American Christmas and Orthodox Nativity

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Reprinted from Orthodox Life Vol. 44, No. 5 October 1994
AMERICAN CHRISTMAS AND ORTHODOX NATIVITY
By Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago (†1987)

On American Christmas, some of you more, some of you to a lesser extent, celebrate, have parties, give presents to each other, etc. Alas, American Christmas is acquiring a more and more pagan character: so much time is wasted on shopping, often unnecessarily, for clothing, for everything exterior, while inner spiritual concerns remain almost in oblivion.

The Nativity of the God-Child Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, is hardly given any thought whatsoever. The kind, gentle image of Christ is supplanted by that of jolly old Santa Claus - a distressing, blasphemous caricature of one of God's greatest saints - Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Mira, whom the Roman Catholics contrived to exclude from their order of saints some years ago.

The psychology of the masses is infectious. We, the zealots of religious piety, understand this and, in a fatherly way, for the sake of love, look askance, although not without sadness, at this chaotic tribute in the country which gave shelter to our flock. At the same time, we sincerely ask all members of our Russian Church Abroad: having given notice to the secular world, when the embers of the American festival have died, give some attention to your inner self - prepare yourself spiritually, in the Orthodox way, for our Orthodox Feast of the Nativity of Christ. First of all, for at least the remainder of Lent - fast. After all, there are not many fast days left. Whoever is able, prepare yourselves with fasting. On the holy eve of the feast, make certain that you come to church: the Nativity services are so beautiful! On the day of Nativity, try your best to get leave from work or school, even if you must lose a day's wages. Give them to God!

Keep holy, sanctify in a special way, this whole day of the Great Mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. Do not do anything thoughtless on the Nativity. It is traditional on this day to visit the clergy, family or friends, to somehow reinforce the joy of the Festival. It is not sinful on this day to have guests or go out, within reason of course, so as not to lose the image of God, which we carry. It is certainly blessed for families and those of means [who have more of this world's goods] to invite people who are alone to their Nativity dinner, especially those in poverty, to warm them with kindness and attention. How good this is and pleasing to God!

On this great day we can and must celebrate, especially spiritually. Too often this celebration is substituted with uncontrolled drunken par ties. It is not a crime to be merry and celebrate a Festival, but not wildly. Examine the Holy Gospels. There the word joy appears nearly twenty times, but the word gladness appears only once, and even then in conjunction with the word joy. I will introduce the text: But the'angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; anid many shall rejoice at his birth (Luke I, 13-14).

On the Feast day of the Nativity it has become customary, seemingly from the Three Wise Men, to give each other gifts, especially the poor and needv. This is a good and holy custom! In America, we may divide it into two parts: on American Christmas give gifts to family and friends, and on our Nativity to do good deeds; that is, send care packages to needy people, churches and charitable organizations.

In this way, we can pay tribute to the customary American Christmas as well as to our Great Orthodox Feast of the Nativity of Christ. God grant that this advice would find its way to your hearts!

As pastors, we understand how, when all around people are celebrating, it is difficult not to be caught up in the festivities. However, blessed are those who maintain their fasting and prayer throughout the whole period of the Nativity Fast, leaving aside all celebration until our Orthodox Nativity.

Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago († 1987)
Translated from Russian by Alexander Morin

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GENERAL RULES:

     Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of this fast are Strict Fast days. On these days we abstain from meat, dairy, fish with backbones, fowl, alcoholic beverages, and olive oil.

     Tuesdays and Thursdays of the fast are Wine and Oil Days. On these days the fasting discipline is relaxed a bit to permit wine and olive oil.

     Saturdays and Sundays of the fast are Fish, Wine, and Oil Days. On these days the fast is relaxed even more to permit fish with backbones in addition to wine and oil.

     Foods that are permitted on all days are vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and shell fish.

• During the forefeast of the Nativity, from December 20-24 (Old Style), our fasting is more strict. The weekdays that fall during this period are kept as Strict Fast Days, while any Saturday or Sunday is observed as a Wine and Oil Day.

Of course, every rule has its exception(s). The fasting discipline varies from the general rules noted above according to the commemoration of the day and the proximity to the feast of the Nativity. The exceptions for 2003 are as follows:

• November 21 -- The Nativity of the Theotokos. This feast, one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church Year, is always celebrated as a Fish, Wine, and Oil day, without regard to the day of the week.

Please remember, that abstaining from food during this period does us no good if we do not also, as St. John Chrysostom teaches us, fast with "... the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies."

Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice.
Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.
For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?

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A instruction provided in the Typicon under 14 November

"It is fitting to know that on the morrow we begin the fast for the Nativity of Christ, the holy forty days. During these forty days, we ought to keep three days in each week, fasting from oil and wine: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only if a great saint occurs, do we permit [a relaxation] on his memorial, and we do [this] for the love of the saint [and] for the sake of his feast, which [during] this month [of November] are the 16th, 25th and 30th [days], [and in] December [are] the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 17th and 20th days. For, on these days, if on a Tuesday and on a Thursday, we eat fish. On a Monday, on a Wednesday and on a Friday, we permit only oil and wine; we do not eat fish, except [on the feast of] the temple. If one of these [is the feast of] the monastery's temple, we permit fish and wine. On the Entry of the Theotokos [into the Temple], on whatever day it occurs, [even] if on a Wednesday or a Friday, we permit fish also. Some typica command [us] to fast from the 9th day of December, and not to permit fish, except on Saturdays and Sundays and [on the feast of] the temple of a saint. From the 20th day, even until the 25th, if a Saturday and a Sunday occur, we do not permit fish."

A summary of the above prescriptions is as follows:

1. Fish is permitted on all Saturdays and Sundays, except 20 and 21 December.

2. Fish is permitted on the following weekdays: 21 Nov/4 Dec (Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple), 25 Nov/8 Dec (Apodosis of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple), 4/17 Dec (Great-martyr Barbara), 9/22 Dec (Conception of the Theotokos).

3. Wine and oil are permitted on all Tuesdays and Thursdays.

4. Wine and oil are also permitted on the following weekdays: 24 Nov/7 Dec (Great-martyr Catherine), 5/18 Dec (Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified), 12/25 Dec (St. Spyridon), 17/30 Dec (Prophet Daniel).

5. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, except as indicated in paragraphs 2 and 4 above, fish, wine and oil are not permitted.

*The term, "dry food," refers to "xerophagy," which means unboiled food that is either raw, dried, salted or pickled, as well as plain bread.

**Permission for oil and wine on the feast of the Great-martyr Catherine (4/17 Nov) is not mentioned in the Typicon, but is mentioned in the Menologion that is appended to the Great Horologion.

***If a vigil is served for Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified (5/18 Dec), then fish is permitted.

It should be noted that local practices may require the modification of the above provisions. For example, if a local commemoration, such as St. Innocent of Irkutsk (26 Nov/9 Dec) or the Kursk Icon (27 Nov/10 Dec), occurs on a weekday and a vigil is served, then fish is permitted on that day.

In some places, the prescription to obstain from fish on weekdays that occur after 9/22 December is not observed. If such is the case, then, when a local commemoration, such as St. Herman of Alaska (12/25 Dec), occurs and a vigil is served, fish is permitted on that day.

[Justin2]

It's funny you should mention the Nativity Fast. I'm in Monterey, and I'm now attending an Old Calendar Church (St. Seraphim) here. My wife is still going to Church in Tacoma, WA, until she moves here. Today she mentioned starting the Fast, which I found amusing (sort of) since it won't be starting at St. Seraphim's until the day after Thanksgiving. I should just tell her not to worry about it, since we're going to be on the old calendar from now on...

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:bump: