Second and Third Days of Christmas

Yesterday my Sister and Brother-in-Law came over for dinner. It was a great good time. Today we had a bunch of kids and their parents over to make gingerbread men. Another great good time. But now, at the end of the third day of the feast it is meet to reflect...

"There are many alluring secular images associated with Christmas - snow, Dickensian stagecoaches, holly and mistletoe, lavish eating, drinking and good cheer. All of these are legitimate parts of the tradition too, provided they are subordinated to the essential theme, the birth of our Saviour. For the placid vignette of the infant in the manger conceals the reality that those tiny hands will one day be pierced with nails, for our redemption." - Gerald Warner(If you want, you can read the whole article here.)

Today, and over the next few days the Church commemorates many thousands of Holy Martyrs: Those who suffered to the end with Jesus. Today is, in the Orthodox Church the Feast of St. Stephen, the first to give his life for the Gospel. We sing to him...

Because of all you have endured for Christ our God, you have been given a royal crown, O First and Holy Martyr Stephen! You have put your persecutors to shame and have seen your Savior enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Do not cease to intercede for the salvation of our souls. (Troparion, tone 4)

So, let us rejoice in the Nativity of Jesus for by it God became one of us and lifts us up to Him, but let our rejoicing be in conducted in the effulgence of the Holy Cross. and in the invitation to partake in that Cross.