Nativity Sermon of +John Chrysostomos

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia ^ | 4th Century AD | +John Chrysostomos

[Kolokotronis]

"I behold a new and wondrous mystery!

My ears resound to the shepherd's song, piping no soft melody, but loudly chanting a heavenly hymn!

The angels sing!

The archangels blend their voices in harmony!

The cherubim resound their joyful praise!

The Seraphim exalt His glory!

All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead herein... on earth and man in heaven. He who is above now, for our salvation, dwells here below; and we, who were lowly, are exalted by divine mercy!

Today Bethlehem resembles heaven, hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices and, in place of the sun, witnessing the rising of the Sun of Justice!

Ask not how this is accomplished, for where God wills, the order of nature is overturned. For He willed He had the powers He descended. He saved. All things move in obedience to God.

Today He Who Is, is born ! And He Who Is becomes what He was not! For when He was God, He became man-while not relinquishing the Godhead that is His...

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him angels, nor archangels, nor thrones, nor dominions, nor powers, nor principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His care, nor because of His incarnation has He ceased being God. And behold kings have come, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven; Women, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of childbirth into joy; Virgins, to the Son of the Virgin...

Infants, that they may adore Him who became a little child, so that out of the mouths of infants He might perfect praise;

Children, to the Child who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod; Men, to Him who became man that He might heal the miseries of His servants;

Shepherds, to the Good Shepherd who was laid down His life for His sheep;

Priests, to Him who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek;

Servants, to Him who took upon Himself the form of a servant, that He might bless our stewardship with the reward of freedom (Philippians 2:7);

Fishermen, to the Fisher of humanity;

Publicans, to Him who from among them named a chosen evangelist;

Sinful women, to Him who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant woman;

And that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that they may look upon the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!

Since, therefore, all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice! I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival! But I take my part, not plucking the harp nor with the music of the pipes nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ!

For this is all my hope!

This is my life!

This is my salvation!

This is my pipe, my harp!

And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels and shepherds, sing:

"Glory to God in the Highest! and on earth peace to men of good will! "

[Kolokotronis]

Merry Christmas all!

[Kolokotronis]

Ping for Christmas!

[AlbionGirl]

Return ping, and Blessed and Merry Christmas to you too!

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

Thank you, Merry Christmas

[Tantumergo]

Here's praying for a very happy and blessed Christmas for you, your family and all the freepers on that side of the pond.

(It seems that one of the few advantages left to living in Blighty is that Christmas comes a few hours earlier here!;) We are just getting ready for the carols and readings before Midnight Mass - please pray for the memsahib's nerves as she tries to herd the hyped-up munchkins!!!)

[Agrarian]

Merry Christmas to all.

[kosta50]

Just out of curiosity: I attended a Greek Orthodox church today (I am not in my usual Old-Calendar parish), and everyone, including the priest, was saying "Merry Christmas." Perhaps I am missing something, but I was raised Orthodox and we never wished a "merry Christmas." We always said "Christ is born!" to which the other person says "Indeed, He is born!"

The emphasis is on His Birth and not wishing each other some merry holiday. Of course, the Christ-centered Orthodox mind consistently proclaims His Resurrestion at Pascha -- aka "Easter" -- with the words "Christ is Risen!" with the reply "Indeed, He is Risen!" and not "Happy Easter to you too."

Traditions change with changing mindsets. People try to fit in, and western habits and ways are entering Orthodoxy.

The priest, who was clean-shaven and with a dog-collar, gave homily from a pulpit! And the congregations dutyfyully pulled down their kneeling pads and knelt a-la Roman Catholics.

When I was in the Orthodox cathedral in Tokyo, I fully recognized the same faith and praxis. Unfortunately, I am fidning myself more and more in unfamiliar surroundings in American churches that call themselves Orthodox. They are indeed becoming unrecogniziable (but my Catholic companion thought it was very "Catholic"). I can see in not such a distant future a new and althogether different "Orthodoxy" emerging on these shores.

So, to all my New-Calendar Orthodox brethren, an Old-Calendar frendly reminder: it's not about our happiness or merriy-making, it's about God. Safeguard the Tradition.

Christ is born! Indeed, He is born!

[aomagrat]

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

[Kolokotronis]

Kosta, I'm as old as you and its always been Merry Christmas Kala Cristougenna (Good Christ's birth, literally) in my lifetime, here and in Greece. We even do sometimes say Kalo Pasca, Good or Happy Pascha, though I've heard that more in Greece than here in America.

"The priest, who was clean-shaven and with a dog-collar, gave homily from a pulpit! And the congregations dutyfyully pulled down their kneeling pads and knelt a-la Roman Catholics."

Pulpits are used all through the Greek speaking Orthodox Churches here and in Europe and Asia and have been since Agia Sophia was built. I will say our priest seldom uses our pulpit unless he is reading an encyclical from the Met., the Archbishop or the EP, but former priests from Greece always used it. Perhaps not using pulpits is a Slavic innovation. I can't speak to the kneeling business. I know its done all year at the consecration except between Pascha and the Ascension and full prostrations are done at various times during services during Great Lent, again both here and in Greece. The antiquity of the practice I cannot attest to save to say its been that way all my life. Beards seem to come and go with sartorial fashions. For most of the 20th century, especially until the 1970s, they were virtually unheard of except for monks and hierarchs. In the 19th century almost all married priests in Greece were clean shaven, while the celibates were not. Today most Greek priests wear beards both here and in Greece, though not all of them.

I think, Kosta, you may be mistaking certain Slavic customs with churchwide rules or practices. I'm saddened to hear you found the liturgy nearly unrecognizable in a Greek Church. I've never had that problem in a Slavic Church (or any other type of Orthodox Church for that matter). These external customs clearly dominated your thoughts at the Liturgy which is indeed a shame. Perhaps the next time you think about going to a Greek Orthodox Church you should take a pass on the idea.

[Kolokotronis]

Good luck with your mission parish! Great website.

[kosta50]

These external customs clearly dominated your thoughts at the Liturgy which is indeed a shame. Perhaps the next time you think about going to a Greek Orthodox Church you should take a pass on the idea

They didn't dominate -- I keep my eyes closed most of the time and concentrate on the service and not the people around me. But, yes, I may take a pass next time, you are right.

In Slavonic we say Hristos rodilsya (Christ is born)! Horrible innovation, indeed. We send greetings to loved ones with S Rozhdestvom Hristovim (with Christ's Birth).

They are happy occasions, Kolo, but they are not ours to be congratulated. You may say happy name day, or happy birthday to someone whose nameday it is or whose birthday it is.

The Nativity is a declaration that God came to save His people; it is a happy occasion but not as a result of us wishing it on someone. Is there such a thing as an unhappy Birth of Christ or an unhappy resurrection? It's not a "Mass" any more than His Resurrection is "Easter." The fact that western Christianity uses such terms is not a reason for Orthodoxy to copy -- even if it is a faulty tradition by now among some.

[kosta50]

The first Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325 AD) specifically prohibits kneeling in the church on Sundays, Kolo. On other days, Orthodox Christians may stand, kneel, prostrate, cross, pray, and so on, as they see fit throughtout the entire service.

This goes back to women being uncovered in church, confession before communion, etc. Bad habits become "tradition" and those who insist on orthodoxy become "innovators."

[kosta50]

note to self: confession before communion = no confession before communion

[MarMema]

Merry Christmas!!

[kosta50]

Thank you MarMema.

[kosta50]

Christmas is not a word in the Orthodox vocabulary. It is a word derived from Christ's mass, originally used in Old Ebglish. A Mass is a striclty Latin (Roman Catholic) expression for liturgical celebration of the Eucharist. Christmas, as we use the word today in everyday jargon, is completely devoid of any liturgical meaning.

This is what Wikipedia says:

"Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin rites of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church"

It is therefore improper for the Orthodox to use the word Christmas when referring to the Feast of the Nativity both litugrcially and traditionally. Christmas is a westernizing innovation in Orthodoxy.

[Campion]

It is a word derived from Christ's mass, originally used in Old Ebglish. A Mass is a striclty Latin (Roman Catholic) expression for liturgical celebration of the Eucharist ... Christmas is a westernizing innovation in Orthodoxy.

Kosta, how can the Orthodox claim pre-schism Western Christianity for themselves, and then say things like this???

The Divine Liturgy in the west was called "Missa" in Latin (and later "Mass" in English) long before the schism. (The word comes from the Latin for "dismissal", BTW.) You can't very easily claim, e.g., St. Patrick for an Orthodox saint and then claim that "Mass" is some wicked Western innovation.

And what is a "Westernizing innovation," anyway? You aren't incorporating it into your liturgy. Is "Western" now "heretical"?

Orthodoxy can either be an "East is good, East is everything, West is bad" faith ... or it can be catholic, but it can't be both.

Feliz Navidad. (Literally, "happy Nativity (of Our Lord)").

Fröhliche Weihnachten. (Literally, "joyful consecrated night").

And all of that good stuff. To both of you.

[annalex]

I think, for the corruption of Christmas we have Coca Cola company to blame, with its invention of the "Santa". The term, however, is pre-schism, as Campion remarks.

Happy Nativity of our Lord in the Gregorian calendar to you all.

[kosta50]

You misunderstood what I wrote. You are reacting out of context (with respect to the rest of my posts on this thread). It has to do with the postmodern Orthodoxy using such terms as "Merry Christmas" in church. It is a westernizing innovation relative to Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy alone. The traditional Orthodox proclaimation of Christ's Birth is precisely that -- Nativity -- not "Christmas." Thus we proclaim that "Christ is born!" echoed by "Indeed, He is born!" and not with "Have a merry Christmas." The word Christmas does not exist in Orthodoxy -- or at least it never did until recently.

The word Christmas is an abbreviation of Christ's Mass. It has old English roots. It referred to the litugrical celebration of the Nativity. Today, the term has completely lost its otherwise valid (western) Christian meaning. It is used as a personal holiday greeting.

Thus, Christ's Mass, of course existed before Schism, and is a legitimate and traditional litrugical name from the Latin Church. It is an innovation among some (post-modern) Orthodox, especially of the 150-or so year variety in the New World. The Orthodox never, ever refer to the the Divine Liturgy as the Mass. So, to adopt the greeting "Merry Christmas" is a novelty and compltely outside of the Orthodox tradition of any significant length, about as much as dog-collars, clean-shaven priests, pews and kneeling on Sundays.

Much of it is seen in America today, but much of it also comes from "progressive" forces in Europe at the turn of the last century that pushed the New Calendar among other proposals.

These are the same people who will allow communion, contrary to all Orthodox teachings, for the Copts, but deny it to others outside of Church.

[ELS]

I too, with the angels and shepherds, sing: "Glory to God in the Highest! and on earth peace to men of good will! "