Introducing the Church Year: The Annunciation – March 25

The Annunciation

This is a recording of the Adult Catechism Class presented at Transfiguration GOC in Austin TX. by Fr. George P. Bithos on November 29, 2023. The series will present an “Introduction to the Orthodox Church Year”. This video discusses  This class discusses the Feast of the Annunciation to the All Holy Theotokos.  It is a raw recording of the class, please excuse the lack of polish.  To better appreciate the recording begin 30 sec. into the video. Thank you for your understanding. FrG

Understanding the Church Year: The Meeting of Our Lord in the Temple (Feb. 2)

This is a recording of the Adult Catechism Class presented at Transfiguration GOC in Austin TX. by Fr. George P. Bithos on November 15, 2023. The series will present an “Introduction to the Orthodox Church Year”. This video discusses The Meeting of Our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ in the Temple.  It is a raw recording of the class, please excuse the lack of polish.  To better appreciate the recording begin 58 sec. into the video. Thank you for your understanding. FrG

The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (21 November 2020)

This Saturday we celebrated the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple. What we know about this event in the life of the Theotokos can be found in two ancient sources. The Protoevagelium of James and The Gospel of the Birth of Mary.  These are materials that were not placed in the canonical sources. Some non-Orthodox “experts” have called these writings the “lost books” or “new sources” They were never lost nor are they new. Orthodox monastics and theologians have always used these sources to expand our understanding of the lives of the saints and events in salvation history. The hymnographers, iconographers and poets of the Church have drawn on these writings to enrich our liturgical and faith experience. These writings give the early events of the life of the Theotokos. The Protoevagelium Jacobi (aka The Infancy Gospel of James) presents the more detailed story of the events of her parental heritage, conception, birth and early life. As we know in the canonical Gospel of Luke, St. Luke begins his narrative with the story of St. John the Baptist and then relates the events of the Annunciation to the Theotokos. So these other sources are valuable as they present some of the rest of the Theotokos’ story. 

The Protoevagelium relates that Joachim and Anna, the Theotokos’ parents, were so grateful to God for His gift of the conception of Mary; they promised to dedicate Mary to God by presenting her to the Temple. The miracle of their having this blessed child erased the reproval of their community because of their inability to bear children. The thinking of that culture was that a childless couple could not participate in the possibility of being heirs to the promise of the future messiah. When  Mary reached the age of three, they fulfilled their pledge and escorted  her accompanied by 10 virgins with lit lamps to the Temple.  This was prophesied in Psalm 44 LXXII [45]. They were met by the High Priest Zacharias, who guided the child Mary into the Holy of Holies. We hear in the Protoevagelium, “Now Mary was in the Temple of the Lord like a dove being fed and she received food from the hand of an angel.” This was the Archangel Gabriel (notice the top left corner of the icon). What happened from age three until the mid-teenage years when we know that the Annunciation took place is not completely detailed. But we know the Virgin piously stayed in the Temple and found favour with God until her betrothal to Joseph.

The material concerning these years can be found in these ancient writings, As we commemorate these events perhaps reading some of these books could expand your understanding. We must know that the Church has not endorsed these writings as canonical, but looks on them as resources to expand and enhance our faith journey. God Bless and Have a Blessed Thanksgiving

The Protection of the Theotokos

Today our Holy Church celebrates the “Holy Protection of the Theotokos” the feast originated in the vision that St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ, had of the Theotokos covering the faithful who prayed to her. On October 1, 911 St. Andrew saw in his vision of the Theotokos hovering over the faithful protecting them with her veil (omophorion) as they prayed in the Church of the Mother of God –  Blachernae in Constantinople. She was safeguarding all who prayed for her protection. 

What does this mean for us today over a thousand years later? As Orthodox Christians, the communion of the saints and the power of prayer are realities that we cannot underestimate. The Mother of God stands at the throne of Our Lord ever praying and interceding for us, her children. From the cross Christ said to the Theotokos, “Woman behold  your son!” and to His beloved disciple, St. John, “Behold Your Mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19, 26-27).  At the foot of Christ’s cross, the Theotokos became a mother to all of us. The Apolytikion of the Feast of the Dormition of  the Theotokos remind us:

In giving birth, O Theotokos, you have retained your virginity, 

and in falling asleep you have not forsaken the world. You who

are the Mother of Life have past over into life and through your

prayers you do deliver our souls from death.   

“You have not forsaken the world….”  This is the essence of the Theotokos’, ever-present ever-watchful, ever-praying protection for us, her children. Such is the love of a Mother. Throughout the ages, she appears to holy people and people in distress to assure us of her continuing care. St Andrew is not the only one that has seen her. People who have seen her are people like you or I. She has appeared in churches, to monks on Mount Athos, in hospital rooms and in other places that she knows need her loving care. She appears to comfort and reassure her children that she is protecting us through her constant prayers. The hymns of the Church remind us that she is “more honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious  than the Seraphim.” She stands at the right hand of her Son, the model of the Church interceding always for those who in faith call upon her. As we celebrate  the Feast of Her Protection let us join with the angels to sing this hymn from the Divine Liturgy According to St. Basil:

All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace; the assembly

of the angels and the human race, You are a sanctified temple

and a spiritual paradise, the glory from whom God was incarnate

and became a child – Our God, existing before all ages. He made

your womb a throne, and your body more spacious than the 

            heavens.  All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace.

Glory to You!

Most Holy Theotokos Pray for us!    God Bless…..fr g

Zoodochos Pege (The Life Giving Spring)

Life Giving Spring

On Bright Friday (the Friday after Pascha) our Holy Church commemorates the Life Giving Spring of the Mother of God. This miraculous font of water was located at the site of a beautiful church in a suburb of Constantinople. In the 9th century, Joseph the Hymnographer gave the title “Zoodochos Pege” (Life-giving Spring) to a hymn for the Theotokos.  

Apolytikion (Tone 3)

As a life-giving fount, thou did conceive the Dew that is transcendent in essence,

O Virgin Maid, and thou hast welled forth for our sakes the nectar of joy eternal,

which does pour forth from your fount with the water that springs up

unto everlasting life in unending and mighty streams;

wherein, taking delight, we all cry out:

Rejoice, O you Spring of life for all men.

Kontakion (Plagal of Tone 4)

O Lady graced by God,

you reward me by letting gush forth, beyond reason,

the ever-flowing waters of your grace from your perpetual Spring

I entreat you, who bore the Logos, in a manner beyond comprehension,

to refresh me in your grace that I may cry out,

“Hail redemptive waters.”

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The Feast of the Annunciation

The Annunciation

On March 25th our Holy Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation. This is one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Church. Below please find a link to a short presentation on the feast. As I said earlier, this is a work in progress. In the narration, I mistakenly said the staff that the Archangel Gabriel is holding is in his right hand. As you can see it is in his left hand. I am certain that there are other errors in the presentation for which I apologize. Please email me with any question, God Bless and keep you and your family well…..dn g

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ocjm15cqwcwcboa/The%20Twelve%20Great%20Feasts%20-%20The%20Annunciation%20.m4v?dl=0

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