“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
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On this day the virgin cometh to the cave to give birth to God, the Word ineffable, Who was before all the ages.
Dance for joy, O earth, on hearing the gladsome tidings;
with the Angels and the shepherds now glorify Him, Who is willing to be gazed on as a young Child,
Who before the ages is God.
(Kontakion in Third Mode)
“The Church prepares us for the Nativity by exhorting us to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8)
Repentance begins with humility, contrition, tears and Confession, but it does not end there. The fruit of repentance is love and forgiveness, peace and unity.”
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“Holding fast to the law of love, let us embrace the intent of brotherly love, establishing peace with one another, and oneness of mind; for Christ the Giver of all peace is coming, bringing peace to all.”
Compline of the Forefeast-December 22
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Father Vassilios Papavassiliou
Meditations for Advent; Preparing for Christ’s Birth
“The same, true Son of God, Who was timelessly born before the Morning-star, now undergoes a second birth in time. What is the Morning-star?
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It is the light that heralds the dawn.
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Before the appearance of the stars, before the creation of the world, before the beginning of time itself, the Son was begotten timelessly, eternally, everlastingly from the womb of God the Father.”
+ Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
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Just days before the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all things are in hushed preparation for the mystery of the Incarnation. Are we?
You 
The word saints means holy ones and reminds us not only of the saints but also of God’s holy angels. Like the angels the saints reveal the divinity of God
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The power, holiness and love of God are manifested in the splendor of the saints. Every Saint in his or her own way, reveals Christ. Every saint increases and augments the glory of Christ
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It is not possible to understand the glory of Christ apart from the glory of His saints
+ elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
When a person repents, he becomes aware of God’s love.
+ Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
The best thing of all is to surrender to God’s Will and bear all affliction having confidence in God
+Saint Silouan the Athonite
As we approach maturity, Grace, although it is ready at any time to act within us, does not act.
It waits until freely and willingly incline to it, when we ourselves begin to desire its full action within us and begin to see it.
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
If we wish to stay on the path that leads us to God’s presence, let us, like good pilgrims, prepare wisely.
The psalmist gave his whole soul, his whole heart, his whole being to God; he endured countless dangers, suffered many deprivations, for the sake of the only truly worthy cause: to enter into immediate relation with God; to commune with God Himself and to be filled with Him.
How I would like to see this kind of love, this kind of faith, in our own pilgrimage to God.
+Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the Psalms and the Life of Faith
What God seeks from me is something entirely spiritual. The sacrifice that He wants is a sacrifice of the heart. The Lord loves mercy and truth, and mercy us not do much an expression of love as it is an act of sacrifice, since it calls of me to sacrifice, not something I think I need to give up for God, but to surrender my very self; to make of my self an offering.
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
Psalms and the Life of Faith
God asks the pilgrim for his love and his trust, but especially for his own self, and then He will give him His grace and glory.
But God does not give back less than He asks for, and so the grace and glory that He gives are God’s own self.
However we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from Him until we’ve journeyed to Him like the pilgrim, in a movement of the soul toward union with the Beloved.
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
Psalms and the Life of Faith
gladsomelife.com 