Philip's Fast, the 40 day fast in preparation for the celebration of the feasts of the Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas) on December 25th and the Theophany of Our Lord (Epiphany or the Baptism) on January 6th, begins on Sunday evening, November 14th (at the conclusion of the feast of St. Philip).
Would any of the participants (and lurkers) on the Byzantine Forum be interested in an ongoing discussion to help us prepare for these two great feasts? More specifically, would there be interest in providing a discussion centering on Fr. Thomas Hopko's excellent book:
"The Winter Pascha - Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season"? This book offers forty short meditations for the season of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, ending with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple on the fortieth day after Christ's birth (February 2nd). The book is written in a popular, easy to read style. Most chapters / meditations are only 4-5 pages and draw on biblical readings, Byzantine liturgical hymns and the writings of the Saints and Church fathers. If the discussion begins the week before Philip's Fast (discussing each feast and topic during the week prior to it celebration on the Church calendar) the book can be discussed at the rate of about 2 chapters per week (about 10 pages of reading each week). The book is published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. If it is not available in your parish book store it can be ordered directly from
SVS Press [
svots.edu] - 1-800-204-BOOK.
Interested? Let us know!
ByzCath.org is also interested in your suggestions for a moderator to lead this discussion. Ideally, the moderator would lead the discussion by providing an short excerpt or summary from each chapter along with a few points and questions for discussion.
Please let us know by either responding to this thread or via private e-mail to:
73004.1253@Compuserve.com .
