On Christmas Eve during the Royal Hours of Christmas, a
special prayer service offered on Christmas Eve morning, we sang the following
hymn:
Today He who holds
the whole world in His hand is born from a Virgin. (3)
He who in essence is
impalpable is swaddled in rags as a mortal. God who established the
heavens of old in the
beginning is lying in a manger. He who rained down manna for
the people in the
wilderness is breastfed with milk. He who is the Bridegroom of the Church
is summoning Magi.
And He, that Son of the Virgin, is accepting their gifts.
We adore Your Nativity,
O Christ. We adore Your Nativity, O Christ. We adore Your Nativity, O Christ.
Show us also Your
divine Theophany
Christmas has always been celebrated as part of the Feast of
Theophany, and yet many of us pay little attention or make little effort to
attend services for Theophany. The Feast in which God for the first time reveals
Himself as Trinity is one of the greatest moments in human history. It is
during the Feast of Theophany the Church extends the blessings of God to the
entire created world. When Jesus entered the Jordan River to be baptized by
John, He sanctified all of creation by His presence in the water. The Church
continues the work of sanctifying creation when we celebrate the Great Blessing
of the Waters on Theophany. Through the blessing of the waters, our homes,
businesses, our own lives and the entire world receives the blessings of the
Jordan – the blessings of God.
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