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Every male Jewish baby was to be circumcized on the eighth day of his life, in accordance with the Mosaic Law. Circumcision was a sign of his belonging to the God's chosen people. Our Lord Jesus Christ went through that ritual, too, For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18). The Lord came not to break the Law but to fulfill it because He is the Lawmaker. It was him that Moses concluded the Covenant on Mt. Sinai with.

The Church of Christ hailed the Lord for his wise stewardship and utmost condescension to us with unparalleled beauty and theological depth. The Bride of the Lamb conveys the immense experience of prayerful contemplation and spiritual insight, which inspired her best sons. Let's quote some of such spiritual insights and be amazed at the bountiful wisdom of God, which enlightened the hearts and minds of the greatest Orthodox authors.

The all-good God was not ashamed to be circumcized. He gave himself as the image and example for the salvation of all: for the Lawmaker submits to the law and the prophecies of the prophets. O Lord who holds everything in his hand and is swaddled in cloth, glory to You!

This wonderful sticheron by a monk named John is sung during the Vespers of the holiday. The holy father aptly underlines God's goodness and the fact that He wasn't ashamed of this ritual but performed it for the sake of our salvation, as ancient prophets had foretold. The book of Psalms contains the following words, Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart (Ps. 40:7-8). God came to earth and although He holds all universe firmly in his hand, He willed to be born as a small and vulnerable baby, wrapped in cloth.

Not as a God-opposer but as the performer of the Law, the incarnated Christ appeared and voluntarily submitted himself to circumcision on the eighth day.

This troparion of Ode 3 of the feast canon stresses a very important fact of the Christian faith, which was frequently doubted both in ancient times and nowadays. The Lord goes through circumcision, which means that He doesn't oppose Old Testament regulations. He does not oppose the God of the Old Testament: in fact, He came to accomplish his Father's will. We often hear, “The God of the Old Testament is bitter and angry, while in the New Testament God is gentle and merciful, and therefore they are two different gods.” We can't agree with that because the entire Old Testament preaches the imminent coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. I and my Father are one, said Jesus. Moreover, according to the Christian revelation, the God of Old Testament spoke with the forefathers and prophets via his Son, his divine Logos.

The Master is circumcized on the eighth day as a baby and adopts the name of Jesus, for He is the Savior of the world and its Lord.

The Lord takes the name ‘Jesus’ which means ‘God saves’. The Church instructs parents of newborn babies to name them on the eighth day of their lives, the day when the Lord was circumcized. What is the connection between the name of God and naming of a baby on the eighth day? The answer lies in the prayers from the Book of Needs. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann explains the meaning of the Sacrament of Baptism and related rites and points out that the eternal life, the overabundant life consists of knowing the Name of God and glorifying it with one's entire life. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:3). It is for the sake of this life that we get a name on the eighth day, the day that symbolizes eternity and plenitude, which means that our names and our personalities must be sanctified by the Name of God and lit up by the knowledge of God and his will. That's why the Lord came into this world and willingly submitted himself to circumcision and swaddling. Let's praise his holy Name and do everything we can to please God.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

The issue of the time of the birth of Christ has been addressed by many people in the past, both scholars and theologians, so what I intend to do here is present an overview trying to bring some clarity to the topic for those who are really concerned that the 25^th of December may not be the correct time to celebrate Christmas.

Let me start by saying that there are two pieces of evidence, which people present in support of the position that Christ was not born in December:

The first one is the verse from the Gospel of Luke, “And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8) The argument from this is that December is too cold for shepherds to be in the field watching over their flocks! Hence, the proponents of this theory claim that Jesus had to be born in the spring. I read recently on an online website a second claim based on the same reason, which suggests that Jesus was probably born in the fall, before it got cold. I am sure that someone out there must have also claimed that Jesus was born in the summer, instead!

At first sight, any one of these times claimed by the different theorists may seem reasonable, but without more historical evidence they are just claims, because you cannot rule out the possibility that some shepherds could have been there watching over their flocks by night in the area of Bethlehem even in December. Shepherds had summer pens and then moved their sheep into the caves of the area during the winter. The sheep were not grazing in the field by night. The shepherds were just guarding their flocks; perhaps taking turns overnight, as the sheep were in their pens in the nearby caves. Although the weather in these parts of the world can be cold in December, it can also be warm enough for the shepherds to still take their flocks out during the day, but bring them back inside the caves at night where it is much warmer than in their summer pens – a practice prevalent in some places the Middle East even until today.

The second piece of evidence, which the proponents of an alternate time for Christmas present, is the fact that the ancient pagans celebrated on December 25 the birth of the God Sun. As a follow-up syllogism, they conclude that Christians adopted December 25 to cover up the pagan feast, ignoring the historical date of his birth. It is, in fact true that many pagan feasts were Christianized during the fourth century and subsequently, which makes this a reasonable claim. Still, this is no proof that the birth of Christ did not take place at some time in December, even if it was not exactly on December 25, and even if the Christians intentionally overlaid the birth of Christ over the pagan feast.

As we look for more evidence, we discover that the feast of Christmas was first celebrated at the beginning of the fourth century, first in Rome (in 336 AD) and subsequently in the Eastern parts of the Empire by the end of the fourth century, where we find a sermon by St. John Chrysostom explaining why celebrating Christmas in December and especially on December 25 is appropriate and has historical proof in the events of the New Testament.

St. Chrysostom, preaching at the end of the fourth century in Antioch, about ten years after the feast of Christmas was established in the East (as he himself informs us), offers a contemporary account of the reasoning behind the choice of December 25 as the day for celebrating the birth of Christ. He is addressing people who disputed the necessity of the feast (as an innovation) and also the time of its celebration.

He does not mention the effort to remove from the Roman calendar the pagan worship of the Sun, but lays out a very distinct biblical explanation. He starts with the time of the Census as mentioned in Luke 2:1-7 and points out that this was the first Census, which happened when Quirinius was governor of Syria. He also points out that whoever wants to know the exact time of the Census can freely search the ancient codices, which are kept in the public libraries of Rome, hinting that the time of the birth of Christ is easily verifiable from the public records. Chrysostom was a trained lawyer of the time with personal knowledge of government records.

He then continues his argument from a biblical perspective, explaining the Jewish tradition of the censing of the Temple in Jerusalem by the high priest, who would enter the Holy of Holies only once a year (Hebrews 9:7; Lev 16:29-34) during the Feast of Tabernacles in September. He points to the Gospel of Luke 1:8-15, when Zacharias was selected to enter the Holy of Holies to offer incense (perhaps there was no high priest that year and the group of Levites, who were on duty at the time selected by lot, according to tradition, the priest who would make the offering in the place of the high priest).

Zacharias entered the Holy of Holies to offer incense and there he had a vision of an angel of the Lord who announced to him the birth of his son, whom he was to call John. Soon after that, Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant.

Continuing with the biblical narrative, Chrysostom points out that six months later, the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and announces to her that she will bear the Son of God and also reveals to her that her cousin Elizabeth is already in her sixth month of pregnancy (Luke 1:30-37).

Chrysostom concludes that, Elizabeth became pregnant in the latter part of September (after the Feast of Tabernacles) and the Virgin Mary became pregnant six months later in the latter part of March. If we count nine months from that time we end up at the latter part of December, which is the time when Jesus was born. Hence, the celebration of Christmas on December 25 is justified.

The fact is that we do not know the exact day of Christ’s birth, but the Christians of the fourth century had calculated the time of his birth and concluded with December as the month. They were much closer to the original event and much closer to the people who had experienced it than any person of today. Their decision was biblically and historically based and it has to be closer to the real day than any modern guess.

It is possible, however, that the decision to establish the celebration of Christmas on December 25 and not on the 20^th or the 24^th, or whatever date would have been the real date of the birth of Christ, was intentional, aimed at quashing the pagan feast of the God Sun – although Chrysostom is silent about it in his Homily. It is indeed possible that the Christians sought to substitute the celebration of the birth of the God Sun with the birth of the Son of God. This seems to have become one more victory for them against the dwindling pagan religion that worshiped the creation rather than the Creator. They were comfortable that the season of his birth was the right one and December 25 seemed perfect to them.

Hence, for those who have been worried that they might be celebrating Christmas at the wrong time, please enjoy the joyful feast and find comfort in the fact that the Early Christians knew what they were doing when they decided that December 25 it is.

By Archpriest Panayiotis Papageorgiou, Ph.D.

Source: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2015/12/was-christ-really-born-on-december-25/

“They look at me as a traitor to the cause of feminism, all because I choose to work willingly for the people who love me, rather than to work for money for people who don't. Well, those gals can all fight it out among themselves. I reject the feminist paradigm.”

Editor's note: Debates normally present the impassioned views of people on both sides of a given subject. But in most cases, a third group of people is left without a voice: What about those people who don't want to participate in the debate? What are these people thinking, and why? For this article, we sought the perspective of Susan Blazek, a faithful Orthodox Christian wife and mother of seven, who is well educated, and who generally doesn't bother with debating or blogging. We asked her to emerge from her domestic paradise for just a few minutes, so she could write this article and share her sane and peaceful perspective with others.

Several recent articles and comment threads regarding feminism, Orthodoxy, and the modern mindset have led me to ponder this one question: can I just be quiet?

I attended an academically rigorous Catholic all-girls high school in the 80s, and feminism was in the very air we breathed. We were encouraged to try to “have it all,” to forge new ground for women, and not to worry about things like marriage or family. “We could do better,” we were all told. Career and achievement were viewed as the highest goal. As the valedictorian, I was expected to lead the charge, to do something great, to make a difference. Looking back 28 years later, I like to think I have indeed made a difference — but in a completely opposite way from what was expected.

Fast forward to today: my husband and I have 7 children, and we homeschool. Our lives center around our Orthodox church, the liturgical cycle, educating our kids, and helping to care for our aging parents. My day is filled with a mixture of laundry, Curious George, the Prologue of Ohrid, geometry proofs, and proofing bread dough. It's busy and crazy, and also deeply soul-nourishing. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Except possibly in one way: Am I allowed to just be quiet? In Facebook discussions and the blog-o-sphere, everyone is clamoring to make themselves heard, to express their opinion and to say their piece. To have the last word and to definitively speak out. Feminism would dictate that I participate in this fray; that I be strident and out-spoken, upholding the Female Voice, and never backing down. However, I often want to choose a different path: that of just not arguing. It doesn't mean that I lack an active interior life, or that 10 pregnancies have turned my brain into Mommy Mush; I just don't feel the need to be strident anymore.

Some people accuse me of "wasting my education." They look at me as a traitor to the cause of feminism, all because I choose to work willingly for the people who love me, rather than to work for money for people who don't. Well, those gals can all fight it out among themselves. I reject the feminist paradigm. I'll take my quiet Orthodox life any day over what the world has to offer.

The world is not entitled to know, nor indeed does it benefit from knowing, my every thought on every subject. Especially as I grow in Orthodoxy, I think about saints who stayed silent in the face of accusation, who withdrew into silence and meditation, who stayed so humble and peace-seeking that they would even flee from visitors. There's no need to argue anymore with strangers on the Internet. I just want to be small and still.

The world doesn't want me to be small. It wants me, as a woman, to seek to enlarge my sphere of influence, to argue and strive and add to the clamor.

But as an Orthodox wife and mother, I just want to lead a quiet life. I want to focus on my soul, my marriage, my family, my home, my church, and my church family. A quiet corner, a patch of green garden, an icon corner to pray before, an apron to wipe my flour-covered hands on, and a rocker in which to read great books to my children: that's all I need. That's about it. A quiet life. That's enough for me. Why can't it be enough for the rest of the world?

By Susan Blazek

Source: https://russian-faith.com/family-values/quiet-life-quiet-wife-n1667

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be

little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee

shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in

Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old,

from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

There was something strange going on in Palestine 2,000 years ago. Did people realize that they happened to be alive in the greatest days of human history? Did the wind of change blow in the air? What kind of wind was it? Was it a great and strong wind that rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord (1 Kings 19:11) or a still small voice (Ibid.) that spoke to Prophet Elijah? God’s chosen people might have had less than perfect understanding of the universal significance of what was going on but they still felt that something was going to change in the godless world after the birth of John, the son of Zacharias.

Unpleasant and scary news was coming out of Rome, the capital city of all the Mediterranean. Emperor Augustus decided to perform a general census to learn how many people there were in the Empire and to be able to tax them properly. Did the Princeps, the emperor of the vast Pax Romana that spread from Gallia to Armenia and from Germany to the sands of the Sahara, know that he was merely a tool in the hands of the inscrutable Divine Providence and that the Lord would use that census to fulfil a prophecy of Prophet Micah who had lived 700 years prior to these events? Could he ever know that a carpenter from Nazareth would soon establish a New Eternal Kingdom, which is not of this world?

Virgin Mary and her betrothed husband Joseph, who was of Davidic descent, lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. When the Caesar’s decree on census was announced, everyone was to return to their native towns and villages to submit their names to census lists according to their tribal affiliation. Joseph belonged to the tribe of Judah and the House of David, so he had to take the pregnant Virgin Mary with him on the difficult and dangerous journey from Nazareth through Samaria, which was hostile towards the Jews, the noisy Jerusalem, and get to Bethlehem where his ancestors had lived.

That righteous man had to face so many troubles and worries! He endured so much on their road to Bethlehem! Perhaps, he compared his trip to Bethlehem to the Exodus of Jews from Egypt. The Jews escaped slave labor in Egypt and went to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey—the land where they could finally find peace and freedom.

If we read the Holy Scripture with love and attention, we may find similarities between the great Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the journey of the Holy Family from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the hometown of the great King David. Let’s appreciate the beauty, depth, and immense breadth of the Scripture.

Israel was an Old Testament family that left the pagan Egypt and went into the Promised Land, led by Prophet Moses. The Holy Family of the New Testament, which was the seed of the new Christian nation, led by the Righteous Joseph, leaves the pagan land of Galilee (at least, that was how Prophet Isaiah had called it) and went through an unfriendly land to Bethlehem, which was a sacred place for every Jew. The ancient Israelites entered the Promised Land with the Ark of the Covenant, and the cloud of God’s glory covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning (Cf. Numbers 9:15). This time, Virgin Mary was the living Ark of the Covenant carefully guarded by Saint Joseph, and they were protected and guided by the Eternal Word of God who had previously led the Jews out of Egypt and remained in the womb of the Most Holy Ever-Virgin for nine months. The Jews entered the land, which was flowing with milk and honey, but the local tribes didn’t want to receive the alien people in their lands; likewise, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus could not find room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7), because people who had come for the census before them occupied all rooms in the local inns. Ancient Jews and the Most Pure Virgin with the Noble Joseph had to fulfil God’s will and go through all hardships that they’d meet on their way in order to make the Divine Plan of our salvation come true.

That was how God, willing to save every person who comes into this world, was guiding and teaching the Israeli people to be patient in spite of many sorrows that befell them so that they could finally be able to give God the greatest level of holiness that human race is capable of: that of the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Her humility and obedience will be greater than that of all greatest prophets. She will become a Temple that is more magnificent than the Temple of Solomon.

What does the Lord want to tell us with this passage? The Lord calls us to get on the road leading towards holiness and salvation. We must get out of Egypt and stop being the devil’s slaves; we must leave the worldly sea of Nazareth and walk to Bethlehem, to the Promised Land, overcoming all external and internal hardships by humility and faith, and take our families along. Bethlehem means “House of Bread” in Hebrew (בית לחם). It was here in this House of Bread that the Bread of Life that descends from the Heaven was to be born, according to Micah’s prophecy. The Lord says, I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:48-51). Let us hearken to the Savior’s call and go to Bethlehem, to the Lord’s Church—that real House of Bread where all who thirst and hunger after righteousness can receive that Bread, which is always eaten but never consumed, the bread that sanctifies those who partake of it.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds, 2018

See full Nativity infographics here.

Dear friends! The Catalog of Good Deeds team starts a new series of personal stories devoted to the Feast of the Nativity. Our brothers and sisters are going to share with you some of their brightest Christmas memories from their childhood and explain how that influenced their own perception of this Great Feast.

You can also tell us about your own memories. Join us on Facebook to learn more.

In my soviet childhood, there was only one subtle hint of Christmas: in our family, the Christmas tree was always decorated right the day before December 25 and was standing in the room till January 8. That’s it. No more signs of the feast at all. It was the period of the 1970s, when the authorities in our country were fighting a war against “religious datura”. Shortly before my birth, the leader of our country claimed that soon he would show us all “the last priestling” on TV. The only small church in our city, where only 36,000 people lived, was open on Sundays and Great Feasts. However, only old women could come there with impunity. There were special people’s patrols, and on feast days even police patrols, that served near the church. Their aim was to ensure that younger people do not enter the church. Priest were forbidden to preach, there was no spiritual literature, while the faithful people were suffering from ostracism. So much for Christmas celebrations…

Anti-Christmas demonstration for Children. Banners say: "Parents! Stop confusing us! No Christmas, no Christmas trees!" and "Children must be educated by teachers, not God"

The wonderful feast of Christ's Nativity entered my life much later, when the Soviet Union collapsed, when the dangerous and hungry 1990s were lived through and when people could finally get their lives in a quiet and predictable order. Even my own son was already grown-up by that time.

That was the year when I finally believed, when I found my faith. Just at once. That year, the Feast of Nativity was really breathtaking for me. It entered my life with bright and clear happiness caused by my own understanding of God’s limitless trust towards us people – the trust of God, Who came to this world as a helpless infant and became as much vulnerable as we are. And with the understanding that I personally cannot betray this trust any more. My whole life changed completely and I hope these changes are forever.

By Sister Irina (Karpovich),

a Sister of Mercy, a member of the Catalog of Good Deeds team

More stories will come! Join our group on Facebook to share your childhood memories about Christmas with others and get a chance to receive one of our handmade gifts.

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