Tag: Nativity Fast

The “End” of Christmas: What St. Gregory Wanted for Christmas in AD 380

· Nicole M. Roccas
Back in November, I read a wonderful homily by St. Gregory the Theologian that I have returned to often throughout Nativity this year. Oration 38 (read the full text here) was written in 380-81 and is often subtitled “On the Theophany, or Birthday of Christ,” leaving Orthodox Christians everywhere to wonder: which is it, St. Gregory? Christmas or…

5 Ways to Redeem the Time during the Nativity Fast

· Nicole M. Roccas 2 Leave a Comment on %s
The Nativity Fast starts tomorrow (New Calendar)! I can almost smell the pine trees… and lentils. Speaking of beans, in our tradition, we are given a multitude of time-honored practices that invite us into the liturgical and sacramental significance of Christ’s entrance into this world–fasting rubrics, for example, or added emphasis on repentance, prayer, and almsgiving.  It’s tempting…

Becoming the Cave: Merry Christmas from Time Eternal

· Nicole M. Roccas
Dear Time Eternalites, Just a quick note in between baking and cleaning to wish you and your families, friends, and enemies a blessed and meaningful Feast of Christ’s Nativity. Wherever you are, whatever this Christmas looks like for you, I pray you encounter the manifested love of God in our humble, earthly realities. May we and all creation endeavor…

“Or rather…”: Reframing Our Suffering Through the Language of Liturgy

· Nicole M. Roccas 6 Leave a Comment on %s
Yesterday morning, the third Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity, a phrase I’ve heard on countless occasions rang in my ears as though for the first time: “… or rather…” It’s a tiny but profound phrase that occurs in a sentence sandwiched in the middle of the Eucharistic canon: In the night in which [Christ] was given…

Blessed is the Kingdom: Pre-Conversion Reflections on Faith, Time, and Liturgy

· Nicole M. Roccas
A month and a half ago, I was searching for something on my computer and randomly came across a mysterious file folder labeled “Conversion Notes.” After clicking on the folder, I was inundated by a cache of reflections I DON’T REMEMBER WRITING but which were all evidently penned during the first 6 months I started attending an Orthodox…

Finding Meaning in the Messy Middle (Guest Post)

· Nicole M. Roccas 1 Leave a Comment on %s
This morning, I’m glad to welcome Lynnette Horner, host of one of the newer blogs on Ancient Faith (Walking an Ancient Path) to Time Eternal. I appreciate Lynette’s writing and her ability to communicate the gems of Orthodoxy to a broader Christian audience. Today, her thoughts on the temptation to “click through” fasting seasons, and the “messy middles”…

“Study Oneself”: Learning to Give Thanks by Journaling

· Nicole M. Roccas 2 Leave a Comment on %s
In my continuing journey through Diary of a Russian Priest, I was struck by these words, which Fr. Alexander wrote in counsel to a young person: I advise you to keep a diary. This helps one to study oneself, saves one from making the same mistakes, keeps the past alive. It is worth while noting every great joy, sorrow,…

My Sense of Time Passing (Guest Post)

· Nicole M. Roccas 1 Leave a Comment on %s
This morning, I am welcoming Melinda Johnson, friend and fellow author back to Time Eternal. She’s sharing with us a reflection she wrote some years ago that to me hits on an important and sometimes painful question: how do we find purpose in our lives? Many of us try to enact meaning in our lives by seeking after…

Translating the Untranslatable: Reflections on an Icon of the Mother of God

· Nicole M. Roccas 2 Leave a Comment on %s
Last week, my husband and I went to the funeral for his godfather, Demetrios, who had fallen asleep a few days prior from cancer. May his memory be eternal. At one point during the visitation, I came into the room where Demetrios’ body lay and found my husband standing quietly in the back corner while others milled around…