The Greeks of Smyrna in Asia Minor (before 1922) made New Year's holiday cookies stamped with a double-headed eagle, a symbol originating in the late Byzantine era. They called them "aetoudia" (eagles). This stamp is on display at the National History Museum in Athens.

New Year Sermon

Another year has dawned like a golden dawn, touched by God's grace. Time passes, but His love remains eternal, embracing our every moment, filling our existence with hope, comfort, and light.

The new year is like a blank sheet of paper that the Lord gives us, so that we can write on it with our works and our faith our own "yes" to His will. It is our opportunity to leave behind the darkness of sin, to forgive, to heal wounds, to open our hearts wide to our neighbor and to God.

Let every dawn of the new year become a prayer, a plea for His presence to fill our lives. Let every sunset become an opportunity for gratitude, for God never leaves us alone, even when the path seems difficult.

Let us make 2025 the year of love and sacrifice. Of love that knows no cost and sacrifice that gives life. Let us remember that in our simplest actions—in a plate of food we share, in a smile we offer, in a word of comfort we whisper—is the face of Christ.

Do not be afraid of the obstacles you will encounter. They are the stations of your own spiritual journey, the opportunities to see God's hand at work. And remember: the cross you carry is never heavier than the strength He gives you.

I wish that the new year will be a new beginning of spiritual fruitfulness. May it be a year full of heavenly light, a year where every heart will become a vessel of divine grace and every life will become a hymn of praise.

His Eminence Bishop of Toliara and Southern Madagascar Prodromos

A Mount Athos monk used to say, "when the devil throws stones at you, take them and build a church,.

 

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matth. 22:37

 

Our Bodies will be Resurrected

 

"According to the clear testimony of Revelation, our bodies will also be resurrected into eternal life and will be partakers of the bliss of the righteous or the endless torments of sinners. This is also a stumbling block for unbelievers and a deep mystery for believers.

They consider impossible the restoration and Resurrection of bodies completely destroyed by decay, or burned, turned into dust and gases, decomposed into atoms. But if during the life of the body the spirit was most closely connected with it, with all organs and tissues, penetrating all the molecules and atoms of the body, was its organizing principle, then why should this connection disappear forever after the death of the body? Why is it unthinkable that this connection has been preserved forever, and at the moment of the general Resurrection, at the sound of the Archangel's trumpet, the connection of the immortal spirit with all the physical and chemical elements of the decayed body will be restored and the organizing and form-creating power of the spirit will again manifest itself? Nothing disappears, but only changes" = St. Luke the Blessed Surgeon

From January 2 to January 6 — Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ.

Forefeast is one or several days preceding some major Orthodox holidays. They kind of prepare believers for the celebration of the holiday. Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ begins on January 2 and lasts for five days. This is the longest period of the forefeast, thus the Church shows the significance of the event.
The pre-feast of the Nativity of Christ is, first of all, an internal preparation for the general joy - the coming of the Savior into the world. At this time, prayers dedicated to the Nativity are read in the church during the service. The main meaning of all the services of these days is that the miracle of the Incarnation is an act of God's condescension to people. The idea is that the Son of God, having become the son of Man, from the first days of His earthly life enters into a struggle with the forces of evil. The first innocent sufferers for Christ are remembered - the Bethlehem babies, who were exterminated by Herod. On the days of the pre-feast, fasting is intensified. It reaches its greatest severity on Christmas Eve.

Forefeast of the Nativity, Troparion, Tone IV —
Make ready, O Bethlehem!/ Open unto all, O Eden!/ Adorn thyself, O Ephratha!/ For the Tree of life hath blossomed forth from the Virgin in the cave./ Her womb is shown to be a noetic paradise,/ wherein lieth a divine garden,/ eating from whence we live,/ not dying like Adam.// Christ is born to raise up His image which before was fallen.

Kontakion of the Forefeast, Tone III
Today the Virgin cometh to give birth ineffably/ to the preeternal Word in the cave./ Dance, O world! And having heard this,/ with the angels and shepherds glorify// the preeternal God, Who is to appear as a little babe.

St Basil

 

St Basil was an unyielding soul in the face of any kind of secular authority. Once, the emperor Valerius, who supported the Arians, sent him his envoy Modestus. The imperial envoy threatened him with confiscation of his property, exile and martyrdom. Unperturbed, Basil replied:

– “A few worn-out clothes and a few books constitute all my property; therefore I do not fear confiscation. I do not count exile, because in this world I am a sojourner. Nor do I fear martyrdom, because I consider death to be a benefactor, because it will lead me more quickly to God.”