The Orthodox Messenger

Vol. I, No. 49 – Sunday, December 22, 2002

Ecumenical Patriarchate + Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America + Diocese of Atlanta

Services Held at St. Nicholas Chapel, 13460 Olympic Village Lane, Brooksville, FL -  (352) 796-8482

 

My spiritual children in the vineyard of the Diocese of Atlanta,

 

“The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all”

 

  

  Let us evoke a joyful spirit as we welcome our Prince of Peace, and the divine miracle of the Incarnation of Christ as our Savior. With thanksgiving for this majestic season, I offer you my fervent prayers with best wishes for a blessed Nativity and a New Year abundant in peace and spiritual riches.

   This peace was not a dream of the angels. It was a real message from God to man. It was a solemn promise that God renewed when his Son appeared in the midst of men. We read in the Acts of the Apostles (10:36); “God sent the word to the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ.” Only our sins could destroy that peace which never can be assured to those who make their lifetime sins a stumbling-bock on this divine highway to heaven. Peace is a divine promise and not a dream.

   We call upon our Incarnate Lord to grant you good health and wisdom in the coming days of glory. May we rejoice and proclaim together “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth, peace and good will to men!”

With paternal love in the Incarnate Lord,

+ALEXIOS

Bishop of Atlanta

OUR CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE: Services on Tuesday, December 24

10:00 A.M. – Service of the Nativity Hours and Vespers

  4:00 P.M. – Orthros of the Nativity

  4:30 P.M. – Divine Liturgy of the Nativity - Carols and Program

 

Pre-Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord; The Genealogy

EPISTLE – Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40

y faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets -- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated -- of whom the world was not worthy -- wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.  And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

GOSPEL – Matthew 1:1-25

he book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

GOSPEL ENTRANCE HYMNS

Dismissal Hymn - 1st  Tone

   (Sing in Greek before the Entrance) ("Tou lithou sfragisthenos").Hymnal,  80-81.

   (Sing in English after the Entrance) ("The stone was sealed"). (Same)

Dismissal Hymns of Pre-Nativity

   (Read) O Bethlehem, prepare, Eden is opened to all. / And be ready, Ephrata, for the Tree of life / has in the grotto blossomed forth from the Virgin. / Indeed her womb is shown to be spiritually / a Paradise in which is found the God-planted Tree. / And if we eat from it we shall live / and shall not die, as did Adam of old. / Christ is born, so that He might raise up / the formerly fallen image.

    (Read) Magnificent are Faith’s accomplishments! / The three holy Youths exultantly stood in the fountain of fire / as if beside the still waters of peace. / And Daniel the Prophet was shown to be a shepherd of lions. /  At their entreaty, O Christ God, save our souls.

Hymn of St. Nicholas (Sing in English) “An Example of the Faith” Hymnal 110-111.

Kontakion of Pre-Christmas

   (Sung by the leaders)“E Parthenos semeron ton proaionion logon.”

   (Read) Today, the Virgin comes to the cave to bring forth the eternal Word, an unspeakable mystery. Rejoice, O universe, at the message. Glorify, with the angels and the shepherds. He was willing to be looked upon as a new-born child, the eternal Word.