Beloved in Christ, I greet you with special joy on this feast – the advent of our salvation, our freedom from imprisonment (Psalm 141), and the dawning of the Good News. The thrice-holy God has provided us this radiant feast in the midst of the Great Fast. It is a foretaste and promise of what awaits us if we are faithful in that fast. All too often we regard this feast as a temporary break from the Great Fast when our ascetic discipline is relaxed for a day. Yet, this feast does not stand alone for it is inextricably linked...