Busy Day of Celebrations Tomorrow!

Posted in Children and Parents, Events, St. Aidan Community, Youth and Young Adults | - by Rebecca

Tomorrow, Dec. 24th, is a busy day! We have:

  • Friday: Dec. 24 10:00 am. Royal Hours:

The Royal Hours give us a whole atmosphere surrounding the birth of Our Lord: the venality of Herod who fears being supplanted; Joseph’s fear of disgrace; Mary’s faith, which leads her to inspire Joseph, and us, with words like “mystery” and “wonder” to describe the event she does not fully understand but has fully accepted. Beautiful chanting and singing in English as we worship Christ’s arrival! 1.5 hrs.

  • Friday Dec. 24 5:30pm. Nativity Vespers with Litiya:

This Vespers begins the celebration of the great Nativity feast itself, for as we know, the liturgical day begins in the evening. The service is an explosion of joy for the gift of Christ’s Incarnation which is now fulfilled! Eight biblical readings show that Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecies, that His Kingdom is the Kingdom “of all ages,” that all human history finds its meaning in it, that the entire cosmos is its center, and that He whom all of creation has been awaiting is now here! We all share in the 5 loaves broken and soaked in wine at the Litiya. The 1.5 hr candle-light service is sung/chanted in English.

Then we go home to our Holy Supper to celebrate the last meal of the Nativity Fast.

photo: picjumbo