When one walks into an Orthodox Church for the first time, especially if he is unfamiliar with the ancient liturgical and architectural traditions of Christianity, he is often a bit baffled.

Our guest is used to entering a sanctuary to see, in the distance, a holy table and/or a prominent pulpit, with a large—often wooden—cross hanging on the east wall. In the Orthodox tradition, when a parish is able fully to adorn the church according to the ancient practice, one is struck by a larger-than-life icon or fresco of the Virgin Mary in the orans position (the ancient posture of prayer with hands up and palms out), with a medallion containing an icon of our Lord Jesus Christ where her womb would be.

The uneducated sometimes say, “See, they do worship the Virgin Mary! Not only do they not have a large cross in the most prominent place, but they have a gigantic image of Mary in its place!” Nothing could be further from the truth. We can speak on the centrality of the Holy Cross on another occasion, but for now, let’s focus on the “Platytera ton ouranon” (Greek for “more spacious than the heavens”, referring to Mary’s womb, which contained the Uncontainable God). The image in English is called “the Virgin of the Sign”, and here is the connection to the Nativity of our Lord:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el” (Isaiah 7:14).

The Platytera is the very image of the prophecy of Isaiah, the word of the Lord to King Ahaz (~735 BC), fulfilled by the fiat of the Virgin Mary. She is, in herself, the “Virgin of the Sign”. This beautiful image is among the ultimate images of Christmas and is central in Orthodox theology, iconography, and architecture: God with us.

God did not create the world like a child winding up a toy—putting it in motion and sitting back to watch it spin then finally falter. Rather, he created the whole cosmos—and everything in it, including us human beings who are the crown of his creation—in a pure act of love. Since love must always act in freedom, we were not created as robots, required mechanically to love God back (for that would not be love!). We have had, from the beginning, the choice to love God or not, a choice we are each given every moment of every day. Most of us, especially us Christians who should know better, choose not to all too often.

God, the Omniscient One, was and is not surprised by the way that we have ruined ourselves and our world by our sins and crimes. He did not wake up one day and say, “My, what happened down there?” And from the God of Love’s perspective, it is never too late to offer assistance, divine intervention. Because of his “philanthropia”—his great love for mankind, “and for our salvation [he] came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.” The Uncontainable took on a human body. The Timeless One entered time. The all-knowing God emptied himself and became man. The Creator of all became a part of his own creation—to rescue us from self-destruction and to raise us from the dead. This is the full meaning of Emmanuel, “God with us”.

So, with the increase of light on the earth following the winter solstice, we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ, the increase of the True Light on the earth. For, as the Prophet Isaiah also said, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

Until the coming of Christ, there was only the hope of salvation and true life. Now, Salvation and True life have come in the flesh.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore” (Isaiah 9:6ff).

So, beginning tomorrow night we will sing, “Today the Virgin gives birth to the transcendent one, and the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one! Angels with shepherds glorify Him! The wise men journey with the star! Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!”

Come, let us adore him!

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is Priest-in-Charge of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, a mission of the OCA. He earned his M.Div. at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, and his M.Th. from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY. He and his wife, Jeanette, and their two sons live in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. In this "free time" you can find Fr. John surfing his 9'4 Hobie noserider.

This article was originally published in the Charleston, SC, Post and Courier, Faith and Values section, 12/23/07, and is re-printed here with the permission of the author.

The photograph in this post is of the OCA diocesan Cathedral in Dallas, Texas. The Icons were painted by Vladimir Grygorenko.

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