speech, that it does not admit of any comparison with creation. Even though you see in the flesh the child born to the Maid who knew no husband, He is still beyond compare. It says, “He is fair in beauty beside the sons of men” (Psalm 45.2 LXX). It does not say “fairer” but simply “fair”, so as not to compare incomparable things: the nature of God Himself to that of mere men..."
-Excerpt from the Homily on the Nativity of Christ by St. Gregory Palamas

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The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"Come, let us rejoice in the Lord as we relate this present mystery..."

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The Nativity of Christ (source)

  
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord as we relate this present mystery: the middle wall of partition has been dissolved, the flaming sword has been turned back, and the Cherubim depart from the tree of life, and I partake of the nourishment of Paradise, which I was deprived of due to disobedience. For the unchangeable icon of the Father, the character of His infinity, takes on the form of a servant, coming forth from the unwed Mother, without suffering loss. For that which He was, He has remained, being truly God, and that which He was not, He has taken on, becoming man out of love for mankind. Let us cry out to Him: O You Who were born of a Virgin, O God, have mercy on us.
-Idiomelon from the Stichera for the Nativity of Christ

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The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son..."

The Prophet Isaiah prophesying of the Nativity of Christ from the Most-Holy Theotokos (source)

  
And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying,  Ask for thyself a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height.  And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.  And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do ye contend against the Lord?  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.  Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil or choose the good.  For before the child shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which thou art afraid of because of the two kings.And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a volume of a great new book, and write in it with a man's pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.  And make me witnesses of faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.  And I went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.  For before the child shall know how to call his father or his mother, one shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. and he shall take away from Juda every man who shall be able to lift up his head, and every one able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall fill the breadth of thy land, O God with us. Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered. And whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us.
-Isaiah 7:10-16, 8:1-4, 8-10, read at Great Vespers for the Nativity of Christ
  
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The Prophet Isaiah prophesying of the Nativity of Christ from the Most-Holy Theotokos (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given..."

Icon of Christ "The Angel of Great Counsel" (source)

  
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
-Isaiah 9:6-7, read at Great Vespers for the Nativity of Christ
  
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Christ "The Angel of Great Counsel" (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"God loves us more than a father..."

The Nativity of Christ (source)

   
God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.
+ St. John Chrysostom

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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"Today is the prelude of universal joy..."

The Nativity of the Theotokos (source)

  
Today is the prelude of universal joy. Today blows the breeze foretelling salvation, for the barrenness of our nature is dissolved, as the barren [Anna] is shown to be a mother of her who will remain a Virgin after giving birth to her Creator. From [the Theotokos], God, Who is foreign to nature, will come to dwell within, working salvation for the deluded through the flesh, Christ, the Lover-of-man, and the Redeemer of our souls.
-Idiomelon of the Stichera from the Nativity of the Theotokos

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The Nativity of the Theotokos (source)

  

Most-holy Theotokos, save us!

Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes on the Miracle of St. Euphemia

St. Euphemia the Great Martyr and All-praised (source)

  
Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes on the Miracle of St. Euphemia
Today, my brethren, the Church honors the holy Great Martyr Euphemia. Her memory of course is honored in September. One is astonished at how she struggled against Diocletian, against the idolaters. One is astonished at how she was martyred. Her struggles do not end there, however. Years later, she made another struggle and again was victorious. She worked a great wonder, and that is what we honor today.

My beloved, 170 years passed from the martyrdom of St. Euphemia. The persecutions had largely ceased. The Church however was then found in a dogmatic struggle, which led to the recording of her teaching. The great issue which the faithful were facing during that period was the teaching on the God-man person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church preached that Christ is God and man. But many, and even today, do not want to understand this. They receive Christ like a poet, like a philosopher, like a community-organizer, like a rebel. They lift Him up very high, but they do not want to confess that Christ is God. This therefore exactly is the dogma of the Godhead of Christ which the Church preaches, and is the rock of scandal around which our Holy Fathers fought great battles.

Against this dogma appeared three great beasts, three great heretics, who wanted to shake this truth. The first was Arias, who did not accept the Godhead of Christ and said, that there was a time when Christ did not exist, and that Christ was not God. Afterwards appeared another heretic, Nestorius, did not accept the union of the Godhead and humanity, and sharply divided the humanity and the Godhead. And later appeared Eutyches, who was an archimandrite and an abbot of a monastery. He preached that the divine nature of Christ swallowed up the human, that within Christ there was only the Godhead, and that the Body of Christ was different from our own. This was a blasphemy, which diminished the God-man person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  

St. Euphemia the Great Martyr and All-praised (source)

  
I am tiring you a bit, but you will see that the new heresies as well which are appearing now with great conquests in the world, if we analyze them, we will see that within them is Arias, Nestorius and Eutyches, and every ancient heretic.

Against the heresy of Eutyches the Fathers struggled. In Chalcedon, where there was the magnificent Church of St. Euphemia, during the reign of Pulcheria the Empress, the Fourth Ecumenical Council gathered. There gathered 630 Holy Fathers, whose memory we honor every year during the month of July on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers. There was recorded the dogma of the two natures of Jesus Christ. There, the Fathers put forward the healthy teaching and condemned the phronema of delusion. What did they say? I will give you an example, which St. Cyril of Alexandra offered, who was one of the defenders of Orthodox dogma.

If one takes a piece of iron and places it in the furnace, you will see that it becomes totally red. But even though the iron is united with the flames, it does not cease to be iron. The black has simply become red. And the fire, however, even though it is united with the iron, and cannot be separated from it, despite this, it does not cease to be fire. In this way somewhat, my beloved, is the person of Christ. The iron is the human nature, the fire is the Godhead. The two are united, and thus Christ appeared as the God-man. The natural is united with the spirit, the man is mystically united with God.

My brethren, I do not wish to tire you with dogmatic homilies. It would be good for the preacher to speak about dogmas, in order to analyze the Symbol of our Father. But unfortunately, our Christians desire easy foods, and they have need of the alphabet of our faith.

I will return to our topic therefore and say: In Chalcedon there were two groups. The one was of St. Cyril the Patriarch of Alexandria together with the Orthodox, and the other with the heretic Eutyches. The very faithful and simple people could not understand these meanings. They were confused and their faith was endangered. Then, the difference of this faith was solved by St. Euphemia. How?

In that place was preserved the Holy Relic of St. Euphemia. 170 years it rested in her Church in Chalcedon. The two groups, therefore, agreed to write their teachings into two books, one with the ideas of the Orthodox and the other of the heretics. The two books were placed within the reliquary which held her Holy Relic, upon her holy chest. Then, they proceeded to prayer and vigil for three days and nights together with all of the people of Chalcedon with fasting. They entreated St. Euphemia to respond. Clerics of the two groups guarded the Holy Relic as well. And when the third day came, they opened the reliquary, and then they saw the wonder. The book of the heretics was below the Saint's feet, and the book of the Orthodox was in her hands upon her chest, above the Saint's heart! Thus, wondrously, she showed that the faith of the Orthodox is true.

But what thing is this? What are you saying now? Those things are only from books...

St. Euphemia the Great Martyr and All-praised (source)

  
Books? Here it is written. The apolytikion of the Saint says: "You greatly gladdened the Orthodox, and deposed those of evil faith, and with this wonder you confirmed what the Fathers of the Fourth Synod dogmatized well", you sealed what the Holy Fathers said with wisdom.

Thus this miracle confirms our Holy Church and this is described in the Saint's apolytikion. I do not know what will occur. At least I will never become a modern preacher and theologian. I will continue to believe and I will not teach anything other than that which our Holy Church teaches. If you do not believe and do not receive the teaching of the Church, I will keep the things of our homeland together with all of the faithful and we will believe the lives of the Saints, their miracles, their Holy Relics, and [take refuge] in the shadows of the Saints and in their memories.

I will say two more words and close. Unfortunately, this heresy of monophysitism (thus it is named the heresy of Eutyches which the Church condemns to this day), has not been abandoned totally. A relic of this great heresy which shook the ship of the Church exists to this day. And there are around 15 million Armenians, Abyssinians, and Copts of Egypt [i.e. the Oriental orthodox]. They have even their own patriarchates. They not receive the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod and why were they cut off from the Church. All of the rest until the Fourth Ecumenical Council...they accept, and they also are a martyred nation. Among these there is one difference only. They agree with everything until then, but from then on they cease. And to this day, they do not wish to accept the Fourth and the other Ecumenical Synods. Behold our disagreement.

Therefore, this day brings to our mind the Copts of Egypt, the Armenians and the Abyssinians. And I will greatly entreat today, that it is the memory of St. Euphemia, who wondrously confirmed the Fourth Ecumenical Synod, that we all might pray that the Saint might work another great wonder, that they all might return to Orthodoxy and agree on the tome of the Orthodox dogma, that they might come to agree with our Holy Church, in a manner that they might not be separated from their noble nations--for they are truly noble nations--and that we might pray to God "on behalf of the union of all". It is our holy duty, to try to bring these nations, who fled due to the heresy of Eutyches, to return to the bosom of our Holy and Great Mother Church.
  
(+) Bishop Avgoustinos.

Recorded from a homily that occurred in the Holy Church of St. Euphemia, New Chalcedon, Athens, on 7/10/1960 during the festal Great Vespers of the Saint.

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St. Euphemia the Great Martyr and All-praised (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh..."

The Great Feast of Pentecost (source)

  

Rejoice then and be glad, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and that there is none else beside me; and my people shall no more be ashamed for ever. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit. And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

-Joel 2:23-32, Read at the Great Vespers for the Feast of Pentecost

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The Holy Prophet Joel, holding a scroll with his famous prophecy: "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh..." (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"The Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds..."

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" The Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds..." (Job 38:1)

  

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"When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice." (Job 38:7)

  

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"And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;  to rain upon the land where no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited , and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs? Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew? And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky, which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?" (Job 38:25-30)

  

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"And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven to the earth?" (Job 38:37)

    

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   "And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee?"

(Job 38: 17)

  

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"I have heard the report of thee by the ear before; but now mine eye has seen thee. Wherefore I have counted myself vile, and have fainted: and I esteem myself dust and ashes." (Job 42:5)

  

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"They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me." (Job 19:19)

  

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"And they stood aloof and abhorred me, and spared not to spit in my face...They have risen up against on the right hand of offspring; they have stretched out their foot, and directed against me the ways of their destruction. My paths are ruined; for they have stripped off my raiment..." (Job 30:10-13)

  

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"Who will tell him his way to his face, whereas he has done ? who shall recompense him? And he has been led away to the tombs..." (Job 21:28-32)

  

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"Where then is yet my hope? or shall I see my good? Will they go down with me to Hades, or shall we go down together to the tomb?" (Job 17:15-16)

  

"For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me, to raise up upon the earth my skin that which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in bosom." (Job 19:25-27)

  

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"And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job, than the beginning...And Job died, an old man and full of days: and it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up." (Job 42: 12, 17)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

"The Ancient of Days, Who formerly granted the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai..."

Detail from the icon of the Presentation of Christ to the Temple (source)

  
The Ancient of Days, Who formerly granted the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, today is seen as an infant, and according to the Law, as the Creator of the Law fulfills the Law, being brought into the Temple and is given to the Priest. The Righteous Symeon receiving Him, and beholding the dissolving of bonds being performed, cries out joyfully: My eyes have seen the Mystery hidden from before the ages, but which has been revealed to us in these latter days, the Light that disperses the darkness of the faithless nations, and the glory of the new Israel. Therefore, let your servant depart from the bonds of this flesh towards the heavenly and wondrous eternal life, You Who grant the world the great mercy.
-Idiomelon from the Litia of Vespers for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ to the Temple
  
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Ephraim the Syrian on Christ's Divine and Human Natures

Jesus Christ Emmanuel (source)

  
The facts themselves bear witness and his divine acts of power teach those who doubt that he is true God, and his sufferings show that he is true man. And if those who are feeble in understanding are not fully assured, they will pay the penalty on his dread day.
If he was not flesh, why was Mary introduced at all? And if he was not God, whom was Gabriel calling Lord?
If he was not flesh, who was lying in the manger? And if he was not God, whom did the Angels come down and glorify?
If he was not flesh, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes? And if he was not God, whom did the shepherds worship?
If he was not flesh, whom did Joseph circumcise? And if he was not God, in whose honour did the star speed through the heavens?
If he was not flesh, whom did Mary suckle? And if he was not God, to whom did the Magi offer gifts?
If he was not flesh, whom did Symeon carry in his arms? And if he was not God, to whom did he say, “Let me depart in peace”?
If he was not flesh, whom did Joseph take and flee into Egypt? And if he was not God, in whom were words “Out of Egypt I have called my Son” fulfilled?
If he was not flesh, whom did John baptise? And if he was not God, to whom did the Father from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased”?
If he was not flesh, who fasted and hungered in the desert? And if he was not God, whom did the Angels come down and serve?
If he was not flesh, who was invited to the wedding in Cana of Galilee? And if he was not God, who turned the water into wine?
If he was not flesh, in whose hands were the loaves? And if he was not God, who satisfied crowds and thousands in the desert, not counting women and children, from five loaves and two fishes?
If he was not flesh, who fell asleep in the boat? And if he was not God, who rebuked the winds and the sea?
If he was not flesh, with whom did Simon the Pharisee eat? And if he was not God, who pardoned the offences of the sinful woman?
If he was not flesh, who sat by the well, worn out by the journey? And if he was not God, who gave living water to the woman of Samaria and reprehended her because she had had five husbands?
If he was not flesh, who wore human garments? And if he was not God, who did acts of power and wonders?
If he was not flesh, who spat on the ground and made clay? And if he was not God, who through the clay compelled the eyes to see?
If he was not flesh, who wept at Lazarus’ grave? And if he was not God, who by his command brought out one four days dead?
If he was not flesh, who sat on the foal? And if he was not God, whom did the crowds go out to meet with glory?
If he was not flesh, whom did the Jews arrest? And if he was not God, who gave an order to the earth and threw them onto their faces.
If he was not flesh, who was struck with a blow? And if he was not God, who cured the ear that had been cut off by Peter and restored it to its place?
If he was not flesh, who received spittings on his face? And if he was not God, who breathed the Holy Spirit into the faces of his Apostles?
If he was not flesh, who stood before Pilate at the judgement seat? And if he was not God, who made Pilate’s wife afraid by a dream?
If he was not flesh, whose garments did the soldiers strip off and divide? And if he was not God, how was the sun darkened at the cross?
If he was not flesh, who was hung on the cross? And if he was not God, who shook the earth from its foundations?
If he was not flesh, whose hands and feet were transfixed by nails? And if he was not God, how was the veil of the temple rent, the rocks broken and the graves opened?
If he was not flesh, who cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me”? And if he was not God, who said “Father, forgive them”?
If he was not flesh, who was hung on a cross with the thieves? And if he was not God, how did he say to the thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”?
If he was not flesh, to whom did they offer vinegar and gall? And if he was not God, on hearing whose voice did Hades tremble?
If he was not flesh, whose side did the lance pierce, and blood and water came out?And if he was not God, who smashed to gates of Hades and tear apart it bonds? And at whose command did the imprisoned dead come out?
If he was not flesh, whom did the Apostles see in the upper room? And if he was not God, how did he enter when the doors were shut?
If he was not flesh, the marks of the nails and the lance in whose hands and side did Thomas handle? And if he was not God, to whom did he cry out, “My Lord and my God”?
If he was not flesh, who ate by the sea of Tiberias? And if he was not God, at whose command was the net filled?
If he was not flesh, whom did the Apostles and Angels see being taken up into heaven? And if he was not God, to whom was heaven opened, whom did the Powers worship in fear and whom did the Father invite to “Sit at my right hand”. As David said, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, etc.”
If he was not God and man, our salvation is a lie, and the words of the Prophets are lies.  But the Prophets spoke the truth, and their testimonies were not lies. The Holy Spirit spoke through them what they had been commanded.
+ St. Ephrem the Syrian, Excerpt from the Sermon on Transfiguration
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Jesus Christ Emmanuel (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!