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Finished Paul's book earlier this week. I cannot recommend it enough. Just fired up another Fr. Florensky book, so far.... mind blowing. #bookstr What are y'all reading?

The Nathan Jacobs Podcast: How the Devil Tried to Steal Christmas | The True Story of the Nativity Starting from: 00:00:00 Episode webpage:

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How the Devil Tried to Steal Christmas | The True Story of the Nativity by The Nathan Jacobs Podcast

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"Brethren, let us show repentance and conversion from the depths of our hearts, and let us leave off our former evil ways, and let us cleanse ourselves of every stain of the flesh and the spirit. For the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is near, on which we are to commune the divine and life-giving sanctification of His Mysteries. So let us keep ourselves well, brethren, and every idea that is thorny and not pure and is unworthy of a devoted activity let us weed out, and in every way let us cleanse ourselves." St. John Chrysostom :: Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew

“We have many persecutors, both visible and invisible: Impure spirits are pursuing us, as do the heretics, the pagans, and the Jews. All those who want to live piously are constantly under the pressure of persecutions, so much so that one who is zealous for piety can hardly find a moment free from persecution. And perhaps, one can even conclude that when we do not suffer persecutions, it is probably because we are not living piously enough. For if the saying is true that, All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer prosecution (II Tim 3:12)- then the converse is true: that he who suffers no persecution has not yet burn to live truly, piously, in Christ Jesus.” Saint Ambrose, quoted in Psalm 118: A Commentary by St. Theophan the Recluse, pg. 208-209.

From Michael Stefan over at substack: I think Christians should make a concerted effort to reframe Hanukkah as a Christian holiday about Jesus. I mean it’s the commemoration of the Maccabean Uprising, and that’s in the Bible (Books Of Maccabees) so why not? If Irving Berlin can write Christmas songs devoid of Jesus and boast about it, two can play that game. Some of the more noble among the Jews might become interested in Christianity that way, and some of the more villainous will scream in agony. Two birds with one stone.

GM

Like all philosophy, stoicism reaches it's fulfillment in Christianity. Read the Cappadocians ☦️

Christian history is so incredible and much of it is lost here in the watered down west. At First Ecumenical Council in 325, Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker (Dec 12) disputed with a Greek philosopher who was defending Arianism. “Listen, philosopher, to what I tell you. There is one God Who created man from dust. He has ordered all things, both visible and invisible, by His Word and His Spirit. The Word is the Son of God, Who came down upon the earth on account of our sins. […] We believe that He is one in essence (consubstantial) with the Father, and equal to Him in authority and honor. We believe this without any sly rationalizations, for it is impossible to grasp this mystery by human reason.” After his conversation with St. Spyridon, the philosopher turned to his companions and said, “Until now my rivals have presented their arguments, and I was able to refute their proofs with other proofs. But instead of proofs from reason, the words of this Elder are filled with some sort of special power, and no one can refute them…”

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The foretelling of Christ's death, burial and resurrection is written into the Nativity Icon of Christ. His birth "And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger..." Luke 2:7 His death "And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb..." Mark 15:46

If, then, the time of this life is for repentance, the very fact that a sinner still lives is a pledge that God will accept whoever desires to return to Him.....Where, then, are the grounds for despair, since all of us can at all times lay hold of eternal life whenever we want to? ☦️St. Gregory Palamas

The forty days of the Nativity fast is an image of the fast of Moses, who having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. But having fasted for forty days, we gaze upon and receive the living Word from the Virgin, inscribed not on stones, but incarnate and born, and we partake of His Divine Flesh ☦️St. Simeon of Thessalonica

GM

From The Hare's Refuge: "The Nativity Fast teaches that preparing for Christ’s coming involves both restraint and generous giving. Fasting creates space for mercy, charity, and renewed attention to God and neighbour. Its purpose is not mere denial but the re-ordering of desire toward divine love. When self-discipline is joined to generosity, the heart becomes receptive to the mystery of the Incarnation. Thus the fast becomes a path toward **theosis**, our transformation in the likeness of God".

Soon #bookstr

Trivia question: Michael Jackson's song "They Don't Really Care about Us" is about who?