Sermon ~ The Sunday After the Nativity

The sermon of the Sunday After the Nativity from St. Michael Orthodox Christian Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts has been posted.

PODCAST

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New England Patriots

Well I have seen some great sports in Boston, two world series wins, and a few super bowl wins but tonight the New England Patriots went 16-0 on the season! It is 11:20pm and I need to go to be before Liturgy tomorrow. Great Day!

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His Majesty King Michael I's Message for the New Year of 2008

Romanians,

After our first year of membership within the European Union, one can say that democracy and liberty are stable in Romanian society. I know there are still problems in the fields of education, health and the living conditions of elderly people and that there are reasons for disappointment. However, the economy is on an ascending trend and is breaking away from the past, politics is dynamic and we have, for the first time in history, Romanian elected representatives in the European Parliament.

Our country has joined the dignified family of free nations. From now on we can start to distinguish between prosperity and identity, freedom and duty, between politics and fundamental values. Our public sector representatives should serve their institutions, and their country, not be served by them. We need stable institutions with an eye on the future.
Romania needs to build a European Constitution, which will assign clear, unequivocal and complementary roles to the State’s institutions. This is a question of honour, respect for our traditions and for democracy. In this way, we can complete our country’s economic and social reconstruction.

A nation, just like a human being, has its personality and its inner life. Romania, like each and every one of us, has her story, deeply interwoven with her past and her destiny. Romania will have a place in the international system if she can demonstrate that knows how to respect democracy and cultivate an instinct for the national good.

So help us God!
Michael R
The Savarsin Castle, 26th December 2007

From the blog of Prince Radu

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Christmas Eve Liturgy

We recorded the Liturgy last night from St. Michael Orthodox Christian Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

VIDEOCAST

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Merry Christmas

Troparion of Christmas
Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath shined the light of knowledge upon the world; for thereby they that worshipped the stars were instructed by a star to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory be to Thee.

The incomprehensible and inexplicable Nativity of Christ came to pass when Herod the Great was reigning in Judea; the latter was an Ascalonite on his fathers's side and an Idumean on his mother's. He was in every way foreign to the royal line of David; rather, he had received his authority from the Roman emperors, and had ruled tyrannically over the Jewish people for some thirty-three years. The tribe of Judah, which had reigned of old, was deprived of its rights and stripped of all rule and authority. Such was the condition of the Jews when the awaited Messiah was born, and truly thus was fulfilled the prophecy which the Patriarch Jacob had spoken 1,807 years before: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of the nations" (Gen.49:10).

Thus, our Saviour was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, whither Joseph had come from Nazareth of Galilee, taking Mary his betrothed, who was great with child, that, according to the decree issued in those days by the Emperor Augustus, they might be registered in the census of those subject to Rome. Therefore, when the time came for the Virgin to give birth, and since because of the great multitude there was no place in the inn, the Virgin's circumstace constrained them to enter a cave which was near Bethlehem. Having as shelter a stable of irrational beasts, she gave birth there, and swaddled the Infant and laid Him in the manger (Luke 2:1-7). From this, the tradition has come down to us that when Christ was born He lay between two animals, an ox and an ass, that the words of the Prophets might be fulfilled: "Between two living creatures shalt Thou be known" (Abbacum 3:2), and "The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib" (Esaias 1: 3).

But while the earth gave the new-born Saviour such a humble reception, Heaven on high celebrated majestically His world-saving coming. A wondrous star, shining with uncommon brightness and following a strange course, led Magi from the East to Bethlehem to worship the new-born King. Certain shepherds who were in the area of Bethlehem, who kept watch while tending their sheep, were suddenly surrounded by an extraordinary light, and they saw before them an Angel who proclaimed to them the good tidings of the Lord's joyous Nativity. And straightway, together with this Angel, they beheld and heard a whole host of the Heavenly Powers praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men" (Luke 2:8-14).

From Goarch.org

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New Media

File this under the heading of New Media. The Queen now has a site on You Tube. This is a great example of how people can use the new media. One of the videos is her first Television broadcast of her Christmas Message. Fifty years ago today it appeared on TV and for man people in the Kingdom it was the first time they saw her live. Now with You Tube she can reach many more people. Watch the video and watch her at the end. It is funny how unpolished she is in this first video. Anyway here it is:

The Royal Channel

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Room in the Inn

In my Sunday homily I asked the question is there room in the Inn of your hart for the Christ child this Christmas. You can listen with the link below.

HOMILYCAST

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Liturgy Live Stream

Well today is the big day, actually it was supposed to be last week but because of the snow, today we go live on the Internet with the Divine Liturgy. This will be new for us so please be patient as we work out the bugs. The camera position is not great but over the next few weeks I will be working on that as well.

Here is the link for the recorded liturgy:

LiturgyCast

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Shepherd of Souls Podcast #12

Episode 12 is now online. In this Episode I continue looking at the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church with a look at Baptism.

PODCAST

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St. Monirus

Scottish Saint of the Day:

A pool in the River Dee in the North of Scotland called Polmanuire reminds us of the influence of this saint in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire in the ninth century. He is remembered particularly at Crathie where there was a church in his name and a local fair. He died in 824.

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Pastoral Letter

His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas has released his Pastoral Letter for the Feast of the Nativity. You can read it below:

English

Romanian Sphere: Related Content

Let it Snow!

So it is 7:30am on Sunday Morning and it has been snowing for sometime now. The Church lot has not been plowed and the police are saying it is getting slippery since it is changing over to sleet. I have pulled the plug and canceled church for the day. I just took this picture from the front door of the rectory looking up the hill toward the church. Stay warm, and stay home if you are in the Northeast. There is no need to go outside. Let the plows do there job and get the roads clean. Please don't throw your snow in the street, shovel off the sidewalks in front of your house, and if you have fire hydrant near you, give the guys a break and shovel that out as well. I will have to admit I love this time of year. I don't have to go anywhere so I love it even more. I am always concerned for people who have to be out in this mess, the plow drivers, police, EMT's Fire it is very dangerous for them as well. I have the scanner on and they are busy so keep them in your prayers today. As the day continues and they get tired it will get worse. So sit back and enjoy a day of football. Maybe I can get the decorations on my tree! Blessed Sunday.

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Snow Storm

We are preparing for the first of TWO big snow storms to his us. The first one is due to hit sometime today and will dump up to 12 inches of the white stuff on us. The second one is Due on Saturday night and who knows how much we will get. I have to say I am a little excited about this because I do not have to go anywhere, but at the same time a little concerned for those who do. We all saw what happened in the Midwest and now that is heading our way. I will try and take some pics and post them.

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The Sacraments of the Orthodox Church

When I first came to St. Michael's three years ago, I preached a series of sermons on the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church. I thought I would turn to those teaching for a few posts. I am also recording those as Podcasts for the Shepherd of Souls as well. I will begin with a brief overview of what the sacraments are and where they come from.

The Sacraments are vessels of the mystical participation in the Divine Grace of Mankind. The Orthodox Church considers everything which is and of the church as Sacraments. The word Sacrament comes from the Latin noun Sacramentum, and it signified a sacred obligation. The Roman Church by the 12th century used the term exclusively to identify something that had an external sign of grace, instituted by Christ for the sanctification of believers.

The Orthodox Church uses the term Mysterion when speaking of the Sacraments. The word comes from the Greek myein meaning to initiate. New Testament mysterion denotes the incomprehensible and inconceivable revealed truths and teachings of God. The term is also used to define the incomprehensible doctrines of our faith. There would be, Teaching of the Holy Trinity, incarnation of our Lord, and Transubstaniation. They are mysteries because we cannot explain them with out human minds.

The Sacraments (Mysteries) have the following:

1. The Divine Institution - Jesus instituted all seven of the Sacraments.

2. The Outward Sign - The Church is both visible and invisible and we are composed of body and soul so the Sacraments have outward and visible signs. An example of this would be the bread and wine used for Communion and the words that are said during the liturgy.

3. The Inward Grace Given - The signs transmit the presence of the Holy Spirit and the grace is not the same in every Sacrament. i.e. in marriage Divine Grace unites the husband and wife.

In order to administer the Sacraments, the following are necessary:

1. The one who administers the Sacrament with be canonically ordained either bishop or priest with proper authority given to them.

2. The material defined for each Sacrament must be used: water for baptism, oil for Chrismation, bread and wine for Holy Eucharist and the words that are laid down by the church.

3. The individual must be prepared and be receptive to the grace. The person must approach in a proper spiritual manner.

You will notice that I am using the terms Sacrament and Mystery interchangeably. The term Sacrament is a term that all should be used to so for the sake of this discussion I will use both for the same purpose.

So that is the beginning of the discussion. Next post will be about the Sacrament, or Mystery, of Baptism.

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11 December ~ St. Daniel the Stylite

This Saint was from the village of Marutha in the region of Samosata in Mesopotamia. He became a monk at the age of twelve. After visiting Saint Symeon the Stylite (see Sept. 1) and receiving his blessing, he was moved with zeal to follow his marvellous way of life. At the age of forty-two, guided by providence, he came to Anaplus in the environs of Constantinople, in the days of the holy Patriarch Anatolius (see July 3), who was also healed by Saint Daniel of very grave malady and sought to have him live near him. Upon coming to Anaplus, Saint Daniel first lived in the church of the Archangel Michael, but after some nine years, Saint Symeon the Stylite appeared to him in a vision, commanding him to imitate his own ascetical struggle upon a pillar. The remaining thirty-three years of his life he stood for varying periods on three pillars, one after another. He stood immovable in all weather, and once his disciples found him covered with ice after a winter storm. He was a counsellor of emperors; the pious emperor Leo the Great fervently loved him and brought his royal guests to meet him. It was at Saint Daniel's word that the holy relics of Saint Symeon the Stylite were brought to Constantinople from Antioch, and it was in his days that the Emperor Leo had the relics of the Three Holy Children brought from Babylon. Saint Daniel also defended the Church against the error of the Eutychians. Having lived through the reigns of the Emperors Leo, Zeno, and Basiliscus, he reposed in 490, at the age of eighty-four.

From www.goarch.org

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Live Podcast/Webcast

Fr. Greg and I will be doing a live Podcast/Webcast from 4-6pm today on ustream. This is part of the Orthodox Christian Network special webcast.

Join us at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/facing-east

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Conception of the Theotokos

According to the ancient tradition of the Church, since Saint Anna, the Ancestor of God, was barren, she and her husband Joachim remained without children until old age. Therefore, sorrowing over their childlessness, they besought God with a promise that, if He were to grant them the fruit of the womb, they would offer their offspring to Him as a gift. And God, hearkening to their supplication, informed them through an Angel concerning the birth of the Virgin. And thus, through God's promise, Anna conceived according to the laws of nature, and was deemed worthy to become the mother of the Mother of our Lord.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Against all hope, the bonds of barrenness are loosed today. For, God has hearkened unto Joachim and Anna clearly promising that they would bear a godly maiden. He who commanded the angel to cry out to her, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you," will be born of her, the infinite One Himself, becoming man.

From www.goarch.org

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Webcast

Fr. Greg and I will be participating in a live webcast call in show on Sunday from 4-6pm. This is being sponsored by the Orthodox Christian Network and is being used as a fundraiser but also will give folks a chance to call in a speak about Christmas. There will be several special guests including Archbishop Nicolae of the Romanian Archdiocese. We are also going to stream us being on the Webcast, while podcasting. It should be a hoot and we are going to try and have a live audience here as well so tune in. I will post the address on Sunday.

This week on OCN the interview we did with Archbishop Nicolae will be running on The Ark on a segment called Special Moments in Orthodoxy. The segment will air Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3pm and 11pm. Tune in if you can.

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Mormons & Mitt Romney

Tonight former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is going to give a speech on his Mormon faith. I believe that one aspect of this blog is to inform it's readers about topics in the news. I have been looking for a straight forward "small" survey of the Mormon faith. I have a little book called "Pocket Dictionary of North American Denominations" It is published by InterVarsity Press so I am not sure what bent it has. I have been looking for something that is not twisted or bent in any direction but that is very difficult. I will reproduce a few pages from the book below.

Mormon beliefs and practices. Utah Mormonism is an indigenous religious movement that incorporates American values of self-reliance, pragmatism, progress and democracy. It fits into the religious context of early nineteenth-century New England, which produced the Oneida Community and a host of other communal experiments based on a theology of human perfectibility and an implicit belief in the essential divinity of humankind.
The Book of Mormon is fundamentally an early-American romance based on the Bible. LDS missionaries stress the importance the Bible and the Book of Mormon as sources for their beliefs, down playing the role of continuing revelation characteristic
of their church. Yet in reality they read both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in light of later revelations given to Joseph Smith and successive prophets. These include Doctrine and Covenants and The Perls of Great Price as well as other revelations given to church leaders since Smith’s death.
Structurally, Latter-day Saints theology is held together by an evolutionary framework known as the doctrine of eternal progression. This belief is summed up by the phrase "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” Thus human destiny is to evolve to Godhood through obedience to the laws and ordinances revealed to the LDS church. Spiritual progress is, however, conditional on choices made by the individual, making LDS theology an extreme form of Arminianism at best. The doctrine of eternal progression claims by Brigham Young and other early leaders that Adam was the God of this earth also opens the door to criticism of incipient polytheism. Some Mormon scholars, however, point out that these are not part of official LDS doctrine.
Belief in preexistent souls and the existence of various heavenly realms endow Utah Mormonism with a system of rewards that motivate individuals to participate in elaborate temple ceremonies. In many respects these practices reflect the influences of popular religious (both orthodox and unorthodox) and scientific beliefs of the early nineteenth century. However, contrary to sensational claims by some evangelical writers, there seems to be no evidence that Mormon temple rites involve explicit Satanism.
Recently, the Latter-day Saints have made a concerted effort to become part of mainstream America, and it appears that they are succeeding. In spite of their unconventional past and the doctrinal and scientific problems that continue to dog them, they are known as a socially and politically conservative, morally respectable, clean-living, industrious and family-oriented people.
Mormons and their church have had difficulty living down a couple of questionable social teachings from their past (although these seem to have had little effect on the church's growth). First is the issue of polygamy. It is historically established that Joseph Smith practiced and taught polygamy. It is also clear that this doctrine was central to his entire theological system and is an "everlasting covenant" (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 132). In 1890 under the leadership of their president, Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898), the Utah Mormons officially declared, “We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice.” This was done in order to reach a political accommodation with the U.S. government. And in 1904 the LDS leadership forbade their mem­bers to enter into new polygamous relationships. A few small splin­ter groups, however, continue to be polygamous, and occasional media reports to this effect plague the Latter-day Saints.
Second, reflecting the predominant attitudes of the nineteenth century, Joseph Smith clearly taught that African Americans could not enter the Mormon priesthood - an office held by most male church members. This racial segregationism, however, was coun­tered in 1978, when President Spencer W. Kimball reported that he had received a revelation from God extending the priesthood to all male members. Yet another example of continuing revelation cor­recting past infelicities can be seen in changes made to 2 Nephi 30:6 of the Book of Mormon, where God is said to promise to make cer­tain Native Americans "a white and delightsome people." Since 1978 the wording has read pure instead of white.
From the beginning Christians have rejected Mormon claims to be a Christian church. Major differences remain in the doctrines of God, salvation, Scripture and eternal destinies, to name but a few. Although most Mormons sincerely believe that they are Christians, the differences between the teachings of the Latter-day Saints and traditional Christianity are so great that most, if not all, other North American denominations do not officially recognize the LDS as a Christian church.

If a Mormon presents him/herself for entry into the Orthodox Church the must be baptized because we, as Orthodox, do not recognize Mormon Baptism.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - From Wikipedia

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Wish List

If you look on the right you will see a button from Amazon.com this is my shameless wish list of books that I have put together. If you would like to support a struggling priest you can select a book from this list. You will have my eternal gratitude. Check back often for more books.

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Yesterdays Storm

Although the storm was not that bad around here, last night I learned of the death of a 17yo in an accident on his way to school. It is unclear at this time what caused the accident but the story in this mornings paper said that he was going between 25 and 30 mph. While that may not seem fast the road he was traveling on is very twisty and turny. He was not wearing his seat belt and the police chief feels that is what caused his injuries. There was another person in the vehicle with him and thankfully he was not seriously injured.

I hearken back to one of my earlier posts about teen death rates while driving. We need to keep our kids alive and teach them to wear seat belts. I would imagine one of the ways we can do this is by doing it ourselves. If the children see the parents doing it then they will do it, or be more likely to do it. We are loosing way to many kids to this kind of accident.

On another note, yesterday was at the sink in the kitchen here in the rectory and I notice some kids outside throwing snowballs. Not a big deal but then I started to listen to what they were saying. They were using the "F" word like it is a regular word! And they were at a church! Where are the parents? What are they teaching these kids? No respect for anything! Not that I mind them using the church grounds, but would they use someones yard like this if it was not a church? These kids have been using the grounds since I have been here but this is the first time I actually listened to what they were saying, I guess I wont to that again. What is this world coming too?

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Snow on the way YES

Well we are getting ready for the first big snow storm of the year. There is a big storm working it's way across the US. I understand it did some damage in the Midwest and three people died. Let us remember them in our prayers today.
So today is kind of a weird day. Our little church will be closed today as we all go across the street to St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church to celebrate their feast day with them. So I get the day off. I will concelebrate with Fr. John and I believe His Grace Bishop Nikon will be there as well. It is always nice to just be able to celebrate the Liturgy and now worry about anything. It really allows you to get into the moment and really pray. Wish we did it more.

After Liturgy they will have a banquet and then it is home to stay warm and hope the fire department does not get busy or I will have to go out in the nasty weather. So keep those prayers coming.

Have a blessed Sunday and try and stay dry and warm!

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Icon of my Childhood Gone

It is with sadness that I read in the news paper this morning that Evel Knievel has died.

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