ΑΦΙΕΡΩΜΕΝΟ ΣΤΟΝ ΚΥΡΙΟ ΜΑΣ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΥΠΕΡΑΓΙΑ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟ
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Κυριακή 4 Ιανουαρίου 2015
The Theophany of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, St. Nikolai Velimirovic
“This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”( Matthew 3:16-17)
Behold! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
The Theophany of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ
Commemorated on January 6
St. Nikolai Velimirovic
When
our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His
teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this “beginning of the
beginning” by His Baptism in the Jordan River. St Cyril of Jerusalem
says: “The beginning of the world is water; the beginning of the Gospel
is the Jordan.” At the time of the Baptism of the Lord in water, the
mystery was declared to the world — the mystery that was prophesied in
the Old Testament; the mystery that was known only in fables in ancient
Egypt and India — the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity.
The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing, the Spirit was
revealed to the sense of sight, and the Son was revealed to the sense of
touch. The Father uttered His witness
about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit in
the form of a dove hovered above the water. When John the
Baptist bore witness to Christ, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and when John immersed and
baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and
the path of our salvation were shown. That is to say, the Lord took
upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them (immersion) and
rose again (the coming out of the water); and we must die to the old
sinful man and rise again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path to salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Illumination. The event in the Jordan River illuminates us by manifesting God to us as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided.
That is one way that we are illumined. And the second way is that every
one of us through baptism in water is illumined, in that we become
adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Source: St. Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue of Ohrid – Volume One.
Troparion (Tone 4)
Be
thou ready, Zabulon; prepare thyself, O Nephthalim. River Jordan, stay
thy course and skip for gladness to receive the Sovereign Master, Who
cometh now to be baptized. O Adam, be thou glad with our first mother,
Eve; hide not as ye did of old in Paradise. Seeing you naked, He hath
appeared now to clothe you in the first robe again. Christ hath
appeared, for He truly willeth to renew all creation.
Kontakion (Tone 4)
In
the running waters of the Jordan River, on this day the Lord of all
crieth to John: Be not afraid and hesitate not to baptize Me, for I am
come to save Adam, the first-formed man.
When
our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His
teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this “beginning of the
beginning” by His Baptism in the Jordan River. St Cyril of Jerusalem
says: “The beginning of the world is water; the beginning of the Gospel
is the Jordan.” At the time of the Baptism of the Lord in water, the
mystery was declared to the world — the mystery that was prophesied in
the Old Testament; the mystery that was known only in fables in ancient
Egypt and India — the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity.
The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing, the Spirit was
revealed to the sense of sight, and the Son was revealed to the sense of
touch. The Father uttered His witness
about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit in
the form of a dove hovered above the water. When John the
Baptist bore witness to Christ, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and when John immersed and
baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and
the path of our salvation were shown. That is to say, the Lord took
upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them (immersion) and
rose again (the coming out of the water); and we must die to the old
sinful man and rise again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path to salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Illumination. The event in the Jordan River illuminates us by manifesting God to us as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided.
That is one way that we are illumined. And the second way is that every
one of us through baptism in water is illumined, in that we become
adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the
power of the Holy Spirit.
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