New Year. The Circumcision of the Lord. St. Basil the Great.

(Col. 2:8-12; Luke 2:20-21, 40-52). As the New Year is the beginning of the days of summer, then on this day it is necessary to gather into the soul such thoughts, feelings, and dispositions that could, worthy of a Christian, direct the entire course of his affairs throughout the year. We will immediately find this as soon as we take into account that there is a new year in the spiritual life. In spiritual life, there is a new year, when someone who lives in negligence begins to be zealous for salvation and pleasing God: for when someone decides to do this, then inside and outside everything is rebuilt anew and on new principles — the old passes by and everything is new. If you have this, renew it; and if not, produce it, and you will have a new year.

A worthy celebration of the circumcision of the Lord and the memory of St. Basil the Great will also be suitable for this. The essence of this change is that from this moment man begins to live solely for God for his salvation, whereas before he lived exclusively for himself, preparing destruction for himself. Here he abandons his former habits, all pleasures, and everything in which he found pleasure; it cuts off passions and lustful dispositions and accepts deeds of strict self-denial. And such a change exactly represents what the circumcision of the heart should be, according to the Apostle, which the celebration of the Lord's circumcision reminds us and obliges us to, and which St. Basil the Great sets an example for in his person. Thus, all the objects that crowd into consciousness in the New Year converge in one thing – our inner renewal through the circumcision of the heart. If the Lord pleases someone to tune in to the New Year in this way, that is, not only to think in this way, but also to put all this into practice, he will celebrate the New Year in the most perfect Christian way and prepare himself for the Christian passage of the whole summer. In the next new year, he will only need to renew and revive what he has now perceived.

Saturday before Theophany. (1 Timothy 3:14-4,5; Matt. 3:1-11). "The house of God, which is the church of the living God, is the pillar and ground of the truth" Therefore we need not turn our eyes hither and thither to see if there is no truth anywhere. She is near. Be in the Church, contain all that it contains, and you will be in the truth, you will possess the truth and live according to it and in it, and, as a result, you will be filled with life in the truth. There is no truth outside the Orthodox Church. She is the only faithful guardian of all that the Lord commanded through the Holy Apostles, and is therefore the true Apostolic Church. Others have lost the Apostolic Church, and as if in their Christian consciousness they bear the conviction that only the Apostolic Church can faithfully preserve and indicate the truth, they decided to build such a church themselves, and they built it, and gave it such a name. A name was given, but the essence could not be communicated, for the Apostolic Church was created by the grace of the Father by the Lord the Savior by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit through the Apostles. People can't create such a thing. Those who think to create such a doll are like children playing with dolls. If there is no true Apostolic Church on earth, there is no need to spend labor on creating it. But thanks be to the Lord, He did not allow the gates of hell to prevail against the Holy Apostolic Church. It is and will remain, according to His promise, to the end of the age. And this is our Orthodox Church. Thank God!

Sunday before Theophany (31st)

(2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8). Before the Lord's appearance to the people and His entry into the work of accomplishing the economy of our salvation, St. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the people to receive Him. The preparation consisted in a call to repentance. And repentance from that time became the path to the Lord the Savior and the threshold of faith in Him. The Saviour Himself began His preaching with the words: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15). Repentance and faith in each other guide the one who seeks salvation. Repentance burdens him with the burden of sins and frightens him with the unwashed judgment of God's righteousness. But faith comes and shows him the Redeemer, Who has taken away the sins of the world. The penitent clings to the Deliverer and, having laid down the burden of sins by confession, joyfully flows after Him, the path of His commandments. Faith, therefore, is born of repentance and stands on it. The penitent holds fast to faith because of the feeling of deliverance. Faith is alive from repentance. Without repentance, it is like a tree without a life-giving current, it is sluggish and lifeless.

Monday (32nd). (James 2:14-26, Mark 10:46-52). "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says that he has faith, but has not works? Can this faith save him?" In repentance, what do they say? "I have sinned, I will not. I will not sin, therefore, I will live according to the commandments. Since repentance does not depart from the acceptance of faith, but, having been combined with it, remains to the end, then the decision to live according to the commandments remains in force even in faith. Therefore, a believer, if he has come to faith by the direct path, that is, by repentance, is a zealot for the fulfillment of the commandments or a doer of good works. Faith gives him the strongest motives for this; faith gives him the grace-filled strength for this through the Holy Sacraments. In this way, faith helps works. But works make faith perfect: for until that which one has believed is done by deed, faith is not faith. It becomes visible only in deeds. And not only visible, but also strong. Works act back on faith and strengthen it.