We celebrate today the memory of the Ancestors of Christ. Sing with fervor a hymn of praise to Christ the Savior who magnified them among all nations. He is the Lord who does wondrous deeds because He is powerful and mighty, and who shows us His strength through these Ancestors.
Lamp-Lighting Verses Of Vespers
It is only by faith that we can truly celebrate the first manifestation of God to humankind, namely His birth as a Child. Our Church would have us, through this coming feast, recognize a very important belief of our faith, namely that God actually became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. This is one of the truly unique aspects of our Christian faith, namely that God Himself has taken on human flesh in order to reveal to us our true human nature and also show us how to live in order to derive the full benefit that has been given to us by earthly life.
It is because of this belief that Christianity has come to believe that God is Triune in essence – He is Three Distinct Persons in One Godhead. Our Church came to this belief as it was guided by God’s Spirit to see Jesus as truly God and truly man. If Jesus is truly God, our Church has come to believe that God must have at least one other, distinct personality. Further He must be seen, because of His power, as also having a third Person, the Holy Spirit.
Christianity has come to see that our God is a Trinity of Persons because it believes that Jesus is God incarnate. All of His actions during His physical life on earth spoke to the fact of His unique power.
The event we are about to celebrate, namely God’s incarnation as a human being, connects us to Him in a unique manner. It tells us, first and foremost, that the life-force which animates us as human beings is, in truly some mysterious manner, also the same life-force which is God Himself. Because all humans are brought into existence by sharing in God’s own life-force, all humans also have the gift of immortality. All humans have been and will be a thought in the mind of God for all of eternity.
What an incredible and wondrous mystery! Let us truly prepare to celebrate it!