The Incarnation

From the Great Compline (at Christmas):

God is with us! understand all you nations, and submit yourselves: for God is with us!

Give ear, you lands afar off: For God is with us!

Submit yourselves, you mighty ones: For God is with us!

For if you rise up again, so again will you be crushed: For God is with us!

And if any take counsel together, the Lord will destroy them: For God is with us!

And if you make resolutions, they will not stand: For God is with us!

For we fear not what you fear, nor are we troubled: For God is with us!

Sanctify the Lord our God, let him be your dread: For God is with us!

And he will be your sanctification, for whomever trusts in him: For God is with us!

We will hope in him, and through him be saved: For God is with us!

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me: For God is with us!

The people that walked in the darkness have seen a great Light: For God is with us!

A Light will shine on you who dwell in the land of the shadow of death: For God is with us!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: For God is with us!

And the government will be upon his shoulder: For God is with us!

And his name will be called great Council of Angels: For God is with us!

Wonderful Counselor: For God is with us!

The Mighty God, the Ruler, the Prince of Peace: For God is with us!

The everlasting Father: For God is with us!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen: For God is with us!


How do you like them apples.

Two notes on the Incarnation

I recently came across two points about the Incarnation, as present in our Eastern teachings.

1.) Why Mother of God holding the Son? and not just an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
"[T]his icon bears witness to the closeness of God. It gives us confirmation of the fundamental fact relating to our salvation: God became man." Wow, so simple. I guess I never really knew that, or thought about that much.
- From He Dwells in Our Midst: reflections on Eastern Christianity Ed. by T. Lozynsky, St. Catherine's, Ontario: St. Sophia Religious Association.

2a.) As a warning, I do not remember where I read this exactly - perhaps somewhere in the Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, by Isabel Hapgood.

2.) It is often noted that when we Eastern Christians bless ourselves, the thumb, index and third fingers are brought together to symbolize the Trinity; and the remaining two fingers symbolize the two natures of Christ, God and man. What is less often noted, and what I read - somewhere - is that those two last fingers are not only supposed to hang loosely - no! - they are to "dig deep into" the palm of the same hand, in order to symbolize the Incarnation. So when we bless ourselves, not only do we say, "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," but at the same time our hand gives glory to the Trinity, the Two natures of Christ, and the Incarnation. And that's even before the Trisagion. There is much upon which to reflect when the fingers are so arranged and one is blessing oneself and singing, "Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us..." ...especially given that the words usually spoken are, "In the name of the Father..."
As an additional thought: It seems (at least to me) that in our effort to "understand" each Person of the Trinity - or at least given the separate name there is for each Person and that we do not typically use some fuller form to the effect of: "God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit" - we sometimes lose sigh t(or at least I do), or on occasion are not mindful as we should, of God's unity. Fortunately, our formula for blessing ourselves beautifully unites the Persons into One, Holy God.

- The icon is from St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai. I found it on holy-destinations.com/egypt : - )