Blessed Nativity & New Year – What’s going on at St. Paul?

The Vasi-WHAT??“For centuries upon centuries, parents, grandparents and godparents have related the following to Orthodox children about St. Basil and the Vasilopita. One year, during a time of terrible famine, the emperor levied a sinfully excessive tax upon the people of Caesarea. The tax was such a heavy burden upon the already impoverished people that to avoid debtors’ prison each family had to relinquish its few remaining coins and pieces of jewelry, including precious family heirlooms. Learning of this injustice upon his flock, St. Basil the Great, the archbishop of Caesarea, took up his bishop’s staff and the book of the holy Gospels and came to his people’s defense by fearlessly calling the emperor to repentance. By God’s grace, the emperor did repent! He canceled the tax and instructed his tax collectors to turn over to St. Basil all of the chests containing the coins and jewelry which had been paid as taxes by the people of Caesarea. But now St. Basil was faced with the daunting and impossible task of returning these thousands of coins and pieces of jewelry to their rightful owners. After praying for a long time before the icons of our Master Christ and His All-Holy Mother, St. Basil had all the treasures baked into one huge pita. He then called all the townspeople to prayer at the cathedral, and, after Divine Liturgy, he blessed and cut the pita, giving a piece to each person. Miraculously, each owner received in his piece of Vasilopita his own valuables. They all joyfully returned home, giving thanks to God who had delivered them from abject poverty and to their good and holy bishop St. Basil the Great! In remembrance of that miracle wrought by God as a result of St. Basil’s love and defense of his people, Orthodox Christians have observed the tradition of the Vasilopita each year on January 1st– the date on which St. Basil reposed in the Lord in the year 379.”

Learn more about the tradition of the Vasilopita

Why the circumcision of Christ? 

“The Church Fathers explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that he had truly assumed human flesh, and that his Incarnation was not merely an illusion, as certain heretics (Docetists) taught.” 

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Naples Daily News: “Best Images of 2018”
Features the St. Paul Iconography Project 
(Here)

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The Baptism of Christ

Icon of the Baptism of Christ at St. Paul Church in Naples

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Weekly Bible Study Group
Thursday 6PM-7PM

Gather with us in this low-key environment to learn about the Holy Scriptures through the lens of the Ancient Christian Faith.

This is not a lecture hour with Fr. Paul but rather a warm-discussion about the relevant reading and how it fits into our personal life, local community, and world.

This is how we learn about the Faith.

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Great Vespers
Saturday 6:00PM

Why is Great Vespers important?

“The service leads to the meditation of God’s word and the glorification of his love for men. It instructs and allows us to praise God for the particular events or persons whose memory is celebrated and made present to us in the Church. It prepares us for the sleep of the night and the dawn of the new day to come. On the eves of the Divine Liturgy, it begins the movement into the most perfect communion with God in the sacramental mysteries.”

Learn more about Great Vespers here

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“The coming of the New Year is often a time of reflection, and, this year, folks seem more reflective than ever. This year, I think that reflective may even mean anxious. Perhaps this anxiety is related to economic uncertainty, to our being bombarded with so much information from everywhere, to hostilities and frustrations around the world, to America’s realization that the world is not receptive to all of our ideals and standards, to our inability to assuage all of the suffering we see around us and around the globe, and to bad news reported from everywhere.

Then again, perhaps our anxiety is more about our search for meaning in a world that doesn’t seek God any longer. Not only does our society not seek God, but Christians are ridiculed as silly, old fashioned, non-thinkers! It seems that almost overnight, our ideals as a culture have changed and, outside of shopping and Santas, there isn’t much space for Christian faith and truth. Eastern mysticisms are the place of choice for “feel-goods,” and truth is an old-fashioned concept that has all but been abandoned by modern humanity.

In the Orthodox Church, Truth is not a what, but a Who. The Word of God took on flesh so that we could come to share His life. The message of Christ cannot be reduced to doing nice things and getting along with each other. Christ hung on the cross so that He could share in our lives and in our deaths, and in so sharing, join us to Himself. The Christian message of who we are and Who Truth is cannot be reduced to our feelings. The Word of God took on flesh for us to share His Life with us, and for us really to be His people. Meaning in life comes not from a feeling; rather, it comes from our relationship with God, and the relationship that gives us access to God is in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-man. We know God and God knows us, by our being in relationship with Him. Like all other relationships, a relationship with God requires time and effort.

To be honest, I am not very anxious about the New Year. I know what God has accomplished for us and I have confidence in His mercy and love. He will do what is best for me, in spite of me. Here I am not talking about salvation – I will leave that up to God. I am not assured that I won’t suffer – that is dependent on those around me, my own poor decisions, and the unfolding of my genes. I am not anxious, because I have come to understand that God is good and that sufferings and pains do come to an end sometime. But the things that count, that give meaning to life and are eternal, are all accomplished by Christ, and He brings them to us.

I write this to comfort those who are reflective and anxious at this time of year. This year like every year, and this day like every day, is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (source here)

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