Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ; Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God; Holy Priest-Martyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (824)
A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Hebrews 2:11-18; Matthew 2:13-23
Read Hebrews 2:11-18
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
As we mark the Synaxis of the Mother of God, a feast which focuses our attention on the Theotokos and her role in God’s plan of salvation, let us meditate on what is one of the most beautiful of the liturgical texts for the Feast of the Nativity:
O Christ what shall we offer You;
for our sake You appeared on earth as man?
Every creature made by You offers thanks to You.
The angels offer You a hymn; the heavens, a star;
the Magi, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder;
the earth, its cave; the wilderness, the manger:
and we offer You a Virgin Mother.
O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us.
As the human race, we offer the Mother of God to God. In a perfect exercise of her human freedom, she said ‘Yes’ to God and trusted in Him. She shows us the way: the way to trust, the way to be faithful, the way to surrender to God’s will for us, and how to be perfected by God’s all-abundant grace and love. May she always be our great example and our great intercessor.