Christ is born! Glorify Him!

A CHRISTMAS SERMON OF POPE ST. LEO THE GREAT

Dearly beloved : Unto us is born this day a Saviour. Therefore let us rejoice. Sadness should find no place amongst those who keep the Birthday of Life. For as of this day Life came unto us dying creatures, to take away the sting of death, and to bring the bright promise of joy eternal. And no one is excluded from sharing in this our gladness. For all mankind hath one and the same cause thereof, to wit, that our Lord, the Destroyer of sin and death, because he findeth no one free from condemnation, is come to set everyone free. Rejoice, O saint, for thou drawest nearer thy crown! Rejoice, O sinner, for thy Saviour offereth thee pardon! Rejoice, O Jew, for Messias is come. Rejoice, O Gentile, for God calleth thee to life! Now is come the fulness of time, fixed by the unsearchable counsel of God, when the Son of God took upon him the nature of man, that he might reconcile it to its Maker. Now is come the time when the devil, the inventor of death, is met and beaten in that very flesh which hath been the field of his victory.

When the Almighty Lord entered this field of battle against the devil, he did so in great and wondrous fairness. For against our cruel enemy he opposed not the armament of his uncreate Majesty, but the lowliness of our flesh. He brought against him the very shape and the very nature of our mortality, with this difference only, that he was without sin. For his birth is not like that of the ordinary run of men, of whom there is the saying : No one is clean from stain, not even the day-old babe. In this birth alone no desires of the flesh had place. In this birth alone no consequence of sin had part. A Virgin of the kingly lineage of David was chosen to be the Mother who grew heavy with the sacred Child. She was chosen to conceive this divine and human offspring in her body because already she had conceived him in her soul. And that the unwonted events ordained by the counsel of God might cause her no alarm, she was taught them beforehand when the Angel announced that what was to be wrought in her was of the Holy Ghost, and that to become the Mother of God was not to forego her virgin modesty.

Wherefore, dearly beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Ghost : who for his great love, wherewith he loved us, hath had mercy on us ; and even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, that in him we might be a new creature, and a new workmanship. Let us then put off the old man with his deeds. And, having obtained a share in the Sonship of Christ, let us renounce the deeds of the flesh. Acknowledge, O Christian, thine own dignity, who hast been made partaker of the divine nature, and change not back my misdoing into thy former baseness. Bethink thee whose Body it is whereof thou art made a member, and who is its Head. Be mindful that he hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into God's light and God's kingdom.

To him be the glory, the honor, and the worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

St. Severin Prayer Book

The St. Severin Prayer book should be working by now. It might take my server a little while, but hopefully by tomorrow, everything will be all right. If you go to the Orthodox Tidings site and scroll down to the Orthodox Prayers link, the page you come to should have a green background. Scroll down to the Western Orthodox Prayers link. This page will be blue. Scroll down and you'll find the St. Severin Prayer Book link. Below the icon of St. Severin of Noricum, Enlightener of Austria, you should see a link for "Evening Prayers."

Now, about the St. Severin Prayer Book. It is not an acutal, published prayer book, but rather a compilation of texts--not all of which have received official approval from an Orthodox bishop. It's my own project, to put together a prayerbook which could serve as a resource for Western Rite Orthodox and other Christians. I am always open to suggestions and comments. (But, please pray for a while before you make a denunciation.)

The order for Evening Prayers is not Compline. I hope to include the canonical hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline) on the Western Orthodox Prayers site later. St. Severin Evening Prayers and the forthcoming Morning Prayers will draw from the hours, but also include other apporpriate prayers compiled in an orderly way.

If you should have a moment, look over my first offering, "Evening Prayers," and see if you would feel comfortable praying them. If so, pray them once or a few times and let me know how it feels.

When St. John Maximovitch's French Orthodox Western Rite flock brought to him a restored Gallican Rite liturgy for approval, he decided to try it out before making a definitive decision.

Orthodoxtidings.com UPDATED

This is to let everyone know that my web site Orthodox Tidings has been recently updated. Among the added features is the St. Severin Prayer Book. It's a work in progress, but I hope to continue adding more and more texts. You can access it through the Orthodox Prayers link on the main page. My computer is weird, so I wasn't able to access it myself to give a direct address, but you should have no problem. If you can't get to it, let me know. Enjoy.