I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world. (John 16:28) The only-begotten Son of God, brethren, begotten in eternity of the Father without a mother, was born in time of a mother without a father. That first begetting is an unfathomable mystery of the Holy Trinity in eternity, and the second is the unfathomable mystery of God's power and love for mankind in time. The greatest mystery in time corresponds to the greatest mystery in eternity. Without entering into

Christ is born! Glorify Him! To the Honorable Clergy, Venerable Monastics, and Pious Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, My Beloved Brethren and Blessed Children in the Lord, It is my joy and privilege to greet all of you on the radiant feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. In some 700 communities large and small sprinkled across the North American continent, from Canada, to the United States and Mexico, we gather together to celebrate the wo

If one were to try to summarize what is, perhaps, the dominant theme found in the Church’s reflection, teaching, and worship at the birth of Christ, it might well be that it could be stated in one word: paradox. Even a brief survey of the Church’s hymns, the preaching of her pastors, and the iconography of the feast would substantiate, I believe, this claim. From the quote above, taken from the sermon of St Gregory the Theologian, to the multitude of hymns contained in the se

The first words of the troparion to St Nicholas, whom we celebrate today, extol him as a “rule of faith”. The word “rule” here is a translation of the Greek word “kanon” (often written in English as “canon”), a word used by St Paul and others which originally meant something like a ruler, a measuring rod, or a straight edge. From there it would come to mean different things in different contexts, but all of these would carry the general idea of a norm or ideal. In regard to t