One day when he had gone forth because all the monks had assembled to him and asked to hear words from him, he spoke to them in the Egyptian tongue as follows: ‘The Scriptures are enough for instruction, but it is a good thing to encourage one another in the faith, and to stir up with words. Wherefore you, as children, carry that which you know to your father; and I as the elder share my knowledge and what experience has taught me with you. Let this especially be the common aim of all, neither to give way having once begun, nor to faint in trouble, nor to say: We have lived in the discipline a long time: but rather as though making a beginning daily let us increase our earnestness. For the whole life of man is very short, measured by the ages to come, wherefore all our time is nothing compared with eternal life. And in the world everything is sold at its price, and a man exchanges one equivalent for another; but the promise of eternal life is bought for a trifle. For it is written, “The days of our life in them are threescore years and ten, but if they are in strength, fourscore years, and what is more than these is labour and sorrow.” Whenever, therefore, we live full fourscore years, or even a hundred in the discipline, not for a hundred years only shall we reign, but instead of a hundred we shall reign for ever and ever. And though we fought on earth, we shall not receive our inheritance on earth, but we have the promises in heaven; and having put off the body which is corrupt, we shall receive it incorrupt.
Each of the deacons and sub-deacons shall serve the bishop. The bishop shall be told who are the sick, so that if it seems good to him, he may visit them. For the sick are greatly comforted that the high priest remembers them.
The faithful, as soon as they wake up and are risen, before beginning work, shall pray to God, and then go to their work. But if there is any instruction in the Word, they shall give this preference and go there to hear the Word of God for the strengthening of their souls. They shall be zealous to go to the church, where the Spirit flourishes.
The faithful shall be careful to partake of the eucharist before eating anything else. For if they eat with faith, even though some deadly poison is given to them, after this it will not be able to harm them.
All shall be careful so that no unbeliever tastes of the eucharist, nor a mouse or other animal, nor that any of it falls and is lost. For it is the Body of Christ, to be eaten by those who believe, and not to be scorned.
Having blessed the cup in the Name of God, you received it as the antitype of the Blood of Christ. Therefore do not spill from it, for some foreign spirit to lick it up because you despised it. You will become as one who scorns the Blood, the price with which you have been bought.
The deacons and elders shall meet daily at the place which the bishop appoints for them. The deacons especially should not fail to meet every day, except when illness prevents them. When all have assembled, they shall teach all those who are in the assembly. Then, after having prayed, each one shall go to the work assigned to him. — The Apostolic Tradition, 34 through 39.
There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is His subsistent Wisdom and Power and Eternal Image: perfect Begetter of the perfect Begotten, Father of the only-begotten Son. There is one Lord, Only of the Only, God of God, Image and Likeness of Deity, Efficient Word, Wisdom comprehensive of the constitution of all things, and Power formative of the whole creation, true Son of true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal and Eternal of Eternal. And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all. There is a perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignty, neither divided nor estranged. Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abides ever.
Yes, the unthinkable has happened. The Islamofacists ™ have struck again, this time focusing their dastardly evils upon Hollywood and the music industry.
Yes, my fellow Americans – Britney Spears saga is a direct attack by people from the dark recesses of Islamofacist ™ land.
CBS, in their Britney Was “Trembling” story reported:
Sheeraz Hasan … told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Tuesday that he’d spoken with Spears’ new beau, photographer Adnan Ghalib, as the media crush was unfolding Monday.
…
Hasan says Ghalib told him Spears was “really nervous” and “really panicking” when she was being mobbed by the media at the courthouse, and opted to skip the hearing and go to church, feeling she had, at that instant, “no one to turn to except God.”
That’s it, don’t you see? Look at the names – Hasan and Ghalib.
It is obviously al-Qaeda, umm al-Qaida, uh al-Qa’ida, you know – those guys. They have plotted and have succeeded in bringing down a great American dynasty, have damaged the reputation of the nations top performing artists, have inflicted harm on Hollywood and the music industry, and have diverted attention from the scandalous magnificent and righteous “war on terror ™”
A secret report from the Council on Foreign Relations and AIPAC notes that the plot was borne of the complete hatred the Islamofacists ™ have for our freedoms. AIPAC noted that they hate America’s young singers and dancers because they represent freedom. Their evils have nothing to do with American intervention in the Middle East or our support for the apartheid freedom loving State of Israel.
A reporter who questioned the AIPAC spokesman in regard to the lack of attacks on other “freedom loving” countries like Norway, Portugal, Ireland, and Switzerland was told that he was immature in his analysis.
The reporter was later detained and sent to an undisclosed tropical prison camp. No charges were filed but a Justice Department analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the reporter had promoted terrorism against other “freedom loving” countries.
While some have posited a tie between Hasan, Ghalib, and the Saudi Royal Family, President Bush has decided to bomb and invade Costa Rica. His father, the former President Bush, came down with stomach upset after eating a meal there in 1997. The President noted that Ghalib has a vacation home in Costa Rica and that the Costa Rican government was supporting this plot. He urged all American to pray for Ms. Spears.
What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers? For we cannot eat human flesh till we have killed some one. The former charge, therefore, being false, if any one should ask them in regard to the second, whether they have seen what they assert, not one of them would be so barefaced as to say that he had. And yet we have slaves, some more and some fewer, by whom we could not help being seen; but even of these, not one has been found to invent even such things against us. For when they know that we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly; who of them can accuse us of murder or cannibalism? Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those which are given by you? But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death? And when we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very foetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it; and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder, and on the other hand, when it has been reared to destroy it. But we are in all things always alike and the same, submitting ourselves to reason, and not ruling over it. — Chapter XXXV. The Christians Condemn and Detest All Cruelty.
Pastors are set over the flock, and give the sheep the food of life. Whosoever is watchful, and toils in behalf of his sheep, is careful for his flock, and is the disciple of our Good Shepherd, who gave Himself in behalf of His sheep (John 10:11). And whosoever brings not back his flock carefully, is likened to the hireling who has no care for the sheep. Be like, O Pastors, to those righteous Pastors of old. Jacob fed the sheep of Laban, and guarded them and toiled and was watchful, and so received the reward. For Jacob said to Laban:—”Lo! twenty years am I with you. Your sheep and your flocks I have not robbed and the males of your sheep I have not eaten. That which was broken I did not bring unto you, but you required it at my hands! In the daytime the heat devoured me and the cold by night. (Gen. 31:38,40) My sleep departed from my eyes. Observe, you Pastors, that Pastor, how he cared for his flock. He used to watch in the night-time to guard it and was vigilant; and he used to toil in the daytime to feed it. As Jacob was a pastor, so Joseph was a pastor and his brethren were pastors. Moses was a pastor, and David also was a pastor. So Amos was a pastor. These all were pastors who fed the sheep and led them well. — Demonstration X
O John, who sawest the Spirit,—”that abode on the head of the Son,—”to show how the Head of the Highest—”went down and was baptized—”and came up to be Head on earth!—”Children of the Spirit you have thus become,—”and Christ has become for you the Head:—”you also have become His members.
Consider and see how exalted you are;—”how instead of the river Jordan—”you have glorious Baptism, wherein is peace;—”spreading her wings to shade your bodies.—”In the wilderness John baptized:—”in Her pure flood of Baptism,—”purely are you baptized therein.
Infants think when they see its glory,—”that by its pomp its might is enhanced.—”But it is the same, and within itself—”is not divided.—”But the might which never waxes less or greater—”in us is little or again great;—”and he in whom is great understanding,—”great in him is Baptism.
A man’s knowledge, if it be exalted,—”exalted also is his degree above his brethren;—”and he whose faith is great,—”so also is his promise;—”and as is his wisdom, so also his crowning.—”As is the light, which though it be all goodly—”and equal all of it with itself,—”yet goodlier is one eye than another.
Jesus mingled His might in the water:—”put Him on my brethren as discerning men!—”For there are that in the water merely—”perceive that they are washed. With our body be our soul washed!—”The manifest water let the body perceive,—”and the soul the secret might;—”that both to the manifest and to the secret you may be made like!
How beautiful is Baptism—”in the eye of the heart; come, let us gaze on it!—”Like as by a seal you have been moulded;—”receive its image,—”that nought may be lacking to us of our image!—”For the sheep that are white of heart—”gaze on the glory that is in the water:—”in your souls reflect it!
Water is by nature as a mirror,—”for one who in it examines himself.—”Stir up your soul, you that discern —” and be like it!—”For it in its midst reflects your image;—”from it, on it, find an example;—”gaze in it on Baptism,—”and put on the beauty that is hidden therein!
What profits it him that hears—”a voice and knows not its significance?—”Whoso hears a voice and is devoid—”of the understanding thereof,—”his ear is filled but his soul is empty.—”Lo! since the gift is abundant,—”with discernment receive it.
Baptism that is with understanding—”is the conjunction of two lights,—”and rich are the fountains of its rays.—”……—”And the darkness that is on the mind departs,—”and the soul beholds Him in beauty,—”the hidden Christ of glory,—”and grieves when the glory fails.
Baptism without understanding—”is a treasure full yet empty;—”since he that receives it is poor in it,—”for he understands not—”how great are its riches into which he enters and dwells.—”For great is the gift within it,—”though the mean man perceives not—”that he is exalted even as it.
Open wide your minds and see, my brethren,—”the secret column in the air, whose base is fixed from the midst of the water—”unto the door of the Highest Place, like the ladder that Jacob saw.—”Lo! by it came down the light unto Baptism,—”and by it the soul goes up to Heaven,—”that in one love we may be mingled.
Our Lord when he was baptized by John—”sent forth twelve fountains;—”and they issued forth and cleansed by their streams—”the defilement of the peoples.—”His worshippers are made white like His garments,—”the garments in Tabor and the body in the water.—”Instead of the garments the peoples are made white,—”and have become for Him a clothing of glory.
From your garments learn, my brethren,—”how your members should be kept.—”For if the garment, which ever so many times—”may be made clean,—”is duly kept for the sake of its comeliness,—”the body which has but one baptism—”manifold more exceeding is the care of its keeping,—”for manifold are its dangers.
Again the sun in a house that is strait,—”is straitened therein though he be great:—”but in a house that is goodly and large,—”when he rises thereon—”far and wide in it he spreads his rays;—”and though the sun is one and the same in his nature,—”in various houses he undergoes changes:—”Even so our Lord in various men. — Hymn 9
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people
In the days of idols, and to this very day, people pray to the things their hands have made. The idols of old were made of stone, metal, and precious stones. Yet those idols bore nothing for mankind, other than their resemblance to us.
The idols people worship today bear nothing for us. Money cannot buy happiness as the old saying goes. Sex cannot buy relationships. War cannot buy peace. Government cannot assure justice.
The fact is this. Nothing wrought by man can substitute for God. Nothing can fulfill our longing for what is transcendent, what is eternal —“ except for God.
Throughout the centuries people have run about carving idols, worshiping trees, the thunder, the sun and moon, and doing all sorts of things, not because they were primitive or ignorant, but rather because they needed to fulfill the desire of their heart —“ the built-in desire for God.
If God were cruel He would have left us to wonderment only. He would have left us alone in our attempt to figure it all out. But we are blessed and graced because God is good and loving.
In His loving kindness God deigned to come among us and to reveal Himself to us.
We now know God. We begin our prayers and every homily with an acknowledgment of His revelation to us, the Sign of the Cross. We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Today’s Solemnity is a commemoration and celebration of God revealing His identity to us. Today God shows Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
God’s revelation to Isaiah told of the One who was to come:
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased
In Jesus that prophesy was fulfilled. God, in the person of the Son, came to dwell with us. He showed us what God is like. He taught us how to live God’s way —“ which is very foreign to the way you, I, and the rest of the world live. He told us that God demands repentance. That God heals and that God sets us free from our captivity to the old idols.
Brothers and sisters,
Not only did God show Himself, He set no requirement as to the —kind of people— who could come to Him.
Peter and the other Apostles were devout Jews. God quickly stepped in, to reveal to Peter and the rest, that God is for everyone. Peter goes to meet the gentile Cornelius and his family. He is sent there through God’s message and promptings. When Peter realizes what he has encountered he plainly states:
—In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.—
The Orthodox refer to this Solemnity as the Theophany; the revelation of the Holy Trinity, God —“ Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
—This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.—
Humanity hears the voice of the Father. Humanity sees the Holy Ghost descending in the form of a dove. Humanity meets the Son.
How blessed we are. How fortunate for us. How loving the God we proclaim and teach.
God in His fullness has been shown to us. Not a mysterious God only known through prophets. Not a god that we have fashioned. Not a God hidden in the mists of time, unrevealed, unknown.
We have God in plain sight.
As the Christmas season draws to a close take this opportunity to rejoice and celebrate. Take this opportunity to renew your commitment to the only living and true God. There is no other God. There is no other form of God.
Here is God revealed. Reform, repent, be reborn, know and love Him, do His will, follow all that He has taught.
Amen.
This is He Who was begotten from the Godhead according to His nature, and from manhood not after His nature, and from baptism not after His custom; that we might be begotten from manhood according to our nature, and from Godhead not after our nature, and by the Spirit not after our custom. He then was begotten from the Godhead, He that came to a second birth; in order to bring us to the birth that is discoursed of, even His generation from the Father:—”not that it should be searched out, but that it should be believed;—”and His birth from the woman, not that it should be despised, but that it should be exalted.
It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters, whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them. Furthermore, let not the deacons sit among the presbyters, for that is contrary to canon and order. And if, after this decree, any one shall refuse to obey, let him be deposed from the diaconate. — Canon 18