Published in the Post and Courier on 12.24.06 originally as The Nativity has two focuses
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
(Part IV of IV)
Our journey to Bethlehem through the images in St. Andrei Rublev’s Nativity finishes at the center—a center which has two foci: Mary, the Virgin Mother, and the somewhat less obvious (because of his size) newborn Christ (who, biblically speaking, is not “Jesus” until he is named on the 8th day—see Luke 2:21.)
Mary—the Theotokos, or God-bearer, as she is known in the Church—is the most noticeable figure in the icon. One’s eyes are immediately drawn to her, not only by her central location, but by her relative size and the bright red color of the bed on which she lays. The ever-virgin Mother’s body faces our Lord, yet her eyes gaze into the distance, as she keeps all that which the Shepherds told her, “pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Mary’s geometrically central position in this icon points to the reality that she herself is the gift which we human beings offer for this redemptive event. Recall the hymn we’ve been singing:
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
“We offer Thee a virgin mother…” Mary is the pure offering of humanity, known in the Church by many of the names given to the instruments of worship in the Old Testament, and supremely, “the Temple” itself—Her womb being the actual dwelling place of God-made-man. The Theotokos is not for us the great exception, but rather, the great example. She was chosen and prepared by God, and by her consent—her ‘fiat’, bore Emmanuel, God-with-us.
The Church chants this beautiful hymn as from the lips of the Mother of God:
‘Thou, O my Son, art the all-perfect God, Yet Thou didst accept the form of Adam! In my hands I hold Thee, yet Thou dost hold all creation! How shall I wrap Thee in swaddling clothes? How shall I nourish Thee, O Food of Life? How shall I wonder at Thine ineffable poverty? How shall I name Thee, since I am Thy servant?’ Thy mother cried: ‘I can only sing and bless Thee, For Thou dost grant the world great mercy!
Indeed, as evidenced here at the Nativity, Mary is the first and most important Christian, as described in a beautiful hymn we sing of her. She is “more honorable than the Cherubim, more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim.” As we contemplate the Nativity of Christ, we can hardly overlook her who gave birth to God the Word. We are obliged by gratitude and joy to fulfill her prophetic hymn, “all generations shall call me blessed.” Indeed, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have borne the Savior of our souls!”
Now, in the silence of the black cave, at the tips of the noses of the curious ox and ass (who recognized their maker), and resting gently no longer in, but just outside the womb of his most-pure mother, we find our Lord, according to the Scriptures, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. What are these swaddling clothes? Much more than just some rags that happened to be at hand! Those familiar with the icon of the raising of Lazarus from the dead will recognize that the infant Christ is wrapped, more specifically, in a burial shroud. Even in his nativity, hinted at also with the gift of myrrh, the purpose for his incarnation is made manifest: born to die for the sins of the whole world.
In the icon, as in life, our Lord is ‘findable’ but must be sought out. Have I looked? Have I found the One whom the angels today hymn? Have I found the One, worshiped by the Magi who learned of Him from the stars? If we don’t know where to look by ourselves, we can follow the star, the magi, the shepherds, the animals. They all know where to point us. “Seek and you shall find.”
Once having found and recognized Him as the Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Holy One, Emmanuel, have I asked the resounding question, “What shall I offer Thee, O Christ, who hast appeared on Earth as Man?” What can we offer him besides true worship and obedience? “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!”
Especially for Nativity of Christ, Orthodox Christians have a special “call and response” greeting. Beginning this evening, one joy-filled Christian greets another, “Christ is born!” and the other responds, “Glorify Him!” Such a greeting is exchanged during the many days of this feast which commences, not ends, at the Vigil of the Nativity.
With the angels, I greet you, and bring you “good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). And with jubilation, I salute you with the blessings of the feast. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 843-881-5010.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
A Strange Pair draws near to the Newborn Christ (Part III of IV)
By Fr. John Parker
The Angels are rejoicing and proclaiming the Good News. The Magi, journeying from afar, bear their gifts foreshadowing the divinity, sovereignty, and humanity of Christ. The shepherds, the first Jews to believe, explain what they have seen and heard, leading others, too, to wonder!
As we make our way, as if in a spiral towards the center of Rublev’s Nativity, we are greeted by a strange pair. A couple we wouldn’t expect to find so attentively gazing on our Lord. Two that are as close to Christ in proximity as the Virgin Mother.
Two well-known carols in the Western Christian tradition reference these two animals who by their eyes direct ours to our infant Lord in the manger. Perhaps you remember the tunes:
Why lies He in such mean estate / Where ox and ass are feeding? / Good Christian, fear: for sinners here, / The silent Word is pleading. (“What Child is This?”)
Ox and ass before him bow / And He is in the manger now. / Christ is born today! / Christ is born today! (“Good Christian Men, Rejoice!”)
But where do this ox and this ass appear in the Gospel accounts of the Nativity? Every crèche displays them. We sing about them. Christians paint them into the Nativity. And yet searching high and low through the Nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke, we don’t encounter them. Why? Because they are not found in the New Testament! The ox and ass put us humans to shame, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, nearly 800 years before the Holy Advent of our Lord:
“The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand” (Isaiah 1:3).
The birth of the Messiah, Emmanuel: God with us, Jesus the Christ, is truly an awesome event—in the classical sense of “awesome”. So marvelous is it, so utterly extraordinary—the heavens and the stars recognize Him. The earth itself recognizes him. “Foreigners” recognize him. Even “dumb” animals worship Him! Once again, we return to the Orthodox Christian hymn:
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
In fact, one of the theological reasons we celebrate Christmas at the Winter Solstice (just a few days later on our present calendar…) is because of the point made by the universe at this time. What is that point?
The Solstice is the shortest day of the year. Each day thereafter, light increases on the Earth. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The true light, Jesus Christ, has come into the world, and the darkness has not overcome him. For Christians, Christmas is a festival of the Light, Jesus Christ who announced, “I am the light of the world.”
The heavens demonstrate it; the stars point to Him; the ox and the ass gaze upon Him, showing us with their devotion what they cannot tell us with words. And we are left with the question Jesus later asks Peter and his followers, “Who do you say that I am?”
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 843-881-5010.
Originally printed in Charleston's Post and Courier on Sunday, December 17, 2006 and online at
http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/default_pf.aspx?NEWSID=122794
The Angels are rejoicing and proclaiming the Good News. The Magi, journeying from afar, bear their gifts foreshadowing the divinity, sovereignty, and humanity of Christ. The shepherds, the first Jews to believe, explain what they have seen and heard, leading others, too, to wonder!
As we make our way, as if in a spiral towards the center of Rublev’s Nativity, we are greeted by a strange pair. A couple we wouldn’t expect to find so attentively gazing on our Lord. Two that are as close to Christ in proximity as the Virgin Mother.
Two well-known carols in the Western Christian tradition reference these two animals who by their eyes direct ours to our infant Lord in the manger. Perhaps you remember the tunes:
Why lies He in such mean estate / Where ox and ass are feeding? / Good Christian, fear: for sinners here, / The silent Word is pleading. (“What Child is This?”)
Ox and ass before him bow / And He is in the manger now. / Christ is born today! / Christ is born today! (“Good Christian Men, Rejoice!”)
But where do this ox and this ass appear in the Gospel accounts of the Nativity? Every crèche displays them. We sing about them. Christians paint them into the Nativity. And yet searching high and low through the Nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke, we don’t encounter them. Why? Because they are not found in the New Testament! The ox and ass put us humans to shame, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, nearly 800 years before the Holy Advent of our Lord:
“The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand” (Isaiah 1:3).
The birth of the Messiah, Emmanuel: God with us, Jesus the Christ, is truly an awesome event—in the classical sense of “awesome”. So marvelous is it, so utterly extraordinary—the heavens and the stars recognize Him. The earth itself recognizes him. “Foreigners” recognize him. Even “dumb” animals worship Him! Once again, we return to the Orthodox Christian hymn:
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
In fact, one of the theological reasons we celebrate Christmas at the Winter Solstice (just a few days later on our present calendar…) is because of the point made by the universe at this time. What is that point?
The Solstice is the shortest day of the year. Each day thereafter, light increases on the Earth. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The true light, Jesus Christ, has come into the world, and the darkness has not overcome him. For Christians, Christmas is a festival of the Light, Jesus Christ who announced, “I am the light of the world.”
The heavens demonstrate it; the stars point to Him; the ox and the ass gaze upon Him, showing us with their devotion what they cannot tell us with words. And we are left with the question Jesus later asks Peter and his followers, “Who do you say that I am?”
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 843-881-5010.
Originally printed in Charleston's Post and Courier on Sunday, December 17, 2006 and online at
http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/default_pf.aspx?NEWSID=122794
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
The Journey to Bethlehem Continues (Part II of IV)
The Journey to Bethlehem Continues
(Part II of IV)
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
Last week, we began our “Journey to Bethlehem” through Rublev’s stunning Icon of the Nativity. We encountered St. Joseph, tempted by the devil, as well as the nursemaids giving our Lord his first bath; and we learned of the critical meeting of the divine and the human in Jesus’ birth.
According to the hymn I have shared above, the angels offer a hymn, the heavens a star, the shepherds—their wonder. What hymn do the angels offer? The very hymn sung still today in the Orthodox Churches as the “Small Doxology” in the Matins (morning prayers) services, and known in many Western Christian Churches as “the Gloria”: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased.” We introduce this angelic hymn with a theological praise: “Glory to Thee, who hast shown us the light!”
The angels, glowing with the light of Christ, “the glory of the Lord,” also greeted the wondering shepherds. According to the Scriptures, these Jewish shepherds went and found the announced Savior, born as a child, and told all what they had seen and heard from the angels. Not surprisingly, “All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” What was the wonder? Quite surely the very same wonder uttered by Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another” (Luke 7:20)? More on the answer to that question when we speak about the ox and the ass who gaze into the manger.
While the shepherds were among the believing Jews, the “three” Magi, or wise men (not numbered in the Scriptures, but know traditionally in the Church as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), represent the offering of salvation to the “rest of the world”, known biblically as “the Gentiles”. The promise of salvation was not given strictly to the chosen Jews, even seen clearly in God’s words to the Patriarch Abraham: “…I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3, LXX). How shall Abraham “be a blessing,” and how is it that through him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed?” Because Abraham is the forefather of King David, who is the forefather of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, this promise is fulfilled, and for this reason the star appears, the Angels rejoice, and the shepherds wonder!
These gentile astronomers offered prophetic gifts to the Infant King: gold foretelling his royalty; frankincense (a fragrant incense), his divinity; and myrrh (a fragrant ointment/oil especially used to prepare corpses for burial) foreshadowing his death. Equally as beautiful as their gifts and their representation of the salvation of the gentiles is what they learned from this experience. Consider this Orthodox Hymn of the feast:
Thy Nativity O Christ our God, has shown to the world the light of wisdom / for by it those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun of Righteousness / and to know Thee, the Orient from on High, O Lord, Glory to Thee!
The magi (not magicians or kings, but astronomers) who “worshipped the stars” were “taught by a star” to adore Jesus Christ.
The Lord of Creation and King of Glory uses all that he has created to point each and every one of us, in our own unique way, to know him, Emmanuel, God with us.
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 843-881-5010.
(Part II of IV)
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
Last week, we began our “Journey to Bethlehem” through Rublev’s stunning Icon of the Nativity. We encountered St. Joseph, tempted by the devil, as well as the nursemaids giving our Lord his first bath; and we learned of the critical meeting of the divine and the human in Jesus’ birth.
According to the hymn I have shared above, the angels offer a hymn, the heavens a star, the shepherds—their wonder. What hymn do the angels offer? The very hymn sung still today in the Orthodox Churches as the “Small Doxology” in the Matins (morning prayers) services, and known in many Western Christian Churches as “the Gloria”: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased.” We introduce this angelic hymn with a theological praise: “Glory to Thee, who hast shown us the light!”
The angels, glowing with the light of Christ, “the glory of the Lord,” also greeted the wondering shepherds. According to the Scriptures, these Jewish shepherds went and found the announced Savior, born as a child, and told all what they had seen and heard from the angels. Not surprisingly, “All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” What was the wonder? Quite surely the very same wonder uttered by Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another” (Luke 7:20)? More on the answer to that question when we speak about the ox and the ass who gaze into the manger.
While the shepherds were among the believing Jews, the “three” Magi, or wise men (not numbered in the Scriptures, but know traditionally in the Church as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), represent the offering of salvation to the “rest of the world”, known biblically as “the Gentiles”. The promise of salvation was not given strictly to the chosen Jews, even seen clearly in God’s words to the Patriarch Abraham: “…I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3, LXX). How shall Abraham “be a blessing,” and how is it that through him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed?” Because Abraham is the forefather of King David, who is the forefather of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, this promise is fulfilled, and for this reason the star appears, the Angels rejoice, and the shepherds wonder!
These gentile astronomers offered prophetic gifts to the Infant King: gold foretelling his royalty; frankincense (a fragrant incense), his divinity; and myrrh (a fragrant ointment/oil especially used to prepare corpses for burial) foreshadowing his death. Equally as beautiful as their gifts and their representation of the salvation of the gentiles is what they learned from this experience. Consider this Orthodox Hymn of the feast:
Thy Nativity O Christ our God, has shown to the world the light of wisdom / for by it those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun of Righteousness / and to know Thee, the Orient from on High, O Lord, Glory to Thee!
The magi (not magicians or kings, but astronomers) who “worshipped the stars” were “taught by a star” to adore Jesus Christ.
The Lord of Creation and King of Glory uses all that he has created to point each and every one of us, in our own unique way, to know him, Emmanuel, God with us.
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 843-881-5010.
Published online as "The Magi followed the Light to Bethlehem" at http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/default_pf.aspx?NEWSID=121953
And in the Post and Courier on Sunday, December 10, 2006.
And in the Post and Courier on Sunday, December 10, 2006.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The Journey to Bethlehem Begins
By Fr. John Parker(note: first in a series of four)
About seven hundred years ago, St. Andrei Rublev or one of his disciples painted perhaps the most memorable and beautiful icon of the Nativity of Christ. The 14th century icon is warped and cracked, but is in remarkable shape despite its age and history. It tells us, in earthen pigments bound to the gesso plaster, the story of the birth of Jesus, each facet of the good news surrounding the Virgin Mother Mary and the newborn Emmanuel—“God with us.” It teaches us with paint what we sing in one of the many traditional Orthodox hymns of the Nativity:
What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thanks, The angels offer a hymn; The heavens a star; The wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; The earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer Thee a virgin mother. O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!
During this season—as it is most widely known “Advent” (from the Latin, “coming”)—of preparation, please join me on a four Sunday journey around this holy marvel, on a theological pilgrimage to the birth of Jesus Christ.
We’ll start with the two scenes on the bottom. On the left sits an old man with an evident halo (a saint) confronted by a crooked fellow in a dark, hairy coat. St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus Christ is being tempted by the Devil to divorce Mary. Joseph is an old man, who, according to the tradition of the Church, was a widower obligated by his relationship to Mary to betroth her and care for her, who had been set apart as a temple virgin to bear the eternal Son of God in the flesh.
According to the Scriptures, “When [Jesus’] 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 send her away 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’” (Matthew 1:18ff).
The temptation was to “send her away quietly” so as to not draw attention to a pregnant, unwedded teenager betrothed to an old man—even though Joseph and Mary never ‘knew’ one another, that is, they never slept together. Joseph may have had good intentions to protect young Mary, but God had other plans for him. He was told by an angel that this pregnancy was, in fact, a miracle and nothing to be ashamed of; rather, it was to be celebrated as the fulfillment of God’s promises, especially through the Prophet Isaiah, to save the world through a son, born of a virgin, in the lineage of King David.
If the images of St. Joseph and the Tempter narrate the miraculous birth of the divine Jesus Christ, the scene in the lower right shows the humanity of the birth of the Son of God. Jesus was not dropped onto the earth by an extraterrestrial ship, nor did he simply ‘appear’ as a created being. Rather, as the beginning of the redemption of all humanity and the whole world, he entered just as every single one of us does: through the womb. The birth of Christ is totally extraordinary in conception—“of the Holy Spirit” as the Angel told Joseph, and yet it is totally ordinary in its accomplishment. And so, here, we see two nursemaids doing what is done at every birth: receiving the newborn child and washing him to present to his mother. O strange wonder: God is made man. Heaven and earth meet. O come, o come Emmanuel!
Today the Virgin gives birth to the transcendent one, and the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one! Angels with shepherds glorify Him! The wise men journey with the star! Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!
Fr. John Parker is priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in I’On. He can be reached at frjohn@ocacharleston.org or by phone at 881-5010.
printed in the Post and Courier, December 3, 2006, and online at http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/default_pf.aspx?NEWSID=120991)
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