My beloved spiritual children in Our Incarnate Logos, God and Savior Jesus Christ,
CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHRISTOLOGY
The dogma concerning Jesus Christ also derives from spontaneous religious experiences of the primitive Church. The believers of the early Church had acknowledged Jesus as the Incarnate and Resurrected Son of God. They regarded the testimony of the disciples, who had witnessed the epiphanies, as proof that he was indeed the exalted Lord Who sits at the right hand of the Father and would return in glory to bring about the fulfillment of His kingdom.
The Gospel of Saint John reveals Jesus as the Incarnate Divine Logos/Word. Jesus is Divine not because Divinity has been conferred upon Him from without, but because He is a Pre-existent Celestial Being Who descended into the world: the Divine Logos/Word Who assumed a fleshly human body in order to affect human history...
"...The Christological formulas of the Orthodox Church do not try to provide a rationalistic explanation of the phenomenon of Christ. They aim to bring out at least three aspects of the mystery of Divine Sonship which the Church regarded as essential. First, the fact that Jesus Christ, Son of God, is God in full measure, that in Him "the whole plenitude of Deity is present." Second, that He is man in full measure. Third, that these two "natures" (divine and human) do not exist unconnected side by side, but that they are joined within Christ in a personal unity...The Mystery of the Person of Jesus Christ is summed up in the formula: two natures in one person..."
The Dogmatic Position of the Mother of God
The dogma of the Incarnation of the Divine Logos/Word is closely linked with the dogma of the Ever-Virgin Mary as "Mother of God" and "God-bearer." Again, the devotion of the Mother of God did not develop out of theory; rather, the doctrine itself reflects only the extraordinary importance that veneration of the Mother of God early acquired in the liturgy, in the devotions of the Christian Communities, and in the personal worship of Orthodox Christian believers.
This birth of the devotion of the Ever-Virgin Mary as "God-bearer"--Theotokos--is one of the most amazing processes in the history of the primitive (early) Church.
In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, at the conclusion of the great intercessory prayer: "Truly worthy is it to praise Thee, God-bearer, eternally blessed and perfectly irreproachable Mother of God, who art worthy of honor than the cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the seraphim, who, intact, hast borne the Divine Logos/Word--Thee, the True Mother of God, we praise."
Among the innumerable hymns in honor of the Mother of God in which her cosmic aspect is also touched upon, we shall quote only the hymn of the shepherds from the morning service of Akathistos Saturday:
Joy to Thee, Mother of the Lamb and the Shepherd.
Joy to Thee, Herder of spiritual sheep.
Joy to Thee, Avenger on invisible enemies.
Joy to Thee, Opener of the gates of Paradise.
Joy to Thee, Heaven rejoices with the earth.
Joy to Thee, earth dances with Heaven.
Joy To Thee, resounding Tongue of the Apostles.
Joy To Thee, unconquerable Courage of the victorious.
Joy To Thee, mighty Bulwark of Faith.
Joy To Thee, glorious Monument of Grace.
Joy To Thee, through Thee Hades, was stripped.
Joy To Thee, through Thee we received the garb of glory.
Joy To Thee, Initiate of inscrutable counsels.
Joy To Thee, Warrant of them who crave rest.
Joy To Thee, Prelude of the wonder of Christ.
Joy To Thee, Perfection of His teachings.
Joy To Thee, heavenly Ladder, upon Whom God descended.
Joy To Thee, Bridge that leads from earth up to Heaven.
Joy To Thee, Glory oft-declared by the Angels.
Joy To Thee, sore Wound of all devils.
Joy To Thee, Who inexpressible hast received the Light.
Joy To Thee, overpowering the knowledge of the wise.
Joy To Thee, illuminating the senses of the faithful.
Joy To Thee, virgin Bride.
(Source: The Eastern Orthodox Church, Its Thought and Life by Ernst Benz)
A BLESSED AND SAFE CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George