We are all on a journey: an ancient journey, full of perils.
We travel together for safety, and our companions, chosen or haphazard, largely determine our experience of our travel,
Except for two unalterable truths…
Everything changes, nothing stays the same.
No one can ever go back the way they came.
And, like all journeys, the ultimate significance of our endeavours depends largely upon our intended destination
And on our intended purpose, once we get there:
Are we some rough beast, slouching towards Bethlehem to be born?
Or are we a vulnerable young mother,
Voluntarily submitting ourselves to the pains of travel and the labour of childbirth
To do our part to help provide a body for and to bring into the world the Christ-child?
And, if the latter, our journey does not end at Bethlehem.
For, once we have so participated in His embodiment, we have chosen, and been chosen, to go further:
To go as far as needed, to continue the journey as long as we are needed
To protect and nurture and bring up Him who has chosen to be born of us
In the humiliation of the stable:
the helpless saviour of the world, the Prince of Peace.
Christ is born!
May we, with our souls and our bodies – our entire beings, throughout our entire journey –
Glorify Him.
Christmas and Theophany Services
Christmas is coming… and so is Theophany! Since our custom is for the priest to take a bit of “time off” after Christmas (consisting largely of not doing Wednesday services), and Christmas is slightly different, here’s the list of services coming up:
- Dec 24, 6:00pm: Christmas Eve Vigil (usually a bit over two hours long)
- Dec 25, 9:00am: Christmas Liturgy (starting at 9am sharp, no Hours; usually about an hour-and-a-half, followed by a Christmas feast for any who can stay)
- Dec 28: NO Compline!
- Dec 31, 6:00pm: Great Vespers (as usual)
- Jan 1, 9:00am: Hours and Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
- Jan 4: NO Compline!
- Jan 5, 6:30pm: Vesperal Liturgy and Great Blessing of Waters (indoor) for Theophany
- Jan 7, 6:00pm: Great Vespers
- Jan 8, 9:00am: Hours and Liturgy, followed by the Great Blessing of the Waters (outdoor)
And, speaking of the Great Blessing of the Waters, here’s a short piece that Mike McCardell did when he happened to run across us blessing the waters at Kits Beach in 2012: https://youtu.be/7TYH6voSQb0
Finally, calendars are here! Many thanks to Zane, of Ancient Burials, for providing them for us (in a wonderfully timely manner) this year!