Roman Catholic Christian Commemorations and Saints for January 7th, A.D. 2017 (Gregorian)
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All you holy Saints, pray for us!
The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ
Troparion, Tone IV
Thy nativity, O Christ our God,/ hath shone forth the light of knowledge upon the world;/ for therein those who worship the stars/ have been taught by a star to worship Thee,/ the Sun of righteousness,/ and to know Thee the Orient from on high.// O Lord, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion, Tone III idiomelon
Today the Virgin giveth birth unto the Transcendent One,/ and the earth offereth a cave to the unapproachable One./ Angels and shepherds give glory,/ the magi journey with the star.// For unto us a Child is born, the preeternal God.
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The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From December 25 till January 5 is a Fast-free period (Sviatki).
The Adoration of the Magi: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar.
Commemoration of the shepherds in Bethlehem who were watching their flocks and came to see the Lord.
Holy Saints Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, pray for us
Holy Shepherds of Bethlehem, pray for us
O Christ, God-with-Us, glory to thee!
And finally, the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Christian Commemorations and Saints for January 20th, A.D. 2017 (Gregorian) / January 7th, A.D. 2017 (Julian)
Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John
Troparion, Tone II
The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord's testimony is sufficient for thee, O forerunner. Thou wast truly shown to be more honorable than the prophets, in that thou wast counted worthy to baptize in the streams Him Whom thou didst proclaim. Wherefore, having suffered, rejoicing, for the truth, even unto those in hades didst thou proclaim God, Who had manifested Himself in the flesh, Who taketh away the sin of the world, and granteth us great mercy.
Kontakion of the Forerunner, Tone VI
Stricken with awe by Thy coming in the flesh, the Jordan turned back in fear; and John, fulfilling the prophetic ministry, shrank back with trembling. The ranks of the angels were amazed, beholding Thee baptized in the flesh in the streams, and all who were in darkness were enlightened, hymning Thee Who hast appeared and illumined all things.
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Afterfeast of the Theophany.
Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John.
O Lord Jesus Christ, we praise thy glorious Theophany, we praise thy glorious Epiphany.
Today in the Roman Catholic / Gregorian Liturgical Calendar, us Roman Catholics celebrate the Epiphany - a Solemnity marking three events: the visit of the Three Magi, Sts. Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar to the Christ Child and the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem, as well as the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ by St. John the Forerunner in the Jordan, as well as the first miracle of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana, the turning of water into wine. In the Latin West we call this feast day Epiphany - which comes from the Greek "epiphanein" which means to "to reveal" or "to show", and specifically in this context, the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles represented by the Magi, the revelation of Christ to the Jews by the beginning of his ministry at the His Baptism, and the revelation to his Apostles at the Wedding of Cana.
In the Eastern Catholic / Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christian, which tends to go by the Julian Calendar, today is actually Christmas, but Theophany is celebrated according to the Julian Calendar on January 6th, and today is the afterfeast of the Theophany - in the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic/Byzantine tradition, the Theophany - a word coming from two Greek words, "Theos", meaning God, and "phainein" meaning "to show", so we get Theophany, the "showing of God" or "revelation of God". This feast in the East specifically commemorates the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John, and it is considered a very high ranking feast - even higher than Christmas - being third in rank behind only Pascha (Easter) and Pentecost. The reason for this is because this is thought of in the East as being only one of two occasions in the history of the world when all Three Persons of the Divine Trinity were revealed to humans simultaneously - God the Father with his booming voice speaking from the heavens, God the Son going down into the Jordan and the waters of Baptism and rising, symbolizing his later death and resurrection and our own baptisms, deaths, and subsequent resurrections to eternal life with him, and God the Spirit descending in the form of a dove.
The other time all Three Persons of the Divine Trinity were revealed simultaneously to man was on Mt. Tabor, when Sts. Peter, James, and John saw God the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory transfigured before them, the Son shining like the Sun, and speaking with Moses and Elijah, while God the Father spoke booming from heaven "this is my son, listen to him", and God the Spirit overshadowed them in a cloud, just as He overshadowed Moses on a Mountain as well, and similarly when Moses came down his face was shining, just as Jesus was shining here.
God bless all, and may all have a great and happy and merry Christmas, and a blessed feast of Epiphany / Theophany!
St. John the Baptist, pray for us!
Prophet St. Elijah, pray for us!
Queen Mary, pray for us!
St. Joseph, pray for us!
St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!
Lord Jesus, hear us!
As always and anytime I post this series, I owe a great debt of gratitude, and offer prayers and hope you also offer prayers for the two great websites which are such a wealth of spiritual information:
Catholic Saints .info
Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church and their great website with the full liturgical calendar
+ Thank you for reading, and God bless,
Yours in Christ,
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara+
As always and anytime I post this series, I owe a great debt of gratitude, and offer prayers and hope you also offer prayers for the two great websites which are such a wealth of spiritual information:
Catholic Saints .info
Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church and their great website with the full liturgical calendar
Yours in Christ,
Jason Michael Spyridon Prewara+
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