Rating: 10|Votes: 4

Discourse On the Day of the Baptism of Christ

St. John Chrysostom

There is not one Theophany, but two: the one actual, which already has occurred, and the second in future, which will happen with glory at the end of the world. About this one and about the other you will hear today from Paul, who in conversing with Titus, speaks thus about the present: "The grace of God hath revealed itself, having saved all mankind, decreeing, that we reject iniquity and worldly desires, and dwell in the present age in prudence and in righteousness and piety"—and about the future: "awaiting the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ"

Rating: 1|Votes: 2

Feast of the Holy Theophany of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ

Christ’s baptism in the Jordan was “theophany,” a manifestation of God to the world, because it was the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. It was also a “theophany” in that the world was granted a revelation of the Holy Trinity. All three Persons were made manifest together: the Father testified from on high to the divine Sonship of Jesus; the Son received His Father’s testimony; and the Spirit was seen in the form of a dove, descending from the Father and resting upon the Son.

Rating: 10|Votes: 6

From the Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov

Elena Kontsevitch

Two and a half miles from the monastery, on the shore of the Sarovka River, in a dense pine forest, there stood a wooden one-room cell with a porch and a small wing—this was the Saint’s hermitage. He had a small garden where he grew potatoes, cabbage, onions, beets, etc. He lived there nearly sixteen years. “Having tasted of God’s sweetness, one longs for silence,” said St. John of the Well, “in order to partake of it tirelessly without impediment.” The holy Elder’s soul lived in a state of prayer that had long since become ceaseless.

Homily on the Circumcision of the Lord

Igumen Nikon (Vorobiev)

According to the Law of Moses, the law given by the Lord Himself to Abraham, anyone who wanted to be a member of the Israelite nation, the chosen people of God, had to subject himself to a particularly bloody operation. This applied to anyone of the male sex. They were given what was called circumcision. This sign of circumcision remained with them for the rest of their lives. It was a reminder that this man is a member of the Israelite nation. But almost everything that took place in the Old Testament was but a shadow prefiguring the subject that was just about to come.

The Holy Infants of Bethlehem

Commemorated December 29/January 11

Thus did the terrible prophecy of Jeremiah come true for the mothers of the generations of Benjamin: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Mt. 2:18). Rachael’s grave is in Bethlehem, and she seemed to rise from it that very day to share the sorrow and tears of those mothers. Their sons had died for Christ and in place of Christ, and became the seed and flower of all martyrs to come.