Three Thoughts on Theophany (3)

May He Who willed to be baptized for our salvation, Christ our God, bless you on this His Feast Day of Theophany. May He be present in your home always, and may the Holy Spirit Himself enlighten your heart and home.

“God became man and took on the title of kin and brother of all men. The Son of God alone is both God and man, was and is alone holy—as He shall be forever—alone is righteous, alone true, alone immortal, alone the lover of mankind, alone merciful and compassionate, alone sovereign, alone light of the world, He Who is the light unapproachable. … God has mercy and accepts our faith in Him in place of everything else, and so freely grants us forgiveness of our sins, deliverance from death and corruption, and freedom. The latter, indeed, He bestows to the present time on those who believe in Him with all their soul, not just that, but as well everything else which He has promised and promises us daily in His holy Gospels. So, what are these things? That He will make us new and born again by water and the Spirit, will number us with His servants, the saints, will provide us with the grace of the Holy Spirit Himself, and will allow us to partake through the Spirit in the good things of the earth which the meek shall inherit in gladness and rejoicing of heart, and will Himself be united and joined with us, and both will become one in Him and in God the Father Who will bind us to the Spirit.” (St. Symeon the New Theologian, ON THE MYSTICAL LIFE Vol 2 ON VIRTUE AND CHRISTIAN LIFE, p 169)