The Shepherd, January 2006
THE COMING MONTH
IN JANUARY, we celebrate the Great Feast of Theophany, the Lord’s Baptism in the Jordan River. The day before the feast (5th/18th) we keep as a fast day, the only fast day observed between Christmas and Theophany. The services of the feast are explained in the article above taken from Fr Antonov’s “The House of God and the Church Services,” and so we will not say more on that here.
In addition to this Great Feast, we commemorate some of the great ascetic fathers of the Church and some of her greatest Archpastors and teachers. Perhaps this is not without reason. In the Gospels we read that it was after His Baptism that our Saviour went out into the desert to fast for forty days, and in the following centuries thousands of faithful men and women have dedicated their life to the desert experience as ascetics. Giving an example to us, it was only after this period of withdrawal, fasting and praying that the Lord took up His preaching ministry, and again in the centuries that have followed, it has not necessarily been those with natural abilities, with the gift of eloquence, or of learning, those of a superior education or academic qualifications, but those who have purified their hearts and minds who have become the great preachers of the Faith, the ones whose words are not only technically correct, but have power and effectual unto salvation.
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