December 25 is the feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ! We will celebrate the feast at the following services:
Monday, Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve
8:30am – Royal Hours of the Nativity
10:00am – Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
6:30pm – Akathist for the Nativity
Tuesday, Dec. 25 – Christmas
8am – Festal Matins
9am – Festal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
We will also be celebrating the baptism of Leeanna (Egnor) Gula at 2pm on Monday, Dec. 24. As with all baptisms, all are welcome at this holy event as we welcome another of God’s children into the Body of Christ!
Notes on the Feast
Although the Festal Divine Liturgy is what most of us think of as the “primary” service for this feast, it is the other services that really contain the wealth of our Holy Church’s teaching about the Nativity of our Lord and its significance. If you have never attended these other services, please take the opportunity to do so this year. They are among the most beautiful services of the festal cycle.
If you would like to read more about the hymnography of the Church for this great feast, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia has put together a wonderful website here.
If you would like to read more about the feast of the Nativity, go here.