Calvinist Christmas Carol

Sinners roasting on an open fire ...

How NOT to Celebrate the Holidays

Luke 12:19 And [the rich man] will say to [his] soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him: Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided ? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

How NOT To Await The Birth Of Christ

With our souls adorned by sins, as Christmas trees by globes...

The Christmas Hymn

Thy Birth, O Christ our God, has shone unto the world the light of knowledge; for -through it- those who worshipped the stars, were taught by the Star to adore Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, the Sunrise from on high: O Lord, Glory to Thee!

On The First Day Of Christmas, My True Love Said To Me...

...that we've still got two whole weeks of total sexual abstinence before us...

Eastern Orthodoxy: taking all the fun out of Holidays since 1,500 BC.

Inspiring Bible Verses

...too bad they don't actually apply to anyone reading this post...

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Revelation 2:10 Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

As Christmas Was Approaching, Our Demons Cried To Christ:

Matthew 8:29 What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

On The Last Week Of Fasting, The Devil Said To Christ...

Matthew 4:3 If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

My Heart Is Catholic

...but my stomach is Protestant.

Erasmus of Rotterdam

Matthew 26:41 The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Galatians 5:24

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Hauntingly-Beautiful Romanian Christmas Carols

Mankind: Selling The Messiah For 30 Pieces Of Silver Since 33 AD

Matthew 26:14 ¶Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. 27:9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.

Mankind: Selling Our Birthright For A Plate Of Pottage Since 2,000 BC

Genesis 25:29 ¶And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Mankind: Trading Paradise For Apples Since 5508 BC

Genesis 3:6 ¶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It's Not Hard To Fast...

...it's impossible.

Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope; that he might be made the father of many nations, according to that which was said to him: So shall thy seed be. 19 And he was not weak in faith; neither did he consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost an hundred years old, nor the dead womb of Sara. 20 In the promise also of God he staggered not by distrust; but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God: 21 Most fully knowing, that whatsoever he has promised, he is able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was reputed to him unto justice.

John 15:5 For without Me ye can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ Who strengtheneth me.

It's Not That We Don't Love God...

...it's that we DON'T love Him MORE than we love His creation...

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Luke 14:16 A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 24 For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Romanian Christmas Carols

Humility's A Virtue, This I Know, For The Devil Told Me So...

You fast, but we never eat; you hold vigils, but we never sleep; you don't mate or marry, but we don't even possess bodies: meekness, Macarius – this is the difference between you and us...

On The Fourth Week Of Fasting, The Fathers Said To Me...

Two elders met in the wilderness:

"The sun has never seen me eating", said the one.
"The sun has never seen me angry", replied the other.

Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Giving Alms

Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Vainglory: Immune To Ascetic Efforts Since The Fourth Century AD

Three monks went into the wilderness to be instructed by a bettered elder. The elder gave them a simple task: weaving some baskets while saying the ceaseless prayer. Two of them were able to complete just one, while the other finished three. When the elder returned, he said to them: See how much he loves his master, Satan, and how fervently he serves him? How zealously and devotedly he works to feed the lusts and demands of the demons of pride and vainglory?

A Loaded and Impertinent Question

Wherein exactly lies the essential and fundamental difference between half-naked Hindu priests worshipping erect golden phallic symbols in their pagan Temples, and so-called Orthodox Christians who don't even want to try giving up physical intimacy during Fasting? – Just asking...


And no, I'm not talking here about human weakness and failure, which I'm sadly all-too-well familiar with, but about the stubbornly obstinate, stiff-necked, and hard-hearted attitude of some Orthodox neophytes, who think that the history of Orthodoxy begins (and probably also ends) with them and their conversion, and not with a crucified celibate Jew, hanging on a rough wooden Cross outside the walls of a God-forsaken city in The Middle of Nowhere, some two thousand years ago, under the teary eyes of His virgin mother and chaste beloved disciple...

Romanian Christmas Carol

On The Nineteenth Day Of Fasting, King David Prayed To God:

¹ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of thy compassions blot out my transgression. ² Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I am conscious of mine iniquity; and my sin is continually before me. ⁴ Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. ⁵ For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me. ⁶ For, behold, thou lovest truth: thou hast manifested to me the secret and hidden things of thy wisdom. ⁷ Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be purified: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. ⁸ Thou shalt cause me to hear gladness and joy: the afflicted bones shall rejoice. ⁹ Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in my inward parts. ¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: establish me with thy directing Spirit. ¹³ Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and ungodly men shall turn to thee. ¹⁴ Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation: and my tongue shall joyfully declare thy righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, thou shalt open my lips; and my mouth shall declare thy praise. ¹⁶ For if thou desiredst sacrifice, I would have given it: thou wilt not take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings. ¹⁷ Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a broken and humbled heart God will not despise. ¹⁸ Do good, O Lord, to Sion in thy good pleasure; and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. ¹⁹ Then shalt thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, offering, and whole-burnt-sacrifices: then shall they offer calves upon thine altar.

Orthodox Justification

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

On The Third Week Of Fasting, Manasseh Prayed To God:

¹ O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; ² who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof; ³ who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name; ⁴ whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power; ⁵ for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable: ⁶ but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; ⁷ for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. ⁸ Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner: ⁹ for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. ¹⁰ I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences. ¹¹ Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace. ¹² I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities: ¹³ wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, even the God of them that repent; ¹⁴ and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy. ¹⁵ Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.