The feasts of the Lord: An introduction to the twelve feasts and Orthodox Christology

Publication Data: Levadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 2013
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: 415
Dimensions (l × w × h): 22.0 cm × 15.1 cm × 2.2 cm
ISBN: 978‒960‒7070‒47‒0

   
Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos
Translated by Esther Williams

“If one examines all the feasts of the Orthodox Church carefully one realises that the Church wants to connect our life with Christ. The ecclesial year begins on the first of September and finishes at the end of August. At the beginning of September we celebrate the Birth of the Theotokos. It is with the Birth of the Most Holy Mother of Christ that the backwards countdown for man’s salvation starts. The ecclesial year continues with the Nativity of Christ up to Pentecost, which is the feast of man’s deification, and ends up with the glorious Dormition of the Panagia which shows the glory that a man can reach when he is united with Christ. Thus, keeping the analogy, what happened with Panagia should also happen to us. Christ should be born in our heart. We should be closely connected to Christ through the sacraments and ascetic life and thus conquer death in our personal life.”
—“Preface to the English Edition”

CONTENTS

   Preface to the English Edition
   Introduction
A
The twelve feasts of the Lord
   1. The Annunciation
   2. The Nativity
   3. The Circumcision of Christ
   4. The Meeting of Christ
   5. The Divine Theophany
   6. The Wisdom of God
   7. The Transfiguration of Christ
   8. The Raising of Lazarus and the Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem
   9. Christ’s Passion and Cross
   10. The Resurrection of Christ
   11. The Divine Ascension
   12. Pentecost
B
Christological issues
   1. The exceedingly wonderful feast
   2. The incarnation of the Word of God, according to St. Athanasios the Great
   3. The divine incarnation as independent of the fall
   4. The tree of knowledge and the tree of life
   5. The Lamb of God