The Feast of the Circumcision: A Blessed New Year!

While January 1 marks the beginning of the civil new year—and we wish every blessing of the season to our readers—it also marks the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

   

On the eighth day after His Nativity, our Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament Law. All male infants underwent circumcision as a sign of God’s Covenant with the holy Forefather Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:10-14, Leviticus 12:3).

SINGAPORE: Christmas Decoration

 

 

Keeping the Christmas tradition, the children and some of our parishioners decorated the Christmas Tree at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s Christmas greeting to heads of non-Orthodox Churches celebrating Christmas according to Gregorian Calendar

It's a Christmas miracle! Church keeps £100,000 found in a bin-bag on its doorstep after court rules 'finders, keepers'

• A bin-bag with £100,000 in cash was left outside a church property
• After police found no criminal link, the money has gone to the church
• It is two-and-a-half times what the York church normally raise in a year

 

In a good year, when the sun shines on the summer fete and the congregation digs deep, one parish church can hope to collect up to £40,000.

Russian Christmas Countdown - Russian Tea Cakes

These cookies are SO tender and light and just melt in your mouth! 

Russian Tea Cakes

Ingredients:

Religious tensions set aside to renovate Church of the Nativity; cooperation viewed as 'a miracle'

 

 

 BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Two weeks before Christmas, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Middle East in a century dumped several inches of snow on the hills of Bethlehem.

War Hero Robbed! Over $5,000 In Christmas Presents STOLEN! See How His Community Helped HERE!

 

A California town has shed the Christmas spirit on a soldier whose Christmas presents were stolen from his home just as he was returning from Afghanistan.

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE From Patriarch of Antioch and All the East - We will not keep silent in the cases of those who kidnapped... VIDEO

Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X 

Iraq: Christians targeted as two separate bombs rock Baghdad killing at least 22 people

 

Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in two separate bomb attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 22 people, officials said. 

FOOD: Christmas cake

 

This traditional Christmas cake pulls out all the stops - if you have the time, feed it with brandy in the run up to Christmas.

Ingredients

When, exactly, was Jesus Christ born?

 

The logic behind the argument

 

The method pursued by the opponents of the established date of Christmas - in their desire to disprove that the 25^th of December was the date on which Christ was born - is an indirect one.  

Syrian Christians in Egypt Pray for Peace at Christmas

Syrian refugee in Egypt Samer Sabouh at first had decided not to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in mourning for the death of Syrian civilians. 

Palestinian archbishop: Christmas celebrations limited to religious services in solidarity with Syria

Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia Atallah Hanna said that Christmas and New Year’s celebrations will be limited to religious services as a gesture of solidarity with Syria.

Encyclical of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for Christmas 2013

Istanbul, Turkey
12/24/2013

Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas

+ BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church:
Grace, mercy, and peace from the Savior Christ, born in Bethlehem

FOOD: Perfect Christmas turkey

 

Ingredients

Follow Father Christmas as he heads around the world

• Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is tracking Santa's course as he delivers presents to homes around the world this Christmas

Thousands mark Christmas in Bethlehem PHOTO

 Christmas City

 

 Christian pilgrims pray at the Church of the Nativity during Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem

Large crowds have begun to gather in the biblical town of Bethlehem to kick off Christmas Eve celebrations.

Tourists packed Manger Square in a party atmosphere, a BBC correspondent says.

Thousands of carolers surround home of dying girl, 8, to fulfill her wish for a massive Christmas sing-along

• Delaney Brown suffers from a rare form of childhood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia with monosomy 7
• She was given just days to live by doctors last week
• She has since spoken with pop star Taylor Swift, among other bucket list items she's now fulfilled

  

Thousands of Christmas carolers gathered Saturday evening too sing outside the home of a terminally ill Pennsylvania girl.

Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity undergoes facelift

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — As visitors descend upon Bethlehem this holiday season, they will notice a different look for the Church of the Nativity. Wrapped in scaffolding, the basilica located at the site traditionally regarded as Jesus' birthplace is undergoing a much-needed facelift after 600 years.

GREECE - BULGARIA REPORT: Under the spell of similar charming Christmas traditions

 

 Given their geological and cultural proximity, Greece and Bulgaria are celebrating Christmas with some similar yet unique traditions.