My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
1st SEPTEMBER OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATES
THE INDICTION OR BEGINNING OF THE NEW ECCLESIASTICAL
YEAR.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Indiction. Second Tone
O MAKER of all creation, Who hast established the times and the
seasons in Thine own power: Bless the crown of this year with
Thy goodness, O Lord, and keep out rulers and Thy flock in peace,
by the intercessions of the Theotokos, and save us.
Kontakion Hymn of the Indiction. Fourth Tone
O GOD OF ALL, Thou Who hast made all the ages, O Sovereign
Lord, truly transcendent in essence, bestow Thy grace and
blessing on the year to come; and, O Most Compassionate, in
Thine infinite mercy save all them that worship Thee, Who alone
art our Master, and that with fear, O Savior, cry to Thee: Grant
unto all men a fruitful and godly year.
Our Holy Orthodox Church celebrates on 1st September the Indiction. The Hebrews of old observed March as the beginning of the year, but for the Romans, the beginning of the year was September, even though they previously observed the 1st of January. According to Archbishop Gregory of Taormina, when Julius Caesar defeated Anthony it was in the month of September…"Indiction" is a Latin word meaning "TO PROCLAIM." The Great Synaxaristes is given the signification of ORISMOS, that is, a DECREE or EDICT, which more specifically was A TAX IMPOSED BY THE EMPEROR in order to meet the needs of the Empire. The Feast of Indiction was enacted by the Holy Fathers at the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea. Gradually, the word "INDICTION" acquired A CHRONOLOGICAL definition that it maintained after Justinian I’s novel 47 of 537. The first day of the indiction was not identical to the various traditions. The Greek or Constantinopolitan Indiction began on the 1st of September.
The hymnographers of the Church composed hymns for the Christians. We ask the Logos/Word, Who made ALL THINGS IN WISDOM AND APPOINTED THE SEASONS AND TIMES FOR OUR SALVATION, "to bless the crown of the year, preserving the multitude of the Orthodox in peace, through the prayers of the Theotokos and of all Thy Saints [Vespers, Mode Plagal Two]." The faithful also entreat Christ God, Who wisely renewed all that He brought into existence, for FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND SETTING ARIGHT THE WORK OF THEIR HANDS, VICTORY OVER THEIR ADVERSARIES, THE SETTING AT NOUGHT OF HERESIES, THE FERTILITY OF THE EARTH, AND SEASONABLE WEATHER.
The month of September was also the time to gather the summer fruits and prepare for winter. On the first day of the seventh month, the Hebrews kept the Feast of Trumpets: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a rest, A MEMORIAL OF TRUMPETS: IT SHALL BE TO YOU A HOLY CONVOCATION. Ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall offer a whole-burnt offering to the Lord (Leviticus 23:24-25).
It is the same Christ God Who appeared from the Virgin and inscribed the Tablets on Mount Sinai, Who has now appeared in the flesh in the city of Nazareth of Galilee on the Sabbath. The Master received the Book of the Prophet Isaiah to read, as narrated by the Evangelist Luke: "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and according to what was customary to Him, He went into the Synagogue on the day of the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And there was handed over to Him the roll of Isaiah the Prophet. And having unfolded the roll, He found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, on account of which He anointed Me; He hath sent Me to preach the good tidings to the poor, to heal those who have been broken in heart, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Isaiah 61:2]. And after He folded up the roll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the Synagogue were looking intently on Him. And He began to say to them, "TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS." And all were witness to Him and were wondering at the words of grace which were proceeding out of His mouth [Luke 4:16-22].
Saint Kyril of Alexandria inquires, "For what reason did the Incarnate Logos/Word choose to be anointed? It was our being destitute of the Spirit…The words befit the manhood, for it is not the Divine Nature which is anointed."
"The meaning implied in the name "Christ," observes Saint Irenaeus, "is ‘He that anoints,’ ‘He that is anointed,’ and the ‘unction’ itself with which He is anointed. It is the Father Who anoints, but the Son Who is anointed by the Spirit, Who IS THE UNCTION, as the Logos/Word declares by Isaiah [Isaiah 61:1]" Saint Kyril of Jerusalem, in his lecture regarding CHRISM, writes, "Christ was NOT ANOINTED BY MEN with oil or material ointment, but the Father having before APPOINTED HIM MTO BE THE SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE WORLD, ANOINTED Him with the Holy Spirit…And as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified also. As He was anointed WITH A NOETIC OIL OF GLADNESS, THAT IS, WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, CALLED ‘OIL OF GLADNESS’ (Psalm 44:6), SO YOU WERE ANOINTED WITH OINTMENT, HAVING BEEN MADE PARTAKERS AND FELLOWS OF CHRIST." (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Thngs1"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 