On 29 December 2013, the Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, visited the community of Tiganesti monastery. The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasised in the sermon delivered the teachings resulted from today’s evangelical pericope which presents the Exodus of the Holy Family to Egypt.
Out of Egypt I shall call my son
His Beatitude spoke about the fulfilment of the testamentary prophecies
The fact that Jesus is taken to Egypt fulfils the prophecy saying through prophet Hosea, Out of Egypt I shall call my son, and the fact that He is taken to Nazareth fulfils another prophecy from the book of the Judges: He will be called Nazarethian. The Gospel shows us that as soon as Infant Jesus was taken to Egypt together with his mother, in exile, by Joseph, to save the Infant, Herod understood that the magi deceived him, because they did no longer come back to him, but took another way. Thus, he got very angry and ordered that all the children less than two should be killed. He had 14.000 children from Bethlehem and surroundings killed. So, another prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled that said: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not...” We see that this prophecy is fulfilled when these innocent children died because Herod thought that Infant Jesus was among them”, the Patriarch of Romania said.
Herod orders the killing of the children of Bethlehem and surroundings
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church explained to those present what the number of the children killed by Herod refers to.
“The Gospel shows us that soon after the angels sang to Infant Jesus, the shepherds rejoiced and the magi venerated him, bringing him gifts, Infant Jesus was in danger of death because the wickedness of Herod, the king of the Jews had no limits. He was afraid that somebody may be born who could take his ruling or throne. This is why he ordered with much cruelty to have all the children from Bethlehem and surroundings killed. The number 14000 means twice 7000, while number 7 represents the whole, fullness, so that this number means all the children of Bethlehem and surroundings. Herod was so cruel that he killed his own wife and three sons lest they took his throne. This is why he ordered the sons of his sister Salomea killed. He was such a cruel man that he was said to have ascended the throne as a fox, ruled as a tiger and ended as a dog because God punished him with a very serious disease so that puss and worms came out of his intestines, deserted by everybody”, His Beatitude said.
Infant Jesus comes into a sick world to rid the world of sin and death through His Crucifixion and Resurrection from the dead
The Patriarch of Romania showed that Christ comes to bring peace, forgiveness and salvation in a world enslaved by sin: “We see what the world enslaved by passion, cruelty, violence and death means. Infant Jesus comes into a sick world, enslaved by sins and death, but He comes to rid the world of sin and death through His Crucifixion and Resurrection from the dead. In other words, we see that ever since birth child Jesus is inclined to the Cross, to the supreme suffering of death. Here we see only the beginning of the fight against the sin in the world and beginning of his suffering because He has been persecuted ever since He was a child. (…) This Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord shows us the world in which Christ, the Lord, comes. He comes to bring peace, forgiveness, and salvation in a world enslaved by sin, violence, spirit of domination, wickedness, and cruelty. Herod the Great is the symbol of unlimited cruelty; he killed his own children, showing he was inhuman, craving for power, as well as very suspicious, afraid that somebody may take his ruling and throne.
Between the cave of Bethlehem and the grave of Jerusalem there is this prefiguration of a way of the cross because of the humans’ sins
“Herod the Great shows the wickedness of the world dominated by sin. Christ, the Lord, shows us that there are people in the world who enjoy the love of God and people who reject the love of God. It is an ambiguous, contradictory world, a world that needs forgiveness and life, as well as a world that refuses salvation and fullness of life. We see in today’s Gospel the sacrifice as orientation to the Cross of Christ, to His death and Resurrection. This is why in the Orthodox iconography the child’s diapers look like the shroud in which Christ was wrapped and which remained in the grave. Between the cave of Bethlehem and the grave of Jerusalem there is this prefiguration of a way of the cross because of the humans’ sins”, His Beatitude also said.
When born every child receives a guardian angel
The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasised in his speech the fact that Christ, the Saviour, was helped by angels and showed that every child has a guardian angel: “We see that Infant Jesus is guarded by angels. When people do no longer help Him the angels from Heaven tell the Righteous Joseph what he has to do. The angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him: “Take the child and his mother and go to Egypt”, so that we see that the angels announce joy at the Nativity of the Lord, while an angel tells Righteous Joseph what he must do lest this child born in Bethlehem be killed. The angel also tells Righteous Joseph in a dream when he must come back and what to do to save the life of Infant Jesus. This care for Jesus’ mother and for His adoptive father, Joseph, is not seen as care expressed through the people around, which fact means that every child has a guardian angel. When a child is born he receives a guardian angel who urges him to do good, be obedient, and grow in faith.
Today’s Gospel is a gospel for blessing the family too
“We also see how God takes care of a family where there is a child, and analogically, of all the families where children are born and who grow in faith and protects them of any evil thing coming from a sinful cruel violent world enslaved by the selfish passion of power and greed. The Gospel is also a Gospel for blessing the families, the children, and this is why we think today especially of the mothers and parents who grow up children in a hard world, often in poverty, in a world full of dangers. All these children need the protection of the mother and of the father, as well as of the help of those around. The Gospel urges us to better understand the mystery of the child as long as God was made child, looked helpless, although He ensures the existence of the entire universe, only to teach us to help those who need our help, and most of all to help the poor families with many children”, His Beatitude said.
“Let us pray Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the Infant of Bethlehem, of Egypt, to protect all children and families, especially the families who grow their children in faith! May He help us in every good deed and defend us from any evil thing of the world in order to understand the help of God in our life”, His Beatitude also said.
Tiganesti Monastery is one of the best known monasteries close to Bucharest, situated in picturesque scenery, half the distance between Bucharest and Ploiesti, 3 km far from Ciolpani commune.
