Byzantine Catholic Mission
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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
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O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
Chrystos Razdajetsja! Slavy’te Joho!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Every Third Sunday of the Month is Food Sunday
Sunday After Christmas
Divine Liturgy Intention:
Our Offerings Divine Liturgy will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 1, for the feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ and the memory of Our Holy Father Saint Basil the Great
Our Eastern-Rite Christmas Greeting
This is the greeting we offer each other during the Christmas season
Christ is born! — Glorify Him!
No fasting from December 25 through January 4!
The Sunday after Christmas
Today, the Sunday after Christmas, is dedicated to St. Joseph, the guardian of Jesus and the husband of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. The Sunday after Christmas is also dedicated to King David, to whose family the Redeemer had been promised by
God, and to St. James, the brother of Jesus. It must noted, however, that the Jews called both real, carnal brothers and
relatives such as cousins “brother.” St. James was a cousin of Jesus and not His real brother—Mary
always remained a virgin.
The Synaxis of the Mother of God
A synaxis commemorates persons connected with a feast. Thus, following the Feast of the Nativity, we commemorate the
holy Theotokos—and St. Joseph, for the it also reminds us of the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt, where the
Divine Infant was saved from Herod’s massacre.
The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord
On Saturday, Jan. 1, we will celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord.
The practice of circumcision is ancient and was fairly widespread among primitive peoples. It was, however, more of an
initiatory rite with religious significance than a hygienic practice. The Hebrews alone ritually practiced circumcision on the
eighth day after birth. In the earliest times, the father himself performed the operation. The use of a flint knife indicates
the antiquity of the rite. The law of circumcision appears in Genesis (17:10), where it is a part of God’s covenant
with Abraham. The obligation of circumcision was a serious one. It was a sign of the covenant of Israel with God. Christ
Himself was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth (Luke 2:21). The necessity of this rite was proposed by Jewish
Christians and caused a serious dispute in the early Church. This debate is described in the Acts of the Apostles (15).
Pastoral Ponderings: The Twelve Days of Christmas
First of all, may each of you have a very blessed and joyous Christmas celebration. In lieu of a Christmas card, this will
have to suffice! While we are on the subject of cards, many thanks, too, for the cards you have sent me.
Although the constant background of carols can somewhat dim our understanding of them, there is a fascinating story behind one
famous Christmas carol. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in the 16th century. Moreover, it
was written by a couple of wily Jesuits who were playing a dangerous game. You see, this was 16th-century England,
and in 16th-century England anything Catholic was prohibited and if discovered, punishable by imprisonment and
death. As a result, the Catholic faith was forced underground. Still, there was, as you can imagine, a desperate need to
encourage the faith and, above all, to instill it in the next generation. So these Jesuits came up with a way to teach the
outline of the faith in code. And that code was “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
It sounds harmless enough to us, but let us look more closely. The 12 days of Christmas, as everyone knew, was the celebration
from Christmas Day to Epiphany. “My true love said to me” is God speaking to the anonymous Catholic.
“Twelve lords-a-leaping” are not, as you might guess, the 12 Apostles, but the 12 beliefs outlined in the
Apostles’ Creed.
The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven apostles minus Judas Iscariot.
The “ten drummers drumming” are the Ten Commandments.
The “nine ladies dancing” are the nine choirs of angels.
The “eight maids-a-milking” are the eight beatitudes.
The “seven swans-a-swimming” are the seven sacraments.
The “six geese-a-laying” are the six precepts of the Church.
The “five golden rings” are the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
The “four calling birds” are the four Gospels singing the Good News; the “three French hens” are the
three gifts the Magi brought; the “two turtledoves” are the Old and New Testaments, and the “partridge in a
pear tree” is the resplendent Christ reigning from the Cross!
— Father O’Connell
Last updated: 29-Dec-2004 |
