he Feast of the Incarnation is perhaps the most significant Feast of the Church. Without this beginning the would be nothing, without Mary, no Incarnation. Our language may seem extravagant and our frequent references to Mary in our prayers may seem excessive, but both mark the immense importance of Mary in the life of the Church. Recently, a member of the Baptist Church remarked to his friend, ‘we have not paid enough attention to the role of Mary’. We in Orthodoxy have.

God’s overflowing with love and goodness created mankind as the true image of Himself, He made man and woman in the image of God and let them share His sovereignty, His overall care of Creation. Only men and women in the whole of creation are made in the image of God. Sadly this sovereignty had been disfigured and diminished and had to be restored, but how? Here was God’s plan. In order to restore man and woman and creation to it’s original beauty, the Creator Himself, God Himself had to become incarnate, take on our nature in it’s fullness. The only way was to have young maiden, a virgin who could take on this role. Nicholas Cabasilas in his sermon for the Annunciation describes how God was overjoyed when He was aware that such a woman existed and because of her purity, her devotion, her perfection, He, God, could not wait longer for His plan of action to be put in place. The incarnation was now possible.

Mary retained the innocence and purity of childhood and continued to be so close to God in her prayerfulness without distraction. She was always aware that she was in God’s presence and, indeed, she had become His handmaiden. ’Behold the handmaid of the Lord’ spilled instantly from her lips when challenged by the Angel Gabriel when he visited her. ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb, O all pure one,’ was His reply."

And so we in turn exclaim. "O Virgin Mary, the light of God dawned from your womb, spreading over the whole earth, the light of God’s threefold nature. Through you, O pure virgin, through God’s rays, earth became another heaven"
"Praise the Lord, all you His works; exalt Him above all for ever."
Our Lord born of Mary, took his flesh from her - Mother like son. His disciples must have seen her in him and him in her.

Incarnation means that everything of the mother is passed into the child, not only physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. All this arises at birth, a potential to be developed in loving care and upbringing. Mary’s emotions, love , care, devotion were there to bring up her son. Her personality and devotion to God, were there to guide. Her spirituality and prayer poured into him. She gave him his full humanity.
"Blessed indeed is the fruit of your womb and blessed are you who formed him and nurtured him into the fullness of the image of God. By your purity and closeness to God he was fully enabled for his life ahead."

Yes, he was God, but it was Mary who gave him his human nature and ensured that by giving birth to him and nurture of him, he became the full, undistorted image of God in man.

One of the most beautiful hymns is to be found in the First Hour, said daily:
"What shall we call thee, O thou who art full of grace? Heaven, for thou hast caused the Sun of Righteousness to rise? Paradise, for thou has blossomed forth the Flower of Immortality? Virgin, for thou hast remained without corruption (sin)? Pure Mother, for thou hast held in thy holy embrace a Son, who is God of all? Beseech thou him to save our souls."
 
The Troparion of the Feast marks its significance for us:
"Today is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of the Mystery that was planned from all eternity. The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announces this grace. Let us join him in crying out to the Mother of God: “Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

Fr David

On this day we celebrate the return of Icons into our life in the Church. They were lost and now they are found, they were ‘dead’ to our awareness but now they are ‘alive’ and fill us with their life.

We are immediately led to recall the Parable of the Prodigal Son, three Sundays before Great Lent. We could not be together this year in our reduced, ‘lost’ state, but perhaps it is worth considering in our celebration of Orthodoxy, a celebration of restoration.

In the parable, the younger brother, restless in the confines of the home where he had been born and brought up, seeks to explore the world and demands the wherewithal to do this. His Father, out of unconditional love, allows him to go and gives him a good endowment. The young man goes off to a far country and wastes his life in prodigality, this simply means recklessly wasteful, and we should not accept the older brothers’ thoughts without consideration. The Publican, the Pharisee and now the Prodigal are chosen to remind us of aspects of ourselves, and our lives past, as we stand before God in Great Lent. The central theme of the story is not prodigality but restoration and a new beginning. The younger brother, the parable explains, ‘came to himself’, realised what a mistake he had made, and so returned to his father’s house and his Father, ‘seeing him afar off’ runs out to meet him, to welcome him back, to put upon him a robe (of righteousness), a ring on his finger (the signet of reintroduction to the family), and sandals on his feet (of the Gospel of Peace). My son ‘was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found.’

With the rediscovered icons, found and ‘alive’ again, we too, in Great Lent are found again and made alive again. Fasting, almsgiving and prayer helps us to return to our Heavenly Father, to have our robe, ring and shoes restored in this wonderful season. It is a season of repentance, turning again, and a season of Great Joy.

Perhaps more than ever this year, as lockdown is eased, we are not only fully restored and welcomed into the home of our Heavenly Father, however much we have been prodigal during the past year, but we are also able to gather again as members together of His loving family.

Restored, as were the Holy Icons, we go forward into the Restoring Grace of Great Lent.

May God bless us and guide us.
Fr David

The 20 March is the day of St Cuthbert,
and here is a short film about his life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFG2rgxfra8&t=3s

The painting of St Cuthbert during prayer is made by the Orthodox brotherhood on the Isle of Mull.

ST THEODORE OF TYRO - THE RECRUIT

Each year on the first Saturday of Great Lent, our Holy Church commemorates St Theodore the Recruit. According to the time-honoured tradition, this feast is dedicated to St Theodore of Tyro, known as St Theodore the Recruit, and to his miraculous appearance to Eudoxius, archbishop of Constantinople, during the reign of emperor Julian the Apostate (332-363). The story involving this miracle is well known. Emperor Julian was called the Apostate because during his rule as Caesar (355-361) and then Augustus (361-363) he attempted to restore the pagan cults and to eradicate Christianity. To fulfill this aim, he enacted a range of legal measures, including the persecution of Christians. The Emperor was known for his mocking attitude towards Christianity, which is clearly evident in the few written works of his that have been preserved — most notably in his satires "The Caesars" and "Misopogon," as well as in the remaining fragments of "Against the Galileans." By "Galileans" he means the Christians. Christ Himself he mockingly called "the Galilean," and the Christian churches "ossuaries," due to their possession of Holy Relics. As part of his campaign against the Christians, during Great Lent he decided to mock them by secretly commanding that all Lenten food at the market was to be sprinkled with blood from pagan-sacrificed animals. His aim was to then announce all Christians as pagans, regardless of the fact that they had eaten these foods without knowing of his deed.

Through God's gracious providence, however, says the agiographer, St Theodore sensed this plan. He warned Eudoxius, the archbishop of Constantinople, who took action, as a result of which the Emperor's plan failed. In remembrance of this event and in thanks to God's intervention through St Theodore, the Church has ordained that on the first Saturday of Great Lent the miracle performed by the Saint is to be commemorated. The Christians bless specially cooked wheat - “kolivo” - in commemoration of the “miracle with the kolivo”: in order to prevent Christians from eating food which was sprinkled with idolatry blood, St Theodore told the archbishop to tell all Christians to eat boiled wheat with honey for a week.

Apart from this, the memory of St Theodore is celebrated on the 17th of February, on the day of his martyrdom.

St Theodore was a Roman soldier who was imprisoned - hence the name "the Recruit" - after being accused for arson attack on a Roman temple, and martyred after he confessed his Christian faith by being thrown into fire.
www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/02/17/100547-greatmartyr-theodore-the-tyro-the-recruit

The Saturday of St Theodore was established as a feast by the holy Empress Theodora II (842-856). It was ordained that it was to be celebrated directly before the Sunday of Orthodoxy, so as to also commemorate the deed of the Empress, who was the wife of the iconoclast emperor Theophilus and the mother of Emperor Michael III, thanks to whom the icon-worship was restored. Not coincidentally is the Sunday of Orthodoxy celebrated the next day: a commemoration of all those who have fought for the sanctity and fullness of Orthodoxy.”

Written by Ventzislav Karavaltchev
Translated into English by Daniil Gerov

"Let us clap our hands for joy seeing this great blessing that we have received, how the divided members of Christ have been brought to unity! Let us praise the God Who has bestowed peace upon us!
- Today the Church is given the festival of victory through the divinely-inspired order and will of our gracious emperors Michael and Theodora who in piety uphold the true Faith.
- The sword of heresies has failed and we experience a holy joy, O spotless Virgin, as we see your whole Temple reverently adorned with the holy icons.
- Let the mystical trumpets of Christ's Apostles sound forth in harmony, proclaiming the restoration of the holy icons.
- Depicting Thy divine form in the icons, O Christ, we openly sing of Thy Nativity, Thine ineffable miracles and Thine voluntary Crucifixion.
- The icons of the prophets, apostles and martyrs, the images of all the saints, adorn the heavenly Jerusalem which shines with spiritual beauty of the Bridegroom and the unwedded Bride."

(From the Canon and the Sessional hymns of the Sunday of Orthodoxy - the First Sunday of Great Lent)

Edited and compiled by Vera Davidova-Pote

Archibishop Nikitas' Encyclical for Great Lent can be found at this link.