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ON THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of a great joy which comes to all people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

This day is a day of “great joy,” because it is the fulfillment of all those wishes offered for a “Merry Christmas!” Right? This IS a merry day, it IS a happy day, this IS a thrilling day, not because of the food, or the presents, or the family and friends, although these all contribute to it. No, this day is merry because the Lord God Himself descended from Heaven to be born on earth for us men, and for our salvation!
What Orthodox Christian can greet this day with a feeling of coldness? Who will not rejoice deep in his soul, hearing that “a Saviour is born today, who is Christ the Lord?” It is for this reason that one of the Church hymns sung so joyously today, says: “Let Heaven and earth rejoice today… let Angels and men exult . . . the whole creation dances because the Saviour and Lord is born in Bethlehem!”

But while radiantly rejoicing today, brothers and sisters, let’s not forget that this day is also one of a great Divine mystery—as the Apostle says to Timothy: “A most devout mystery—God has appeared in Flesh” (I Timothy 3:16). This mystery is incomprehensible to our mind, it is comprehended only by faith. That which has no beginning—begins. The Eternal Spirit receives a beginning in the flesh. The Almighty God humbles Himself to take the form of a human slave, for He “took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).
St. John Chrysostom, in his homily on the Nativity of Christ, says this “Imagine to yourselves that the Sun had humbled itself and descended to the earth - not burning it, and not destroying it, but warming, lighting, and vivifying it! So it is that the Eternal Sun of Righteousness—Christ the Lord—descends to this tiny earth, to us, infirm creatures, who are weak and sinful, in order to enlighten, vivify, and save us!”

This greatest miracle of Divine Love brought God to earth. Love performed this great miracle. “For God so loved the world (that’s US!), that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: l6).

How shall we respond, beloved brothers and sisters, to this immeasurable Divine love? Love ought to be answered with love. May our love be demonstrated in our hymns and carols to the new-born God¬-Child! May it be demonstrated in our compunctionate prayers to Him! May it be demonstrated in our pious contemplation and meditation on the great mystery of the Incarnation of God! Most of all, may it be demonstrated in love and compassion we show towards the “least”—to all the poor and unfortunates, to those who are forced to greet even this great day with tears, in want, in sickness and sorrow. Our Lord is so full of love and compassion for mankind that He considers everything that is done for them, as being done for Him “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me,” He says (Matt. 25:40).
Thus, in these holy days let the holy joy of the Birth of Christ delight not only our personal hearts, but also those who are in need of our mercy and our help! May we all celebrate and exult together, glorifying the immeasurable Love Divine manifested to us now and which has shone forth in the Birth of Christ Amen.

SOME NOTES ON CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS & PRACTICES

ADVENT & THE NATIVITY FAST

On November 15, forty days before Christmas, the Church begins to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. This time of preparation is sometimes called 'Advent,' because advent means the coming or arrival of someone or something. During these forty days, we prepare to celebrate the coming of God's Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into this world. Jesus came into this world as a little child born as an infant from Mary, His Most-holy mother.

Many faithful people had waited a long time for the coming of Jesus. God had promised to send a Savior to His people, hundreds, and even thousands, of years before Jesus was born on earth. During that long period of time when people were waiting, God spoke to prophets -- holy men and leaders among His people -- and told them how He wanted His people to prepare for the coming of His Son. He told them that they must repent, change their way of life, make peace with one another, care for each other, and be obedient and faithful to God.

Every year, during these forty days, we also wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus. We repent of our bad habits and try to change our way of life. We think about how we have behaved toward other people, and we try harder to be helpful to our friends, our neighbors, and members of our family. We also try to be faithful and obedient to God in all that we do. Through fasting and extra effort in prayer, we try to prepare both our bodies and minds to receive Christ into our lives and homes.

Forty days can seem like a very long time to wait for something; it is more than one month, almost six weeks. We know how anxious we are when a birthday or name day approaches; we want to start planning a party and inviting our friends. If we are preparing for someone else's special day, we begin thinking about the kind of gift we wish to give them. As the day draws near, we can hardly wait to begin the celebration. When we stop to think about it, we realize that part of the enjoyment of each celebration is the time we spend getting ready for it and waiting for it. The Church helps us to get ready for the celebration of Jesus' birth. First, the Church issues an announcement, like an invitation, telling us that the Feast of the Nativity is approaching. Then, during the last weeks of November and the beginning of December, there are more announcements made which tell us what to look for as the feast approaches and how to get ready. These are the days on which some of the announcements are made:

November 15 - This is the first day of the Nativity Fast, which begins forty days before Christmas. It is a good day for deciding how we should spend these days of Lent, what we should do to try to improve our way of living, and how we should spend our time in order to allow more time for prayer and preparation for the coming feast. On this day, we might mark the special days on the calendar that lead us to Christmas, or we might begin to make an Advent Calendar or make an Advent Wreath to help us keep track of the days before Christmas. We can also start an Advent Chain of good deeds that can be used to adorn our Christmas Tree.

November 21 - This day is a major feast which commemorates the Entrance of the Virgin into the Temple. It is a feast that honors Jesus' mother, the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, and it marks the first announcement that is given in the Church of the coming of Jesus. During the Matins service, the words, 'Christ is born! Glorify Him!" are sung for the first time. They will be sung at every Sunday Matins until Christmas.

November 30 - The last day of November is the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. During the services commemorating the life of St. Andrew, the Church adds two more hymns which tell us what will happen on the day of Jesus' birth.

December 6 - This day is dedicated to the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The life of St. Nicholas is a good example for us to follow if we want to learn how to care for and help one another. In the services on this day, we hear another hymn which tells us how the whole earth prepares to glorify the birth of Jesus.

The Two Sundays Before the Nativity of Christ (Christmas)

The first of these days is called the Sunday of the Forefathers. The verses from the services on this day tell us how the people of the Old Testament prepared for the coming of the Savior. The Sunday before Christmas is the Sunday of the Fathers. The services repeat some of the same hymns that were sung on the Sunday of the Forefathers. The Gospel lesson read on this day lists all the generations of the ancestors of Jesus who lived on earth.

Candles in the Orthodox Tradition

“The candles lit before icons of saints reflect their ardent love for God for Whose sake they gave up everything that man prizes in life, including their very lives, as did the holy apostles, martyrs and others. These candles also mean that these saints are lamps burning for us and providing light for us by their own saintly living, their virtues and their ardent intercession for us before God through their constant prayers by day and night. The burning candles also stand for our ardent zeal and the sincere sacrifice we make out of reverence and gratitude to them for their solicitude on our behalf before God.” (St. John of Kronstadt)

What does an Orthodox person, entering the temple, do first of all? Nine times out of ten — he or she buys a candle. Our initial participation in authentic Christian liturgical prayer begins with a small wax candle. It is impossible to imagine an Orthodox church without burning candles, unless, of course, we have a pandemic ravaging the world.

The Holy Fool-for-Christ Simeon of Thessalonica (XV century), said that pure wax symbolizes the purity and innocence of people offering it. The wax is offered as a sign of our repentance for our obstinacy and willfulness. The softness and malleability of the wax speaks to our readiness to obey God. The flame of the candle shows the warmth of our love to God, and hence the domes on top of most Russian Orthodox churches are in the shape of a candle flame (not an onion!). That flame also represents our Christ as the Light of the World Who will draw all people to Himself. We should not put up a candle just for the sake of ritual, with our hearts remaining cold. The outward action must be supported by an inward prayer, be it even a simple one expressed in your own words.

Candles are integral to our Orthodox worship. The newly baptized and those receiving the Mystery of Holy Matrimony hold candles. The burial service is read in the presence of many burning candles. Believers who participate in a Cross Procession around the temple hold candles and shield the flame from the wind with their hands. There are no strict rules about the number of candles to be offered or any definite place to put them, with this exception: that candles placed at the memorial table are for the dead. To buy a candle is a small sacrifice to God, anoffering which is voluntary and not burdensome. A big and expensive candle does not possess any more grace than a small one.

Those who come to church regularly usually place candles near the icon of the feast or saint celebrated on that day. It is also customary to place them at the icons of the Savior and the Holy Theotokos — offering a prayer for your living friends and relations. If you wish, you can offer a candle at any icon, of any saint where a candle stand is provided.

Sometimes there are so many burning candles on the candle stand in front of an icon, that there is no room to put yours. You should not put out somebody else’s candle so that you can light yours, unless theirs is down to the very end. Just light yours elsewhere. God knows your heart and knows your good intention. Also, if there is plenty of room on the candlestand, don’t place your lit candle directly next to another lit candle, but put space between them. Why? The will last longer, burn straighter, and won’t melt, creating a fire hazard. Do not be embarrassed or upset by somebody putting out “your” candle when the service is over — your offering has already been accepted by God. The candle is no longer “yours” but His. You should pay no heed to foolish tales about the necessity to place a candle “only with your right hand,” or about the misfortunes that will happen if the flame of your candle goes out, or that it is a deadly sin to melt the candle at the bottom in order to fix it better in the candleholder, etc. There are many traditions (one might say “superstitions”) associated with church life, and many of them are meaningless.

Your beeswax candle is pleasing to God. But He appreciates the burning zeal of your heart much more. Our spiritual life and participation in services cannot be limited to putting up a candle. The candle itself will not deliver us from sins, will not bring us closer to God, neither will it give us strength for resistance in the “unseen warfare.” A candle is full of symbolic meaning, but we are not saved by symbols, but by the grace to which the symbol draws us, God’s grace.

Proper Times to Light Candles – As I said before, Orthodox people typically light candles when coming into the churchprior to the beginning of a service, and that is usually the best time to light them. But there are times when candles should not be lit. It is not proper to light candles during the Epistle or Gospel readings, during the sermon, the Little or Great Entrances, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Anafora and consecration of the Holy Gifts, or basically anytime when the faithful are called upon to “stand upright: and “attend.”

Also, it’s good to remember that candles are not playthings, lit or unlit. They are holy things, consecrated to God. Only those children who are old enough and have shown a certain degree of spiritual maturity should be allowed to light their own candles before the icons, but only under the watchful supervision of their parents. If, however, the child makes a game of this, the privilege should be revoked until such time as he/she understands what they are doing. Always stand next to your child as he/she handles the candle because a moment of inattention on the part of the child (or the parent) can have serious consequences. Let us also refrain from sending bored children to "tend" the candlestands. The distraction often created by adults noisily blowing out candles and tossing them into a box is bad enough, but the effect is magnified when the job is undertaken by a child who craves diversion or attention.  

Get Ready. Here It Comes!

St Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga, is going to have a "Fill That Goodwill Truck!!" event on Saturday, Nov. 11th from 9:00am - 2:00pm. We are going to try to fill a Goodwill Semi-trailer with donated items. You may have seen Goodwill's trailers around town accepting donations. Well, we are going to have one at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church! If we can "Fill That Truck" we will receive up to $900. So please look around your house and see if you have any items you can donate. A list of acceptable items and ones NOT acceptable is listed on the Goodwill webpage (link below), along with other information. Try to put your items in boxes, so we can Stack 'em High and "Fill That Truck"!

Please pass the word to your friends and neighbors. Every little bit helps.

Click here to download a flyer

FAQs:

1. Space: If possible, keep your items at your home until Saturday, Nov. 11th. There is limited space at St. Nicholas in the hall. Please pack your items in boxes, so we can Stack 'em High and Fill That Truck!
2. Taxes: If you can itemize charitable donations on your income tax return form 1040 (it's harder these days), just ask the Goodwill attendant to give you a receipt (St. Nicholas will not have any).
3. What to donate: Since the amount of funds we receive is determined by weight, please concentrate on heavy things: books, shoes and boots, clothes, belts, dishes (Mark the box Fragile), etc. No furniture will be accepted, but small appliances are ok. E-Waste is also accepted. See below. (Please label the box(es) well as 'E-Waste'.)
4. Condition: Only donate things you would consider buying. No dirty, stained, cracked, or non-functional things (E-Waste is ok). Goodwill no longer fixes anything, so no broken appliances. Shoes & boots should be in good condition, no worn down heels. Please clean them before donating.
5. E-Waste: They also accept E-Waste: computer printers, monitors, hard drives, keyboards, VCRs, audio equipment, etc. Please mark the outside of the box, clearly on three or four sides, so there's no confusion. (We don't want anyone to accidentally buy a broken VCR.)
6. Parking: As you know we have limited parking at St. Nicholas. Please be patient and extra careful when parking and leaving. We don't want any of our friends and neighbors to get a ding in their fender.

Above is a flyer to pass around. Goodwill has a FAQ webpage with more information, and farther down on the page, is a list of which items can be donated:
https://donationdrive.goodwillsv.org/frequently-asked-questions/

If you'd like to help the day of the event,
please contact: Elizabeth Pilipenko: lpilipen@yahoo.com

Thank you ahead of time for your donations!
Elizabeth Pilipenko (408) 972-7999 for
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
14220 Elva Ave.
Saratoga, CA 95070
st-nicholas@earthlink.net

Don't Forget November 11th.
Let's - Fill That Truck!!!

THE FEAST OF THE PROTECTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

The feast day celebrates the appearance of the Mother of God in Constantinople at Blachernae (Vlaherna) in the tenth century. At the end of St. Andrew of Constantinople) Yurodivyi's life, he, with his disciple St. Epiphanius, and a group of people, saw the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, and several other saints and angels during a vigil in the Church of Blachernae, nearby the city gates. The Blachernae Palace church was where several of her relics were kept. The relics were her robe, veil, and part of her belt that had been transferred from Palestine during the fifth century.

The Theotokos approached the center of the church, knelt down and remained in prayer for a long time. Her face was drowned in tears. Then she took her veil off and spread it over the people as a sign of protection. During the time, the people in the city were threatened by a barbarian invasion. After the appearance of the Mother of God, the danger was averted and the city was spared from bloodshed and suffering.

The icon of the feast, shows the Theotokos standing above the faithful with her arms outstretched in prayer and draped with a veil. On both sides of her are angels. On the lower right of most icons of this feast, are saints Andrew and his disciple Epiphanius who saw this vision of the Mother of God, with the twelve apostles, bishops, holy women, monks and martyrs, spreading her veil in protection over the congregation. St. Epiphanius is wearing a tunic under his cloak and gestures in astonishment at the miraculous appearance, while St. Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, is dressed only in a cloak.

Below the Theotokos, in the center of the icon, stands a young man with a halo, he is clothed in a deacon's sticharion. In his left hand, he is holding an open scroll with the text of the Kontakion for Nativity in honor of the Mother of God. This is St. Romanus the Melodist, the famous hymnographer whose feast is also celebrated on the same day, October 1. He is with his choir attended by the Emperor Leo the Wise together with the Empress and the Patriarch of Constantinople.

"How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside of themselves, in foreign lands and journeys, in riches and glory, in great possessions and pleasures, in diversions and vain things, which have a bitter end! In the same thing to construct the tower of happiness outside of ourselves as it is to build a house in a place that is consistently shaken by earthquakes. Happiness is found within ourselves, and blessed is the man who has understood this. Happiness is a pure heart, for such a heart becomes the throne of God. Thus says Christ of those who have pure hearts: "I will visit them, and will walk in them, and I will be a God to them, and they will be my people." (II Cor. 6:16) What can be lacking to them? Nothing, nothing at all! For they have the greatest good in their hearts: God Himself!

(St. Nektarios of Aegina, Path to Happiness, 1)

"The Lord loves all people, but He loves those who seek Him even more. To his chosen ones the Lord gives such great grace that for love they forsake the whole earth, the whole world, and their souls burn with desire that all people might be saved and see the glory of the Lord.”

(St. Silouan the Athonite, Writings, IX.8)

"As it is impossible to verbally describe the sweetness of honey to one who has never tasted honey, so the goodness of God cannot be clearly communicated by way of teaching if we ourselves are not able to penetrate into the goodness of the Lord by our own experience."
(St. Basil the Great, Conversations on the Psalms, 29)

"Having God, fear nothing, but cast all of your care upon Him, and He will take care of you. Believe undoubtingly, and God will help you in accordance with His mercy.”

(St. Barsanuphius the Great, Instructions, 166)

Here are some "Transfiguration" Fun Facts!

• The “Taboric” light (the light seen on Mt. Tabor) is also called “uncreated light".
  • Adam and Eve were covered by it until the fall. Some holy fathers indicated that the loss of the uncreated light which clothed them is why they became aware of their nakedness.
  • This was also what was seen in the burning bush by Moses, and later, on the face of Moses after coming down from Mt. Sinai.
  • It has also been seen many times since.
• Why do Orthodox Icons look so different? The main two reasons is :
  • A perspective painting creates a realistic portrayal of 3D space, but one in which the observer is outside the picture, and the infinite is hidden past the vanishing point. An Icon uses inverse perspective which places infinity inside of the viewer, who is included in the picture.
  • Icons use gold and other highly reflective colors that symbolize uncreated light.
• Uncreated light has been experienced throughout Church History. Some recent examples:
  • St. Seraphim of Sarov: https://luminousdarkcloud.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/st-seraphim-of-sarov-and-the-vision-of-the-uncreated-light/
  • Fr. Adrian Rymarenko (later Archbishop Andrei of New York) saw Elder Nectary of Optina completely covered in a flame while he read from the Gospels.
  • St. John of San Francisco was in the altar after a liturgy. His solitude was accidentally disturbed by someone who went to give him a message, who saw him bathed in light....about a foot off the ground.
  • Fr. George Calciu (whom I met) experienced the uncreated light in Romanian Concentration camps. He said that it cast no shadow, and was accompanied by healing of body and soul.
  • (Here is an account that includes Fr. George's experience of the uncreated light by Frederica Mathewes-Greene.  I was present at the talk described).

The uncreated light is experienced by many saints after profound repentance and purification. So we can be encouraged to do the work and run the race of repentance, knowing that enlightenment is ready.

Troparion (main hymn) of Transfiguration:

“Thou was transfigured upon the mount O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. Make Thine everlasting light shine also upon us sinners. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, of giver of light, glory to Thee!”

---Reader John

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