On 1st of January: The Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Father Among the Saints BASIL THE GREAT, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

On 1st of January: The Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father
Among the Saints BASIL THE GREAT, Archbishop of Caesarea of
Cappadocia.

ON THE CIRCUMCISION

On the 8th day after His birth, the Divine Child was taken to the Temple and duly circumcised according to the Jewish Law that had been observed from the time of Abraham. At this time He was given the name JESUS, the name announced to the Most Holy Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:31) In the Book of Genesis 17:10, "Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It shall be A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN Me and you. A child of EIGHT YEARS OLD SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED BY YOU" [vs. 10-12]. The RITE OF CIRCUMCISION was not the covenant itself. It was "A SIGN OF THE COVENANT". It was a temporary sign, because it applied only to Abraham’s "genealogy", that is to Abraham’s physical lineage, and also to those born in his house or bought with his money. Thus the rite did NOT apply to the "many nations," or Gentiles (Pagans), to be made righteous by faith in the Gospel. Christ Himself FULFILLED THIS RITE AND BROUGHT IT TO AN END WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED ON THE EIGHTH DAY AFTER HIS BIRTH FROM THE VIRGIN (Luke 2:21).

The Baptism of the New Covenant was prefigured in the Circumcision of the Old Covenant. The Lord’s Circumcision shows that He TOOK TRUE HUMAN FLESH UPON HIMSELF, NOT ITS SEMBLANCE AS HERETICS LATER TAUGHT OF Him. The Lord was truly circumcised, desiring thus TO FULFIL ALL THE LAW, which He Himself had given through our Forefathers and the Prophets. Fulfilling all the ordinances of the Law, He superseded them by Baptism in His Church, for, as the Holy Apostle declares: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but A NEW CREATURE" [Galatians 6:15].

WHO WAS SAINT BASIL THE GREAT?

Saint Basil the Great was born about the end of the year 329 A.D. in Caesarea of Cappadocia, to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His parents’ names were Basil and Emily. His mother Emily (commemorated July 19th) and his grandmother Macrina (January 14th) are Saints of the Church, together with all his brothers and sisters: Macrina, his elder sister (July 19th), Gregory of Nissa (January 10th), Peter of Sebastia (January 9th), and Naucratius. Basil studied in Constantinople under the sophist Libanius, then in Athens, where also he formed a friendship with the young Gregory, a fellow Cappadocian, later called "the Theologian." Through the good influence of his sister Macrina (see July 19th), he chose to embrace the ascetical life, abandoning his worldly career. He visited the monks in Egypt, in Palestine, in Syria, and in Mesopotamia, and upon returning to Caesarea, he departed to hermitage on the Iris River in Pontus, not far from Annesi, where his mother and his sister Macrina were already treading the path of the ASCETICAL LIFE; here he also wrote his ascetical homilies.

After the year 370 A.D., when the bishop of his country reposed, he was elected to succeed to his throne and was entrusted with the Church of Christ, which he tended for eight years, living in voluntary poverty and strict asceticism, having no other care than to defend Holy Orthodoxy as a worthy SUCCESSOR OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. The pagan Roman Emperors Valens and Modestus, the Eparch of the East, who wer of one mind with the HERETICAL ARIANS, tried with threats of exile and of torments to bend the Saint to their own confession, because he was the bastion of Orthodoxy in all Cappadocia, and preserved it from heresy when Arianism was at its strongest. But he set all their malice at nought, and in his willingness to give himself up to every suffering for the sake of the Faith, showed himself to be a martyr by volition. Modestus, amzed at Basil’s fearlessness in his presence, sasid that no one had ever so spoken to him. "Perhaps," answered the Saint, "you have never met a bishop before." The Emperor Valens himself was almost won over by Basil’s dignity and wisdom. When Valens’ son fell gravely ill, he asked for him. The Saint promised that his son would be restored if Valens agreed to have him baptized by the Orthodox; Valens agreed, Basil prayed, the son was restored. But afterwards the Emperor had him baptized by Arians, and the child died soon after. Later, Valens, persuaded by his counsellors, decided to send the Saint into exile because he would not accept the Arians into communion; but his pen broke when he was signing the banishment. He tried a second time and a third, but the same thing happened, so that the Emperor was filled with dread, and tore up the document, and Basil was not banished. The truly great Basil, spent wth extreme ascetical practices and continual labors at the helm of the Church, departed to the Lord on the 1st of January, in 379 A.D., at the age of 49.

His writings are replete with wisdom and erudition, and with these gifts he set forth the doctrines concerning the mysteries both OF CREATION [see his Hexaemeron] and of the Holy Trinity (see On the Holy Spirit). Because of the majesty and keenness of his eloquence, he is honored as "THE REVEALER OF HEAVENLY THINGS" and "THE GREAT.."

Saint Basil is also celebrated on January 30th with Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint John Chrysostmos. [Resources: The Great Horologion]

__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George