Today, Father Panagiotes Carras sent his email group this attached sermon from Metropolitan Moses for the Feast of St. Boniface:
Beloved Christians,
During this Lent before the Nativity of Christ and during the feast it is good to remember the words of Saint Athanasios the Great:
The feast does not consist in pleasant intercourse at meals, nor splendor of clothing, nor days of leisure, but in the acknowledgment of God and the offering of thanksgiving and of praise to Him.
Hearkening to the admonition of Saint Athanasios, we seek in all things to remember God and His mercy towards us, both in preparation for the feast and in the feast itself.
There are some that object to the use of Christmas trees in celebrating the Nativity of our Savior because, they say, European pagans worshipped trees. Yes, it is recorded that they worshiped oak trees, etc., but there is little chance that any Christians today would fall into this error. If we remember our real purpose in using ritual and symbolism, such endeavors can only deepen our faith and direct our minds and hearts to the Most High God. As Saint Paul said, “Brethren, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called, according to their purpose” (Rom 8:28).
The natural world around us speaks of God. Let us pursue knowledge and piety to the glory of God.The saints used the things we see around us to help us to remember God. Saint Mary Magdalene took an egg, something that was formerly used as a symbol of fertility by pagans, and used it as a symbol of the resurrection to help convert the people of her day. An egg appears dead, but life breaks forth, and in similar fashion our Life broke forth from the tomb.
The Holy Fathers made it clear that there is no direct analogy we can use to understand God, but nonetheless they used images from nature to give us a very dim inference concerning the Holy Trinity. For example, legitimate teachers in our Church have taught that the Sun is a symbol of the unity of Holy Trinity, with the Father represented by the orb, the Son represented by the ray of light that illumines our vision, the Holy Spirit represented by the heat that warms us.[1]
We cannot express the ineffable, that is, we cannot define the incomprehensible Trinity, Who Is, Beginningless and Beyond Being, but as long as one understands the limits of human reason[2] and the context the symbols that we use there is no danger.
One can understand the falling of the leaves of deciduous trees, year after year, generation after generation as a symbol of our mortality, men are born, they flourish for a season and then die. Saint Boniface the Apostle to Germany took the opportunity to use the evergreen as a symbol of eternal life:
Saint Boniface and the Christmas Tree.
Saint Boniface was Born in Devon at Crediton, in what is now England, in circa 680 and given the name Winfrid, which means “Friend of Peace.” This is possibly because his mother was of Christian Celtic British background and his father was from the warlike race of Saxons that had very recently abandoned paganism and embraced Christianity. The young Winfrid became a monk and then priest and eventually set out hoping to spread the light of Christ to the parts of Europe that were still in pagan darkness. After struggling some time in apostolic labors he twice visited Rome and was renamed “Boniface” during his first stay and on his second visit Pope Gregory II consecrated him bishop with his diocese comprising the whole of Germany east of the Rhine. After converting and baptizing thousands of pagans, he suffered martyrdom in the year 755 A.D.
According to one tradition, Saint Boniface was traveling one day and happened upon some Druids at an oak dedicated to Thor (some accounts say Odin) at Geismar. These men were just about to offer a child in sacrifice to their pagan deity. Greatly distressed, Saint Boniface called upon Christ to help him and then struck the oak with an ax and a great wind toppled the tree, which fell and crushed all plants in its way but one young fir sapling. The awestruck group was ready to convert from this miracle and the saint told them that the evergreen tree symbolized the eternal life of Christ and:"This humble tree's wood is used to build your homes: let Christ be at the center of your households.
Its leaves remain evergreen in the darkest days: let Christ be your constant light.
Its boughs reach out to embrace and its top points to heaven: let Christ be your comfort and your guide."[/i]
So we see how the saint preached Christ by means of an evergreen tree. It is recorded that the Germans used the three cornered shape of the evergreen tree as a symbol of the Trinity. We can further remember our Savior as we decorate our tree with lights by telling the children that the lights can be understood as symbols of the light of Christ Who came to illumine all who were in the darkness of unbelief (Esaias 9:1-2) (Matt 4:15-16). The star that tops the tree symbolizes "Star in the East" that guided the wise men.
Even taking down the tree can be made into a joyous occasion for the children. The playing of Christmas Carols, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs can accompany this task. Furthermore, if the family decorated the tree with chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil or cookies, etc, this can become a special treat for the children when the fast is over. Parents can use this as a lesson that life’s rewards must be partaken of only at their proper time. We prepare for a feast by fasting, and as a result the joys of the feast are then deeper and more profound. We must labor to sow before we can reap. All things must be in their proper context.
We should use every opportunity and local Christian tradition to help our children to see the light of Christ in their lives.
May God bless you and your families in the Light of Christ,
+Moses, of TorontoOne version of the life of Saint Boniface is found at http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/BONIFACE.HTM
[1] This image helps us understand that the Father is the sole principle, the one source, origin, and cause of the Divinity and that the Son was Begotten of Him and the Holy Spirit Proceeded from Him timelessly. We worship One God in Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One in Essence in Three Persons.
[2] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:8-11)
