6th January 2025 @ 7pm
Good Shepherd Chapel
Abbotsford Victoria
This was one of our best Nativity celebrations as a community. Peaceful and calming music greeted the congregation as they arrived, building a sense of anticipation for the evening’s celebrations. Father Mark gently played the organ as people came in and collected their hymn sheets and a gift of our new 2025 Calendar. Father Matthew and our Server Luke blessed the church with incense as we waited to begin.
The Entrance Hymn began and everyone sang along to “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” as Metropolitan Raffaele carried in the statue of Baby Jesus. He spoke of the wisdom from the orient and the journey of the three kings. He reminded us to welcome the Lord into our hearts, just as Jerome had done in Bethlehem when beholding the image of the Infant Lord.
The liturgy continued and Father Mark played, accompanying the Metropolitan as he sang the Kyrie. Then Father Mark read from Galatians and the Metropolitan responded with the Alleluia in the tune of “The First Noel”.
Next, the Gospel was brought amongst the people by Father Matthew as we sang “Gaudete”. The Father read from the Gospel of St Matthew which spoke of the coming of the Wise Men and Herod’s fear of the coming of our Lord. It recalled the star guiding the Sages to the manger and the gifts given to Jesus, and the foresight of the sages to return home via a different path.
Metropolitan Raffaele gave his homily which explored the Italian traditional story of Epiphania. She was a lady who was quite stingey and never had any guests. She became quite bitter and lonely, until one day the three sages asked to camp in the clearing outside her house. They were on their way to honor Jesus, and asked her if she would like to come along. She said no, but gave them some leather shoes she had made to gift him with. Many years later, when Jesus returned to Bethlehem, he also stopped by the clearing. When he knocked on her door, she recognized him by the shoes she had given him and he healed her bitter heart. From this day, she began making gifts for the children. The Metropolitan again reminded us of the importance of allowing God into our hearts.
Then, “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel” was sung as the Holy Gifts were brought to the Altar and the liturgy continued. They were blessed and the Theotokos was celebrated as the congregation sang “Most Highly Favoured Lady”. The Metropolitan reminded us to be thankful: that God only wants us to be thankful and bring light to others in the world. Then the prayer to the Theotokos was uttered by the congregation and sung by the clergy.
This was soon followed by the epiclesis and the Our Father prayer. The clergy took communion and shared it with the community. We then sang “Angels We Have Heard on High” in thanks before the Holy Mysteries were returned to the prosthesis table.
We sang the traditional Italian carol “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle” as the Thanksgiving hymn before Metropolitan Raffaele recounted a story from World War One. The Italian soldiers who were in the Alps were greeted by their enemy the Austrians on Christmas night - the Austrians sang “Stille Nacht” and the Italians reciprocated by singing “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle”. There was no blood shed that night, reminding us that peace and harmony can even exist in a world at odds.
The congregation were then invited to venerate the statue of the Baby Jesus as the Metropolitan sang our final hymn: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” - this reminded us that as we venerate the holy icons of the church we recognise God in these moments: we must also remember to see God in the people we love, greet, and encounter in our daily lives.
After the liturgy, we all journeyed to the cloister to enjoy agape and conversations. It had been a very enjoyable and pleasant evening and all went home fulfilled, ready to bring the joy of nativity home.
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