moving towards existence ...
first day of the fast
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come, o faithful! inspired by God, let us go to see the divine mercy
that is revealed in Bethlehem.
let us cleanse our minds and offer virtues in our lives instead
of myrrh.
let us prepare with faith to enter the feast of the Nativity,
storing up treasure in our soul as we cry aloud:
“Glory in the highest to God in Trinity, whose good will is now being revealed to men;
in His love for mankind He will set Adam free from the ancient curse!”
–Hours of the nativity
the nativity fast
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today marks the beginning of 40 days of fasting in the Orthodox Church in preperation for Christ’s Nativity. i’m hoping to be posting more during this season with mainly little devotional things to help direct our hearts and minds towards Christ and the absolutely amazing mystery of His Incarnation. to start us off, here is a little intro from Fr Alexander Schmemann:
The Nativity Cycle
As Orthodox Christians, we begin the celebration of the Nativity of Christ — on December 25 — with a time of preparation. Forty days before the feast of the birth of Our Lord we enter the period of the Christmas Fast: to purify both soul and body to enter properly into and partake of the great spiritual reality of Christ’s Coming. This fasting season does not constitute the intense liturgical season that is characteristic of Great Lent; rather, Christmas Lent is more of an “ascetical” rather than “liturgical” nature. Nevertheless, the Christmas fasting season is reflected in the life of the Church in a number of liturgical notes that announce the coming feast.
Within the forty days preparation the theme of the approaching Nativity is introduced in the services and liturgical commemorations, little by little. If the beginning of the fast on November 15 is not liturgically marked by any hymn, five days later, on the eve of the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, we hear the first announcement from the nine hirmoi of the Christmas Canon: “Christ is born, glorify Him!”
With these words something changes in our life, in the very air we breathe, in the entire mood of the Church’s life. It is as if we perceive far, far away, the first light of the greatest possible joy — the coming of God into His world! Thus the Church announces the coming of Christ, the Incarnation of God, His entrance into the world for its salvation. Then, on the two Sundays preceding Christmas, the Church commemorates the Forefathers and the Fathers: the prophets and the saints of the Old Testament who prepared that coming, who made history itself into the expectation, the waiting for, the salvation and reconciliation of mankind with God. Finally, on December 20th, the church begins the Forefeast of the Nativity, whose liturgical structure is similar to the Holy Week preceding Pascha — for the birth of the Son of God as child is the beginning of the saving ministry which will lead Him, for the sake of our salvation, to the ultimate sacrifice of the Cross.
