Lives of the Saints
1. THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
On the eighth day after His birth the divine Child was brought to the temple and circumcised according to the law existing in Israel since the time of Abraham. On that occasion they gave Him the name Jesus as the Archangel Gabriel had announced to the Most Holy Virgin. The Old Testament circumcision prefigures the New Testament baptism. The circumcision of the Lord shows that He took upon Himself a true human body and not an illusory one, as heretics later taught about Him. The Lord was also circumcised because He wanted to fulfill the entire law which He Himself had given through the prophets and patriarchs. Having fulfilled that legal provision He replaced it with baptism in His Church. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal. 6:15), the Apostle proclaims. (In the church service this feast of the Lord has neither a Forfeast nor a Afterfeast).
2. SAINT BASIL THE GREAT, ARCHBISHOP OF CAESAREA
Basil was born in the time of Emperor Constantine. While still unbaptized He spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and all the other worldly sciences of that time. His school companions were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, the later apostate emperor. In his mature years he was baptized in the Jordan River together with his former teacher Evulus. He was bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and completed his earthly life having reached fifty years from his birth. A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and religious zeal, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of God's Church; Basil is deservedly called the Great. In church services He is called the bee of Christ's Church, which carries honey to the faithful and with its sting pricks heretics. Numerous works of this Father of the Church have been preserved: theological, apologetic, ascetic and canonical; likewise the service named after him. This service is celebrated ten times a year, namely: on January 1, on the eve of the Nativity, on the eve of Theophany, on all Sundays of Great Lent except Palm Sunday, on Holy Thursday and on Holy Saturday. Saint Basil reposed peacefully on January 1, 379 and passed into the Kingdom of Christ.
“He is deservedly called the Great.”
Hymn of Praise
Thou who gavest law to the world and to man,
Thou, the Lawgiver, didst Thyself submit to the law,
Others by force—Thyself voluntarily—bound,
Therefore on the eighth day in body wast thou circumcised.
Having fulfilled the law, Thou didst replace it with a new:
Fleshly circumcision replaced with spiritual,
That we might cut off unclean passions from ourselves
And in pure spirit that we might behold Thee.
The will of the flesh with the spirit to cut and constrain,
Thy will, O Savior, with the spirit we fulfill—
To that circumcision the saints were taught,
Their flaming example they left to us.
Basil the wondrous, like a brilliant torch,
To such circumcision teaches the generations.
Glory to Basil, Thy great servant,
Great, for because of Thee he humbled himself and narrowed himself.
Therefore he became greater, and Great remained.
Reflection
Why should we listen to the Church and not to one man who thinks against the Church, even if he be called the greatest thinker? Because the Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ, and because the Church is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Also because the Church signifies the state of the saints, the garden of cultivated fruit trees. If one rises up against the state of the saints, this means he is unholy, so why listen to him? "The Church is a fence," says the all-wise Chrysostom; "if you are inside, the wolf does not enter; but if you go out, the beasts will seize you... Do not distance yourself from the Church: nothing is mightier than the Church. The Church is your hope, the Church is salvation. It is higher than the heavens, harder than stone, wider than the earth; it never grows old, it is always renewed."
“If you are inside, the wolf does not enter; but if you go out, the beasts will seize you.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the circumcision of the Lord Jesus, namely:
1. His glory in the Heavenly Kingdom where the cherubim serve Him with fear and trembling;
2. His humiliation and humility in the act of circumcision, intended for sinners;
3. Contemplate my own heart: how much I have circumcised it from sinful thoughts, vices and passions.
Homily
on how one should turn away from evil and do good
Depart from evil, and do good (Psalm 34:14)
In these words is expressed all our labor by which we should labor here on earth and in the earth, that is on this material earth and in this material body. What then should our labor be? To acquire two habits: one—to turn away from evil, and the other—to do good. And about what is good and what is evil, our conscience tells us incompletely and unclearly, for it is darkened by sin, but the teaching of Christ tells us completely and clearly.
What does our Lord ask of us, brethren? He asks that just as our altars are always turned toward the East, so also our souls should always be turned toward good. That we leave evil behind our backs, in shadow, in the abyss of forgetfulness, in the darkness of what was, and that we from year to year, from day to day, reach toward good: that we think about good, that we yearn for good, that we speak about good, that we do good. The Lord seeks builders and not destroyers. For whoever builds good, by that very fact destroys evil. But whoever turns to destroy evil quickly forgets to build good and turns into a criminal.
Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good (Rom. 12:9), the Apostle of Christ teaches us. Hate evil, but do not hate the person who does evil, for he is sick. If you can, heal the sick person, but do not kill him with your hatred. Cleave to good, and to good alone, for good is from God, and God is the treasury of all good things.
O good and all-good Lord, teach us to turn away from evil and do good for the sake of Thy glory and for the sake of our salvation. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Hate evil, but do not hate the person who does evil, for he is sick.”