On 24 December the Romanian Orthodox Church is on the Eve of Christmas. On this day special religious services are celebrated in all the places of worship of the Romanian Patriarchate.
Royal Hours at the Romanian Patriarchate
The Patriarchal Cathedral dressed festive vestments and now is waiting for the faithful to attend the special services to be celebrated during this period. This morning, 24 December 2012, 7.00 hours, the religious service of the royal hours was celebrated on the Joy Hill.
Although the Hours are not ordinary daily services, those on the Eve of Christmas have a special content, although they are not very different in structure. They are named “royal” due to their solemn character, and because the Emperor of Byzantium himself and his Court attended them when they were celebrated in the Cathedral of Constantinople.
The Romanian rulers also attended the Royal Hours celebrated before the great feasts, in the presence or with the participation of the metropolitan, at the monasteries they had founded.
The Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great on the Eve of Christmas
On the eve of Christmas, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great was celebrated at the Patriarchal Cathedral. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Rt Rev Archimandrite Timotei Aioanei, great ecclesiarch of the Patriarchal Cathedral and cultural exarch of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, together with a group of priests and deacons.
According to the regulations of our Church, if the Eve of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, our Lord, is on a weekday then on the Eve day the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated united with the Vesper of the Feast, and on the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated.
The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated 10 times a year: on the first five Sundays of the Lent, on the Holy Thursday and Saturday, on the Eve of Christmas and of the Epiphany and on the celebration day of Saint Basil the Great, on 1 January.
Saint Basil the Great was born around 329 – 330, in Caesarea of Cappadochia. Saint Basil was one of the 10 brothers, out of whom three would be bishops: Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sevasta: five would be monks: three already mentioned, besides Naucratios and Macrina the young; six saints will be in the big family: Saint Macrina the Old, Saint Emilia (his mother), Saint Basil, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Peter and Saint Macrina the Young.
The servant priests of the Patriarchal Cathedral with the icon of the Nativity of the Lord at the Patriarchal Residence
On 24 December the servant priests of the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest announced the Nativity of the Lord to His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. According to tradition, the priests went to the Patriarchal Residence just after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the icon of the feast in their hands.
Here, a polychromous service was celebrated and His Beatitude delivered a short sermon for those present in which the spoke about the importance of the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord and of walking with the icon: “It is a well known thing the tradition to carol the faithful and the priests’ walking the icon in their hands on the days preceding the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord especially on the Eve of Christmas. This event represents, in fact, a memory or commemoration of what took place at Bethlehem. First of all the angels announced the Nativity of Jesus Christ, our Lord, to the shepherds near Bethlehem singing in angelic hosts bright in the night Glory to those in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours. Then, the shepherds from Bethlehem went to the city and conveyed the good news of the Nativity of Infant Jesus, the Saviour of the world. So, the memorial of this special holy moment which has become the heart of history is rendered through the carollers who announce the Nativity of the Lord just as the angels did at the time at Bethlehem and by the priests and deacons who take the icon the of the Nativity of the Lord from house to house to bring the good news of the Nativity of the Lord. Thus, it is a liturgical visual memory of what was the beginning of our salvation in Jesus Christ”, said the Patriarch of Romania, as Trinitas Radio station informs.
Ever since the 4th century, on the Eve of Christmas, the Christians received the priests in their houses, just like today, who came with the Icon of the Nativity to announce them the great feast of the next day. According to tradition, on this day the priest accompanied by a religious singer goes to every house in the parish the icon of the Nativity of the Lord in his hands, singing the troparion of this feast when entering the house announcing in this way the Wonder of the Nativity. On the Christmas Eve the carollers go to people’s houses bringing the good news of the Nativity of the Lord, just like the angels and shepherds who announced the Wonder in Bethlehem, Judea.
