December: Day 31: Teaching 2: On the Eve of the New Year

 

December: Day 31: Teaching 2:
On the Eve of the New Year
 
(For the All-Night Vigil: 

On the Prayer and Feelings of a Christian at the Arrival of the New Year)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we solemnly welcome the New Year, and we welcome it as we should, in a Christian way – with prayer in the temple of God.

II. a) Yes, there is something to pray about now to the Almighty Creator and our God, with special zeal.

First, we must thank Him through the lips of the Church for all the blessings we have received from Him in the past year.

Secondly, we must give Him praise for the fact that He, “not desiring the death of the wicked, but that he should turn and live” (Ezek. 33:11), did not destroy us for our iniquities, “the evil we have done in the past year,” but still gives us time to correct our sinful life.

And finally, to pray to Him earnestly with tears that He would extend His mercies to us in this coming year, strengthening us in the Orthodox faith, giving us peace and quiet, firm, sincere love and virtuous living.

b) But in addition to prayers of thanksgiving, praise and petition, appropriate at the onset of a new year, a Christian must also be imbued with those feelings that are inevitably inspired in him when reviewing the past year and welcoming the new one.

Celebrating the New Year, we all greet each other with "Happy New Year", we all hurry to tell each other, both personally and in absentia, this news, to congratulate both friends and relatives on some "new" unprecedented "happiness". But where and what is the reason for this joy? Is it really only that the old year has passed and a new one has arrived? But here we still do not see a special reason for the noisy, general joy. We all love to delude ourselves with longevity, and rarely, very rarely does anyone want to die quickly. And then they tell us: "Happy New Year!" It means - the old one has passed. It means our dear life, already fleeting, has been shortened by another year. It means we have come another year closer to the coffin and the grave. What joy is there in this for a sinful person who would like to live longer in this world, on earth? And there is this expression: "And with new happiness!" It is even more inappropriate to say to everyone without distinction, when celebrating the New Year. If by this happiness we mean wealth, ranks, awards, then how many such lucky people can we meet among us this New Year? And God alone knows what this New Year will be like for each of us. After all, last year, on the first of January, we all had fun and congratulated each other: "Happy New Year, Happy New Happiness!" And meanwhile, by this New Year, how many of our relatives and friends have passed away, how many illnesses, sorrows and tears have others suffered, and, instead of happiness and wealth, how much need and poverty have appeared among many? And all this has happened and is happening, of course, for our grave sins.

1) So, in order to avoid new, difficult trials in the coming year, we must temper our unaccountable worldly joy with repentance and correction. That is why the merciful God gives this new year, so that we repent. The Savior once told a parable that is very useful for each of us to remember when welcoming the New Year:

"A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down’” (Luke 13:6-9).

Who does not clearly see here that in this parable we must understand by the barren fig tree a sinner, whom the Lord spares in this world, expecting from him the good fruits of holy repentance? And He spares, through the intercession of his guardian angel before God, as well as other saints who so ardently and earnestly pray for us, not only when we ourselves resort to them with a prayer for our health and salvation, but even when we forget about it, becoming dry and fruitless, like a bad tree that takes up space in a vineyard without any benefit. But more than all the saints, the Lord spares us through the intercession of the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, the Surety of the most sinful Christians. And besides these, the highest and heavenly God-given guardians, we also have on earth, while we are alive, another grace-filled intercessor for us - the Holy Orthodox Church, which, through the God-sanctified shepherds, constantly offers up its warm prayers for us to God with the offering of a bloodless sacrifice and the performance of the mysteries of repentance and communion over us.

2) But there is a time and a season for everything. Each of us in this life, whether it be holy or sinful, has his own “limit which you shall not pass.” This limit is physical death, an inevitable death and a death unknown to any of us. And what if this New Year, which you and I, brother, have greeted so joyfully today, is already the last year in our life on earth for you or me? At this thought, you involuntarily become thoughtful. And, instead of joy, or a dream of some unknown “new happiness,” when you recall the fig tree, you fall to the dust before the Lord with tears, and say this short heartfelt prayer: “Spare me, Master! Wait to destroy me, like a withered, worthless fig tree, worthy of the fire of Gehenna! Send to my aid a holy guardian angel, as a faithful mentor. Let bitter tears, abundant as rain in the heat, water my parched soul! For my grave sins I am ready to endure punishments here, only do not deprive me of joy and blessedness there, where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting!" This is the kind of renewal the Holy Church wishes for us constantly, and especially at the beginning of the new year, as the Apostle says: "Put off the former way of life of the old man, corrupted by the lusts of deceit, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Having rejected lies, speak only the truth. Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Do not give place to the devil. He who formerly stole, steal no more, but rather work, doing with his own hands what is useful, and from your labors, although there be a surplus, give to the poor. Let no corrupt (or shameful) words ever proceed out of your mouth, but only such as are good for edification in faith (and piety). Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. But be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:22-32). Imitate God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ loved us, giving himself up a sacrifice to God for us. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness must not even be named among you, as holy people. Foul language, idle talk, and jesting are not becoming to you. “Know this, that no fornicator, drunkard, or covetous person, nor an idolater, can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven” (Eph. 5:1-5).

III. My beloved brethren! For a long time we have been celebrating the New Year together. Every year one of us, or another, tries to arrange for the New Year, for the sinful body, one or another new thing. But the adornment of the soul, without a doubt, is as much more excellent than the body, as heaven is more excellent than earth. Why then do we not take care of that "one thing needful?” (Luke 10:42). Let us ask the Lord with tears of repentance – the garment of the soul – in the words of the Church: “I see Your bridal chamber, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes to enter it; illumine the garment of my soul, Giver of Light, and save me!” O merciful God! Spare us, sinners, like the barren fig tree, and in this coming new year, turn Your face away from our iniquities, the evil we have committed in the past year! Cleanse our hearts with repentance “and renew a right spirit” within us by Your grace! Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.