Dodecaimeron (Feast of the 12 Days of the Incarnation)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos Pleasure and Pain According to St. Maximus the Confessor In his Centuries on Theology St. Maximus the Confessor refers to the nexus of the dualism of pleasure and pain, which, by any standard, is an important subject. This means that we cannot discuss Orthodox Theology if we fail to face this crucial point, because the transcendence …

THE WORD BECAME FLESH A Sermon by St John of Kronstadt on the Nativity of Christ The Word became flesh; that is, the Son of God, co-eternal with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit, became human – having become incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. O, wondrous, awesome and salvific mystery! The One Who had …

St. Ireaneus, Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapters 7, 10, 11, 23 Therefore Abraham also, knowing the Father through the Word, who made heaven and earth, confessed Him to be God; and having learned, by an announcement [made to him], that the Son of God would be a man among men, by whose advent his seed should be as the stars …

By Monk Moses the Athonite *1. When he would Liturgize he would become another man. Those attending church would hear various sounds from the Holy Altar from his heavenly visitors. They would kneel and chant “Lord have mercy”. *2. One day the Saint said to his chanter: “I had so many saints today that I didn’t have enough room to …

The Nativity Fast in the Orthodox Church begins on November 15th. From that time until December 17th (or some observe December 12th) we fast from meat, milk products, and eggs, though fish is allowed. After the 17th (or 12th) we fast also from fish. But fasting from food, according to the command of our Lord, must go hand in hand …

The first mention of a preparatory period before Christmas is mentioned in a decree of the Council of Saragossa (380). The Council Fathers stated that every Christian should daily go to church from December 17 until the Theophany (January 6th). At the Synod of Mac (581) in Gaul (present day France) it was decreed that from November 11, the day …

The Orthodox Church prepares its faithful to welcome the Nativity of Christ in a worthy manner by means of a 40-day Nativity fast, which lasts from November 15th to December 25. Besides generally known reasons, the Nativity fast is also undertaken by Orthodox Christians in order to venerate the suffering and sorrow undergone by the Holy Mother of God at …

*(I.) CANONICAL ORDER *1. The period of the Nativity Fast begins on November 15 (the day after the Feast of St. Philip, 14 November) and ends on 24 December.[1] *2. During this period, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we eat food without oil, but fish is permitted on the other days.[2] *3. By Tradition, the period during which we are …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjiVam2HO4] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOMvLRCHkTA] *1. This is the day that gladdened them, the Prophets, Kings, and Priests, for in it were their words fulfilled, and thus were the whole of them indeed performed! *2. For the Virgin this day brought forth Immanuel in Bethlehem. The voice that of old Isaiah spoke, today became reality. *3. He was born there who in writing …