Celebrating the Nativity of our Lord at Saint Steven’s Cathedral in Alhambra, California
The Joyous celebration of the Nativity of the Savior!
Hundreds of faithful gathered at the Cathedral to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.As the festal Compline service concluded with the singing of the Nativity Troparion and the Blessing of the Five Loaves, everyone received a yule branch from on their way to the where the yule tree, badnjak ceremony took place.
The evening’s festivities then continued in the Social hall with a delicious Lenten dinner, pastries, refreshments, and Christian fellowship. In the morning on Christmas day, the Nativity liturgy was celebrated by Bishop Maxim, Fr. Nick and Fr. Norman together with all the faithful. At the conclusion of the liturgy, Fr. Nick shared the greetings of His Holiness, Patriarch Irinej and the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The main message in the Encyclical again this Christmas is to safeguard our Orthodox Faith and preserve it at all cost. “ Our Orthodox Church Revelation and the Holy Tradition teach us that it is God-pleasing to confess faith in the Incarnate Son and Word of God, Christ the God-Child, and with this to confess our faith in the Most Holy Trinity! This gives light to our walk in the darkness of this world permeated by sin. On this fulness of the Church’s faith depends our understanding and acceptance of the light of the Lord’s Image, the perfect measure of all things, Jesus Christ our Lord. In Him we grow and we hope in His glorious Second coming. The subsistence of the entire creation depends on the completeness of the Church’s Orthodox Faith. It is from this Orthodox Faith that comes the possibility of our most complete communion with God in the midst of our existence: in the Holy Liturgy. It is through the Liturgy that our Orthodox Church lives and witnesses in the most complete way about our communion with the God-Child Christ.”
Following the Liturgy, Fr. Nick invited everyone to the Social Hall for the traditional Christmas luncheon which he and his family hosted.
Source: Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church
