The First of January, Circumcision of the Lord.
It is not by chance that New Year’s day and the Feast of the Lord’s Circumcision coincide. It has a deep symbolic meaning. And this meaning consists in the fact that the whole cycle of our inner life really starts with these days. And this is not just my own understanding, as a pastor in my position, but it is the understanding of our entire Russian Church, which in the year 1700 changed over to the calculation of time from the Birth of Christ, and by doing this, united everything from the beginning of our Christian life, united everything in which our life consists.
If people understood this, then our Church would be as crowded today as it was on Easter or Christmas. Listen carefully to what was said by our great teacher of the Church, Theophan the Recluse, one of the confessors for the Church of Christ. What did he say? "Just as the New Year is the beginning of the days of the year, so on this day we must gather into our soul the kinds of thoughts, feelings, and dispositions which could direct all activities during the year in a way worthy of a Christian." See what Theophan the Recluse has in mind: "On this day the Church as if reveals to us the Divine Grace for understanding, feeling, reasoning, and for exciting our spirit."
See how this great teacher of the Church views this day: "A New Year! Until 1700, time was calculated from the creation of the world, from the month of September. But from the year 1700, the calculation of time was reunited with what must take place in the soul of a Christian." Starting from 1700 the Christian New Year began from Christmas, with our leaving the cave of Bethlehem, on the Day of the Lord’s Circumcision, when He was given the name of Jesus."
And therefore, it turns out that the New Year, as it were, strengthens that which should be in the soul of a human being. This is like the beginning of our renewed life. Note how Bishop Theophan continues: ‘This we will find at once, as soon as we accept in our thoughts that there is a New Year in spiritual life. And there is a New Year in spiritual life when a person who was living in negligence starts to be zealous for salvation and a God-pleasing life."
There are moments in life, there is something which gnaws at our heart, something in our heart which disturbs it. And at the same time, we are slaves to this disturbance in the heart. So this first day of January, the day when we perform the circumcision of our heart, becomes a necessary day for us. On this day we confess ourselves to be Christians before the Lord, Who was born for the sake of our salvation and Who renews our yearly cycle. And as you can see, this is the beginning. "Because when a person makes a decision to do this (that is, to change his life)," continues Bishop Theophan, "then everything inside of him is being rebuilt anew, on new foundations. The old things are past and everything becomes new."
And it is the same with us today. Let us walk out of church, and let us feel in our heart this beginning. O Lord, from this day on I want to be Thy slave, not the slave of Egypt where against my will I laid bricks and worked for the prince of this world. O Lord, I want to be Thine! "If you have this — renew it; if you don’t have it, create it, and you will have a New Year." So concludes Bishop Theophan. And this is why with such hope in God’s mercy we perform this first Molieben, which is a very unusual one and begins with the words: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages, Amen."