1,386
edits
Changes
no edit summary
“It is no wonder that the shepherds were able to know of the world's redemption before rulers, for the Angels made their announcement not to kings or judges but to countryfolk. It is not to be wondered at, then, if innocence merited to know the Grace of Christ before power did and simple country manners merited to recognize the Truth before proud dominion. For what the Shepherds recognized the rulers were unable to recognize; hence the Blessed Apostle says: 'What none of the rulers of this age recognized,' and so forth. At the Birth of Christ, therefore, the Angels rejoiced together with the Shepherds, giving God high glory, for in close and even joined choruses, so to speak, they preached the glory of God.” —St. Maximus of Turin, Homily on the Nativity, sec. 2
“The Angel-Messenger of the pre-eternal Counsel of the Holy Trinity comes to the earth. This is not an ordinary messenger; it is the Only-begotten Son of God Himself. He brings peace to men. ‘Peace be unto you’, he said more than once to His disciples. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you’, He says to the apostles at the Mystical Supper, ‘not as the world giveth, give I unto you’. And appearing after His Resurrection, again He says: ‘Peace be unto you’. ‘For he is our peace’, the holy Apostle Paul says concerning Him: ‘He came to the earth to reconcile man unto God by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And having come, He preached peace to those afar off and to those near, because through Him we both have access unto the Father’.
The wall that separated heaven and earth is destroyed; the sword that barred the way to the tree of life disappears. Unto man that had sinned comes his Creator, calling him into His embrace! By the mouths of the apostles, the Holy Spirit cries out: ‘In Christ, be ye reconciled to God’. You that had sinned came not to God, but the Son of God, before Whom you sinned, came to you! He calls everyone to Himself; He gives forgiveness to everyone who merely thirsts for this. For without the desire of man himself, without at least his little effort, God's peace cannot settle in him. The Lord forces no one to come to Him, but calls everyone: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. Come all ye who are heavy laden with sins, who are exhausted from your labours and who do not find rest! You shall find that inner peace, which you will find nothing on earth more desirable than. The soul will feel unearthly peace and joy.” —St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco, Epistle on the Nativity, 1962
“I saw that there was no tragedy in God. Tragedy is to be found solely in the fortunes of the man whose gaze has not gone beyond the confines of this earth.” —Archimandrite Sophrony