The feast of Circumcision
+ The church celebrates the feast of circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ every year on the eighth day of His birth. The Lord was circumcised in the flesh to fulfill the law on behalf of man who was unable to carry out most of the commandments of the law. Thus, Christ successfully went through the path that man failed to go through, in order to bless this path and to help him complete it successfully.
The Birth of the Prince of Peace
This is how Isaiah saw Him through the prophetic eye and recorded it for us in his amazing book nearly 740 year before His birth: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He is the Prince of Peace and the fountain of peace for us and for the whole world. His birth in our midst is a dawning of true peace in a world full of the darkness of tribulations, fears, and struggles. We might wonder how is He the Prince for Peace?
A Soul exalted to Heaven
The ladder that Jacob saw is one of the most important and beautiful symbols about St Mary in the Old Testament. God appeared to Jacob on his way to Laban his uncle as he was fleeing from his brother Esau. The scene depicts a ladder setup on earth and reaching to heaven with the angels ascending and descending upon it, and the Lord looks upon Jacob in great glory from the top of the ladder and speaks to him with words of peace, comfort, and blessing (Genesis 28).
A Girl breathing God
Kiahk praises are rich and full of beautiful words that have deep meanings regarding divine incarnation and regarding the mother of God through whom incarnation took place.
Words about Humility
- As God emptied himself to become the Son of Man, likewise man ought to empty himself to become a son of God.
Heaven on Earth
It came to pass that Vladimir, the grand Prince of Kiev, when he was still a pagan in 987 AD, he wanted to know which of the religion is the true one. He sent envoys of elders and wise men to different countries of the world to investigate different religions and report to him.
Kiyahk Sundays, Paramon, and Nativity
First, the Sundays of Kiyahk:
The Old and the New
Some wonder: If Christ, through His cross, defeated sin and broke its bondage, then why do we still sin? And if we have been baptized and became children of God, then why are we weak and fall into sins every day? The answer can be summarized in the following few lines:
The Sacrifice of Giving
Have you ever heard about currency exchange?
The Shepherd and the hired servants
Our Lord Jesus told us in the Gospel of John (Chapter 10) about his relationship with us and resembled it with the relationship of the shepherd and the sheep. It is a resemblance that was also repeated many times in the Old Testament, “I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick… And feed them in judgment… You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 34:15-16, 31), “Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand… He will feed His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” (Isaiah 40:10, 11)
Salvation in the Orthodox Faith
+ In Christianity, salvation means the final triumph, being delivered from the dominion of Satan, and enjoying eternal life in the kingdom of God in which there is new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.