Start off the new year right with an intentional plan to incorporate the liturgical life into your home, with a few simple additions. Living our faith in a modern world is not easy, so my hope is to provide a simple one page guide to guide you through some “bite sized” ideas, so you can spend less time figuring out what to do, and spend more living liturgically.
January 1st - St. Basil the Great / Circumcision of Christ
St. Basil the Great - Saint Basil was born in 330 A.D. in Caesarea, Cappadocia, into a wealthy and pious family. As a young man, he received the best education of his time, in areas such as philosophy, history, rhetoric, astronomy, medicine, and geometry. Upon completion of his studies, he returned to Caesarea, where he initially pursued a career as a rhetoric. Soon, under the influence of his older sister Macrina, he decided to give up his career and live as a monastic in voluntary poverty. He lead an ascetic life together with his friend Saint Gregory the Theologian, building monasteries and establishing guidelines for cenobitic monasticism.
In 370, he became Bishop of Caesarea, where he ministered to his flock with great love and selflessness. He established hospitals, schools, orphanages and homes for the elderly. Saint Basil fought fervently against heresies (false teachings), and wrote extensively on how to live and worship in the Orthodox way. He is considered the author of the Divine Liturgy bearing his name, which is celebrated ten times during the year.
Source: https://orthodoxpebbles.com/saints/saint-basil-the-great/
Circumcision of our Lord - On January 1st, 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]. The Holy Fathers of the Church explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that He had truly assumed human flesh, and that His Incarnation was not merely an illusion.
Source: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2001/01/01/100001-the-circumcision-of-our-lord-and-savior-jesus-christ
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