You Wanted to Know.
Question: Father, I know that it is our tradition to have Carollers come to our homes to sing carols for us during the Nativity season and later to have our homes blessed by the Priest after the Feast of Jordan, however, is it really necessary to have these things done? Aren't these just old customs that are falling by the wayside?
Answer: I understand your question is one of continuing what seems to be traditions which come from antiquity and they probably have no real or intrinsic value in our modem (or post-modem) society or for your immediate family. What I can say is that this is certainly not the case!
The beauty of the Orthodox faith and our traditions is that they not only appeal to a spiritual reality which is necessarily detached from the modernism of today's world, but that they are traditions which had been initiated centuries ago out of a love for God and the need to include His very being and presence into everything that we do and have. Too often we treat "Church" as something that we "attend" and not something that we "live". It is convenient to box God into a regulated place, attend services, partake sporadically of the sacraments and then go off into the regular pace of our lives and forget about the need for God to be part of that 'regular' pace of our lives.
The traditions of our faith teach us that God is included in every season of the Church, in every aspect of our lives whether we are at home, in the hospital, at school or at work.This inspires us to continually contemplate the reality of God in our present lives, rather than keeping God relegated to "antiquity" or the "past" or to "unnecessary" history!
I have had, and I am sure other Clergy have had as well this question posed many times. This is not an uncommon thought among Orthodox today, however, the popularity of dismissing God to an "old and outdated" tradition is one that should cease immediately. In my Quarterly Newsletter to my Parish, I addressed this same issue and I will quote:
"The tradition of going from house to house singing Nativity Carols is one which certainly should be maintained and continued by each Household. The basis for singing hymns and songs which announce that the Christ-child, God Incarnate, is born unto this world is that we begin the celebration of the coming of God in the flesh with the remembrance of the feast itself in the Divine Liturgy for the Feast. After the Divine Liturgy, for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ has been celebrated by the community, Carolers will go from house to house in groups which are led by a lighted "star" on a pole.
Each group of Carolers will sing the gloriousness of the "coming of the Sun of Righteousness" to all who would accept them into their homes. The first home to be visited by the Carolers would be that of the Parish Priest.
When Carolers ask to visit your home this year, please say yes. The spirit of community is captured in the beauty of maintaining contact with one another through events and traditions which have become the backbone of the fabric of all Orthodox Christian Parishes and of our faith through the centuries."
Home blessing must be approached in a similar manner. To have our home, which is the "microcosm" of the Church Herself, blessed each and every year is a necessity and not an option! In our homes we experience all of the highs and lows of human relationships. We experience joys, disappointments, fun and a sense of spiritual connectedness with our God through relationships with those we are closest to. As such, we need to have our home blessed with holy water each year as a cleansing and a renewal of the presence of God and the hand of God to sanctify not only the building itself, but also and more importantly, the environment of our home, the "little" Church. Everything that is done in the Church, which benefits the faithful, is done out of love and through the Grace of God; therefore, everything done through prayer, contemplation and in participation with the Priest is done for the purpose of teaching us to rely on God for every step of our journey through this life. You can't have enough of God in your lives!
The days and weeks following the Feast of Jordan (Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, January 19th) is the season for the Priest to come and bless your home. When he calls to arrange a time, please ensure that your family is gathered at home when he arrives and have each person of your family participate with the prayers by holding candles and walking through the home during the blessing. Ensure that you have an icon and a candle, if possible, a Kolach and list of names of living and deceased persons to be prayed for, on a table in the central area of the home. Turn off your T.V., radio, etc. so that you can concentrate upon the beauty of the message of the Feast and the blessing. After the Priest leaves, sit with your family members and discuss how important this is for our spiritual renewal for the coming year. Remember: Don't ignore God since God never ignores you!
I bid you peace from this forward! Please e-mail your questions dhsuosregina@sasktel.net or call 306-757-0445
From January 2007 Visnyk of UOCC:
http://www.uocc.ca/pdf/visnyk/visnyk-2007-01-1-15.pdf
