The Kathisma of the Theotokos: The Resting Place of the Theotokos on her Journey to Bethlehem

Theodosius the Pilgrim was a 6th-century German archdeacon who wrote De situ terrae sanctae (On the Topography of the Holy Land), an influential guide for pilgrims to Jerusalem and beyond, describing routes, holy sites like Bethany Beyond the Jordan and the Mount of Olives, and constructions by Emperor Anastasius. His detailed work, written around 518-530 AD, blends an itinerarium (travel guide) with religious commentary, helping pilgrims navigate and identify sacred spots, and even mentions monasteries and miracles, providing valuable archaeological clues for sites. There he wrote the following:

"Three miles from the city of Jerusalem is the place where our Lady Mary, the Mother of the Lord, during her journey to Bethlehem, dismounted from the donkey, sat on the stone of a rock and blessed it."

The site described is in fact known to be the earliest centre of the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Palestine, known as the Kathisma church, which by the early fifth century had become a focus of Marian piety. The Church of the Kathisma marks the place she felt labor pains before Jesus' birth, as described in ancient texts like the Protoevangelium of James. It is called Kathisma because it contains the "Seat" of the Virgin, where she sat to rest.

The Light of Christmas Within Me

The Light of Christmas Within Me

By Archimandrite Bartholomew
Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of Esphigmenou

Christmas is coming.

I like the lights, the tables filled with food, the smiling people around me, the gifts. 
I like the celebration, the togetherness, the joy, the decorated streets, the brightly lit homes.

Christmas is coming.

And with it comes an invitation.
The Lord Christ is born again for everyone.
Humbly, in a manger. He insists on coming. He invites me.

Christmas is coming.

And yet, every year I think about the moment when the lights go out and the table is cleared; 

something inside me is lost. 
Often I remain in a superficial joy, and when the holidays pass, a quiet sadness finds me. 
Why? What is it that makes me, as if hypnotized, simply follow along?

Christmas is coming.

Why must I rejoice? What is it that draws me into this festive mood? 
Why do I rejoice only during this season and not strive to be joyful all the time? 
These thoughts constantly trouble me.

Christmas is coming.

I want to be joyful. But this is an inner state. It is cultivated only inwardly. 
Joy, peace, the light that every person longs for are not moments; they are a state, a way of life.
And without Christ they cannot endure. That is why He comes and invites me to be reborn with Him. 
To grow stronger inwardly, so that I may be able to take part in the feast together with my people. 
To share, to enjoy the festive table, the gifts, the lights. 

So that the joy will not be lost once the celebration ends.
Joy is the gift prepared for me by the One who invites me to His feast: Christ.

Christmas is coming.

This time I do not want lights to be lit only around me.
I want the light within me to remain lit.

Merry Christmas!

 

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos. 

 

Encomium to the Holy Ten Martyrs of Crete (St. Andrew of Crete)

 

 

Encomium to the Holy Ten Martyrs of Crete

(Commemorated on December 23rd)

By St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete

To the holy and victorious Ten Martyrs, when, in a time of harsh winter, he returned from a sea voyage and composed this discourse.

1. Did you, perhaps, long for my return, my friends and brethren and children? I sensed that some were praying to see me again on this kathedra and to be with you on this radiant feast day — this day of the Martyrs and of Christ, the great and only and first sovereign of all, who presides over this glorious celebration — and that others were asking and inquiring, saying things like these: "Where is the father? Where is the shepherd? Where is the one who makes our feasts more radiant and who by his presence brightens the commemorations of the Saints, who especially nourishes us with his words by unfolding the Holy Scriptures, and who basically cries out: ‘My children, it is the last hour, and we must draw near to God with understanding, and all the more as we see the Day approaching,’ as the divine trumpet, Paul the God-bearer, proclaims?

Where, then, is the one who explains the divine and sacred writings to us and intensifies the tone of our zeal by his own example? Has he perhaps, having gone far from his homeland, been lost? Or did some longing remind him of his loving care for his flock, and did that longing overcome the hardships of the road and call him back? Or finally, did some divine power bring him back again — indeed, to the Saints, whom he always honors with great care and fervent zeal? And behold, now with greater eagerness than his strength allows, he has taken care and hastened to this spiritual festival. And quite reasonably so, for it happened that he carried with him the sacred reliquary of their venerable relics, which he bears everywhere he goes, since it makes his journeys very easy; having it as a fellow traveler, he proceeds in safety.”

These, I think, were the thoughts of many during my absence, for thus grateful children behave toward a loving father; and this was their longing — to see me with their own eyes bodily present and to hear my voice teaching them. This, then, you now see coming to pass. I myself am among you with the living word, embracing this sacred assembly here, and as a gift from my absence I offer this discourse both to you and to the Martyrs of Christ. Receive it as though it had not come from a distant journey; and whatever offerings the Martyrs would gladly accept from me, receive them with gentleness, so that you may depart joyfully from the feast, adorned with flowers and having gathered from here rich fruits.

Holy Ten Martyrs of Crete in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

These Saints contended during the reign of Emperor Decius on the island of Crete. They came from different parts of the island and not from a single city. Five were from the Metropolis of Gortyna: Theodoulos, Saturninos, Euporos, Gelasios, and Eunikianos. From Knossos was Zotikos. From the harbor of Panormos was Agathopous. From Kydonia was Basilides, and from Herakleion were Evarestοs and Pompios. These were handed over by the unbelievers to the governor of the island, who allowed the executioner to lead them around to the altars of the idols and, if they refused to sacrifice, to torture them with every kind of torment. For thirty days, therefore, they were dragged about by disorderly mockers, who ridiculed them and dragged them along the ground through dung heaps. And afterward, when the judge saw that their resolve remained unmoved and firm despite the beatings and stonings, he dislocated the limbs of their bodies, subjected them to other dreadful tortures, and finally beheaded them.

Holy Martyr Agathopous of Panormos in Crete

By Emmanuel Doundoulakis, PhD
Professor, Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Crete

The contribution of the island of Crete to the formation of the “inner person,” as well as to spiritual advancement, does not consist solely in the cultivation of Letters and the Arts, but also in the emergence and promotion of spiritual stature and exemplars which, through their personality and work, inspire modern humanity. In this category are included, among others, the saints of the Church, who through the martyrdom of conscience and their martyric consummation strengthen and inspire Christians in their struggle against the difficulties of everyday life.

Among the choir of the proto-martyrs († 250) of Crete — the Holy Ten — there is also counted the Holy Martyr Agathopous (or Agathopodas), from the harbor of Panormos, in the prefecture of Rethymno.

Venerable Antonina of Tismana (+ 2011)

Mother Antonina Diaconu (March 7, 1923 – December 23, 2011) was a “fool for Christ” who lived at Tismana Monastery.

At the age of 26, a beautiful young woman, wearing a red velvet dress, stepped into monastic life. She had an especially pleasant voice and a distinctive presence. After entering the monastery, she was entrusted with the obedience of caring for the pigs — a humble service that she fulfilled for forty years, at a distance of several hundred meters from the monastic community.

Desiring to take part in the night services, she often found herself confronted by the monastery’s locked gates. Faced with this obstacle, she chose to transform the place of her obedience into her own altar. She prayed in the forest, where she was often seen making hundreds of prostrations. One day, she joyfully recounted that she had met in the forest a woman clothed in black, with a mantle and a staff — a mysterious encounter which she identified as a vision of the Mother of God.

Prologue in Sermons: December 23

Christians Are Soldiers Appointed To Battle

December 23
 
(A Certain Peter's Words About Resisting Everything.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Holy Apostle Paul calls a Christian a soldier and points out that he must suffer much in war. "Therefore," he says, "you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim. 2:3). So, a Christian is a soldier. But who are his enemies, and what harm have they done to him? And what should a Christian do to defeat his enemies?

The word of the Church says: "First, the Lord created righteousness in men. Then, unrighteousness arose within them from the devil and began to war against and persecute righteousness. And men accepted unrighteousness and rejected righteousness, and righteousness abandoned them, and they began to live of their own free will, only to perish. And so, debauchery arose against virginity and destroyed virginity. And impurity arose against purity, malice against meekness, and hatred against love. Gluttony arose against fasting, and drunkenness against sobriety. Resentment arose against humility, and robbery against brotherly love. Stinginess arose against generosity, and disfavor against mercy. And lawlessness arose against the preservation of the law and against all good deeds."

Christ-less Christmas

By Metropolitan Georgios of Kitros, Katerini, and Platamon 

 

Walking through the city, looking at shop windows, watching school celebrations, certain thoughts arise.

We celebrate Christmas as we would celebrate the birthday of a “beloved” person — yet we keep him locked in a room so that he will not disturb us.

In the living room we decorate, laugh, and exchange gifts, but the presence of Christ is of no concern; and so He remains locked away, like an annoying child.

As then, so now, “there is no room” for the Divine Infant.

Not because we lack “inns,” but because we lack space in our hearts.

"Receive, O Bethlehem"

By Fr. George Dorbarakis 

 

“Receive, O Bethlehem, the Mother of God. For the Light that never sets has come to be born upon you. Angels, marvel in heaven; humans, glorify on earth; Magi from Persia, bring the thrice-renowned gift. Shepherds abiding in the fields, chant the thrice-holy hymn. Let every breath praise the Creator of all” (Vespers Idiomelon of the Forefeast of Christmas, plagal of the 4th tone).

The Hymnographer assumes the role of a prophet. Just as the prophets of the Old Testament, sent by God and illumined by Him, called the people of God to repentance whenever they strayed from His holy will and urged them to be ready to receive the Messiah whom God would send, so too does the Holy Hymnographer within the Church, the living Body of Christ. He functions as her mouth, proclaiming the joyful message of God’s incarnation in the world, the enfleshment of the Son and Word of God. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Salvation, as the finding of God after His loss through the fall into sin and as a living relationship with Him, is now a fact and a tangible reality. We await nothing else beyond faith in Christ and our incorporation into His Body, the Church, through repentance. In other words, the last things are already present. And this, we understand, constitutes the greatest mystery ever heard of or brought into being in the world: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.”