Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center Great Feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ Cycle

The article below was written by Rev. Fr. James Graham, Pastor of Saint Elias the Prophet Melkite Greek Catholic Mission, San Jose, CA. The article appeared in THE VOICE OF THE PROPHET, News from St Elias the Prophet Melkite Greek Catholic Mission, Volume 8, Number 12, December 2002.

Every Day in December is Preparation for the Nativity of Christ

Sometimes people ask when Advent begins in our Greek Catholic Church. The answer is that it doesn't, because the Byzantine Church does not celebrate Advent (which means the "coming") as the Latin Church does. Ą However, in our tradition, the preparation for the Nativity of Christ begins 40 days before Christmas, with the Nativity Fast that begins on 15 November. When the Melkite Church transferred the beginning of the fast to 10 December, we lost an aspect of tradition that emphasized the importance of Christmas by assigning it a preparatory fasting period as long as the Great Lent that comes before Easter. Ą But when we look at the weeks leading up to the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord on 25 December, we can see a pattern of spiritual and liturgical preparation that in some ways resembles the Western churches' Advent season. From 26 November, 30 days before Christmas, we sing the Kontakion of the Preparation for Christmas at every Sunday and feast-day liturgy. This Kontakion tells us, "Today the Virgin is on her way to the cave where she will give birth to the Eternal Word of God in an ineffable manner. Rejoice, therefore, O Universe, when you hear this news, and glorify, with the angels and the shepherds, Him who shall appear as new child, being God from all eternity." Ą Commemorations of Old Testament Prophets (Nahum on 1 December, Habakkuk on the 2nd, Zephaniah on the 3rd, Haggai on the 16th, and Daniel and the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias, and Mizael on the 17th) and the Ancestors of Christ (on the Second Sunday before Christmas) remind us that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, the fulfillment of God's promises to His chosen people. The feast of the Maternity of Anne (the Conception of the Mother of God) shows us how God employs ordinary human beings to fulfill His Plan of Salvation. The reading of the Genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:1-25) on the Sunday before Christmas connects Jesus even more intimately with God's people, all the way back to the Patriarch Abraham, the "Father of Many Nations." Ą In the Troparion for the Paramony of the Nativity (24 December), we sing "Christ is born to renew the likeness that had been lost of old." The coming of the Son of God into the world as a human person, we sing in the Troparion of Christmas, "has shed the light of knowledge upon the world. Through it, those who had worshipped stars learned through a star to worship You, O Sun of Justice, and to recognize You as the One who comes and rises from on high." We recognize and worship Jesus the Messiah, not as a baby, but as the new Adam, the perfect man, and the Light of the world.

Kontakion, Troparion, Exapostilarion, and Vespers Sticheron or Doxastikon

26 Nov. - 24 Dec., at every Sunday and feast-day liturgy.

Kontakion of the Preparation (Tone 3)
Today the Virgin is on her way to the cave where she will give birth to the Eternal Word of God in an ineffable manner. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when you hear this news, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds Him who shall appear as a newborn Babe, being God from all eternity.

December 20, Feast of the Preparation

Troparion (TONE 4)
Bethlehem, make ready, for Eden has been opened for all; Ephrata be alert, for the Tree of Life has blossomed forth from the Virgin in the cave. Her womb has become a spiritual paradise wherein the divine Fruit was planted- and it we eat of it, we shall live and not die like Adam. Christ is coming forth to bring back to life the likeness that was lost in the beginning.

Fasting

The Pre-Nativity Fast has Fasting Guidelines

Preparation
Day	Commemorate	Date	Day of Prepar- ation	Apostolos	Gospel
Feast St. Philip Apostle	St. Philip Apostle	14 Nov.		Acts 8:26-39	Jn. 1:43-51
Pre-Nativity Fast Ancient Begins	Philip Fast	Begins 15 Nov.	1	1 Tim. 4:4-8, 16	Lk. 16:15-18 17:1-4
Conception Anne	Maternity Anne	9 Dec.	25	Gal. 4:22-27	Lk.8:16-21
Pre-Nativity Fast Modern Begins	Philip Fast	Begins 10 Dec.	26 or 1	Heb. 9:8-23	Mk. 8:22-26
Sunday before Nativity	Sunday Genealogy	Between 18 and 24		Heb. 11:9-10 32-40	Mt. 1:1-25
Preparation Nativity	Holy Hieromartyr Ignatios, God-Bearer	20	36 or 11	James 2:1-13	Mk. 10:23b-32a
Second Day Preparation	Holy Martyr Juliana Nicomedia	21	37 or 12	Gal. 3:8-11	Lk. 13:19-29
Third Day Preparation	Holy Great Martyr Anastasia	22	38 or 13	Gal. 3:8-11	Lk. 13:19-29
Fourth Day Preparation	Ten Holy Great Martyrs Crete	23	39 or 14	James 2:14-26	Mk. 10:46-52
Paramony Royal Hours		24	40 or 15	Many	Many
Paramony Nativity	Holy Woman Martyr Eugenia	24	40 or 15	Heb. 1:1-12	Lk. 2:1-20
Pre-Nativity Fast Ends	Philip Fast	Ends just before Vespers on 24 December evening	40 or 15

Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center
Martha Liles
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Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center is dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in the Lord on Dec. 12, 2000, Shirley fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 8, 2001, and Donna fell asleep in the Lord on March 9, 2020.
O God of all spirits and of all flesh, who have destroyed death, overcome the devil, and given life to the world: grant, O Lord, to the souls of your servants Bucky and Shirley, who has departed from this life, that it may rest in a place of light, in a place of happiness, in a place of peace, where there is no pain, no grief, no sighing. And since You are a gracious God and the Lover of Mankind, forgive him/her every sin he/she has committed by thought, or word, or deed, for there is not a man who lives and does not sin : You alone are without sin, your righteousness is everlasting, and your word is true. You are the Resurrection and the Life, and the repose of your departed servants Bucky and Shirley. O Christ our God, and we send up glory to You, together with your eternal Father and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and for ages upon ages. Amen.

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