1st Ode Katavasia of Christmas This hymn is chanted in every Matins (Όρθρος) service from the 21st November until Christmas Day. It is the 1st Ode of the Katavasies of Christmas, written by St Kosmas, Bishop of Maiouma. Most of the hymn is an exact duplication of the opening of the 38th Oration of St Gregory the Theologian on the Feast of Theophany, from the thrice-fold repetition of the exclamatory phrases beginning with ‘Christ’, up to the phrase which St Gregory himself borrows from Psalm 91:1, “Sing to the Lord all the earth”. Τhese words were also sung by the [...]

‘We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ; show us also your divine Theophany’ (From the Service of the Great Hours, 24th December) Throughout the ages, there have been many people who have desired to see God. Moses, a faithful servant of God pleaded with his Maker to see His face, but was granted only a momentary glimpse of His Presence. As he stood behind the cleft of a rock, it was not the face of God that Moses saw, but His back (Exodus 33:22-23). This was a preview of the Nativity and Theophany, two events from the life of Jesus that [...]

Christmas December 25 Contemplating the Icon of the Nativity Christmas... Xmas Learn about this feast day (in English): Learn about this feast day (in Greek): Related links: Anthony M Coniaris, Daily Meditations and Prayers for Christmas Advent Fast and Epiphany (Orthodox Bookstore) Katherine Brahos Kermetz, Maria's Christmas to Remember (Orthodox Bookstore) Alvin Alexsi Currier, The Miraculous Child: A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia (Orthodox Bookstore) Julie Stiegemeyer, Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Orthodox Bookstore) Dennis Eugene Engleman, A Perfect Christmas (Orthodox Bookstore) Elizabeth Winthrop, The [...]