
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Prayers and blessings to all.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Prayers and blessings to all.
Lord my God, I sing you a Nativity hymn, rejoicing in the vigil of the feast. By your birth you have given me divine rebirth, raising me up to my first excellence.
You, O Lord, are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. I acknowledged my sin to you. I have not hidden my transgression. And you forgave the discord of my sin.
In you, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed. Bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my Rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! For His mercy endures forever.
O Good One, you know my poverty and foolishness, my blindness and uselessness, but my soul’s suffering is also before you. Heal me from every hidden wound. Keep me from every impulse unpleasing in your sight and hurtful to my neighbor.
Safe and sound in soul and body, may we zealously persevere in ceaselessly glorifying your wondrous and blessed name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In the Orthodox Church the Nativity Fast, known in the West as Advent, begins on November 15. Modeled after Great Lent, this is a 40-day fast in preparation for Christmas, the feast of our Lord’s birth. But there is another theme to this season as well. We not only prepare to celebrate the feast of Christ’s first coming into the word. We also use this time to reflect on our readiness to meet him at his second coming.