Day 1 (Monday)
Revelation 11:15-19; 12:1-17 (Seventh Trumpet; The Woman and the Dragon)
As we approach Christmas, we skip ahead for this week to the last book of the Bible, where we see a dramatic vision of what we are about to celebrate. St. John’s vision shows us the cosmic significance of the Lord’s birth.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast,
that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged, but thy wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear thy name, both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
The Woman and the Dragon
12 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. 3 And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; 5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Michael Defeats the Dragon
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
The Dragon Fights Again on Earth
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how the end of Chapter 11 has a hymn sung by the 24 elders celebrating the Lord taking up His rule over all things, and then shows the Temple opened, and the Ark of the Covenant present within it…and then moves immediately to this vision of the woman with a child. This is, I think firmly, no coincidence at all. The additional discussion questions should also be attended to.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Additional Discussion questions:
1) Who or what do you think the woman here represents? What do you notice about her that makes you think you are right? (There could be a lot of answers here. The fact that the woman bears a son who is to rule the world, and the plots against His life from even before He was born, makes it sound like we are talking about the Virgin Mary. The sun and the moon and the twelve stars makes it sound like we are talking about the Children of Israel. And the cosmic scope of the story, and the reference to all her children throughout the world, and the fact that the woman gave birth with great pain, which we know wasn’t the case when the Virgin Mary bore Christ, makes it sound like we are talking about the Church, since all of us bear Christ with great labor and suffering).
2) Who do you think the dragon represents? (At first it seems like it represents the Roman Empire, with the seven heads and seven crowns, which usually refer to the seven hills that Rome is built on. But it could also refer to the devil himself, since it talks about him sweeping the stars out of the sky, which looks like a reference to the rebellion of the angels. Or it might represent the power of this world in rebellion against God more generally, across space and time.)
3) Do you think this vision is talking about only one event in history? Or is it describing the whole scope of the history of the world in relationship with God all at once, with a single image? (Revelation is complicated, and it’s easy to find a lot of interpretations for what it says. I think, though, that it is talking about the whole history of the universe in rebellion against God, and God’s restoration of the creation and reconciliation with us. So in a sense, the image can refer to multiple events at the same time).
4) What part of this image is your favorite? Or, if you don’t have a favorite, which makes you think of Christmas? (This is an open question – just see what they have to say, and let the conversation flow for a bit).
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Life of St. Eleutherios (December 15th Feastday)
St. Eleutherios is one of the most often remembered hieromartyrs in the Orthodox Church. A hieromartyr is a priest-martyr, a martyr who was an ordained deacon, priest, or bishop). He is commemorated with his mother Anthia on December 15. Orthodox believers have long considered Saints Eleutherios and Anthia to be the patrons of expectant mothers and of childbirth. Their fame as wonderworkers, the fact that they were mother and son and the implications of their names contributed to this. “Eleutherios” is a variant of “freedom” in Greek, thus, mothers pray that they might safely be free of their pregnancies by giving birth to healthy children. “Anthia” resembles “anthos” meaning flower.
St Eleutherios is held to be the protector of the oppressed, prisoners and all those undergoing any kind of trial, and together with his mother is a fervent intercessor and protector against all demonic influences. Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire thought of St. Eleutherios as their helper in the movement for independence. In Albania where the previous Communist regime had banned the Orthodox faith and all religion, the Saints became a focus for Orthodox Christian resistance -particularly amongst the Greek Epirote minority in the south.
Life of St. Eleftherios
From a good tree comes good fruit. This wonderful Saint had noble and greatly eminent parents. Eleutherios was born in Rome, where his father was an imperial proconsul. His mother Anthia heard the Gospel from the great Apostle Paul and was baptized by him. Having been left a widow early, she entrusted her only son for study and service to the Bishop of Rome.
Seeing how Eleutherios was gifted by God and illumined by the grace of God, the bishop ordained him a deacon at the age of fifteen, a priest at the age of eighteen, and a bishop at the age of twenty. Eleutherios’s God-given wisdom made up for what he lacked in years, and this chosen one of God was appointed Bishop of Illyria, in what is now Albania, in the city of Valona (modern Vlorë). The good shepherd guarded his flock well and increased their number day by day. Emperor Hadrian, a persecutor of Christians, sent the commander Felix with soldiers to seize Eleutherios and bring him to Rome. When the raging Felix arrived in Valona and entered the church, he saw and heard the holy hierarch of God; suddenly his heart changed, and he became a Christian. Eleutherios baptized Felix and departed for Rome with him, returning joyfully as if he were going to a feast and not to trial and torture.
The emperor subjected the noble Eleutherios to harsh torture: flogging, roasting on an iron bed, boiling in pitch, and burning in a fiery furnace. But Eleutherios was delivered from all these deadly tortures by God’s power. Seeing all this, Caribus the Roman eparch declared that he also was a Christian. Caribus was tortured and then beheaded, and so was Blessed Felix. Finally, the imperial executioners cut off the honorable head of St. Eleutherios. When his mother, the holy Anthia, came and stood over the dead body of her son, she also was beheaded. Their bodies were translated to Valona, where even today St. Eleutherios glorifies the name of Christ by his many miracles. He suffered during the reign of Hadrian in the year 120.
(From The Prologue)
Discussion questions:
1) Who was Eleutherios? When did he live? (He was a bishop in the 2nd century in Albania; his mother was converted by the Apostle Paul)
2) What did he do before he died? (It says he took good care of his flock, of the Faithful entrusted to his care by the Lord, and that more and more people became Christians through his preaching and pastoral care).
3) What happened when the emperor Hadrian sent Felix to arrest Eleutherios and bring him to Rome? (Instead of arresting him, Felix was moved to repentance when he heard Eleutherios preach, and he became a follower of Christ.)
4) Did Eleutherios then go into hiding once Felix told him the emperor wanted to kill him? (No – he baptized Felix, and then went with him back to Rome, where he confessed Christ to the emperor.)
5) What happened when the Emperor tried to torture and kill Eleutherios? (The Lord sustained him through all the tortures, and another official of the Emperor became a Christian. Finally, the Emperor had them all beheaded).
6) What are St. Eleutherios and his mother St. Anthia known for? Who do they pray for and help in particular? (St. Eleutherios and St. Anthia are the patron saints of expectant mothers and their children, and of those who are oppressed or imprisoned. They especially help those who are under the assault of demonic powers.)
Day 3 (Friday)
Luke 7:24-50 (Jesus Speaks about John the Baptist, Sinful Woman Forgiven)
Last time we saw the Lord raise from the dead the son of the widow of Nain, and then, when John the Baptist heard about this, he sent messengers to ask Jesus whether He was the one for whom they were waiting, or whether another was coming. The Lord answered by referencing His works, which were all the good things that it had been prophesied that the Messiah would accomplish, and which He had read aloud in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4. At the end of this proclamation, He also says: “Blessed is the one who takes no offense in Me,” which I think we must see as a warning to all who see and hear of Him, that they should embrace and follow Him, and not be scandalized or offended at His works. We continue forward from that point.
Jesus Speaks about John the Baptist
24 When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,
‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way before thee.’
28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another,
‘We piped to you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
A Sinful Woman Forgiven
36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” 41 “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Reading 16
651 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader can ask the standard questions, but should attend to the information/questions provided in additional questions below.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Additional Discussion Questions
1) What did Jesus say about John? (He praised John, and said that he was the greatest of those born of women, but that the least in the kingdom of God was greater than he. This is worth reflecting on…the idea may be that John was the greatest saint to ever have lived, but that he had only foretold the coming of the Lord and His Kingdom, so those who live in the Kingdom in communion with the Lord are greater than him, because they have received in full what John longed to see.)
2) What did Jesus point out about those who criticized both John and Himself? (He pointed out that they had criticized John for fasting strictly, and had criticized Himself for NOT fasting, and that it showed that their criticism had nothing to do with either Him or with John, but with their foolish determination to find fault with the wisdom of God.)
3) What does the Pharisee hosting the dinner think when the sinful woman comes in and starts to wash Jesus’ feet? (He thinks that Jesus must not actually be a prophet, because if He were a prophet, He would know what sort of woman was touching Him, and making Him unclean because of her great sinfulness.)
4) What does Jesus do? (He asks Simon a question, telling him a story about two debtors, and asking which of them would love his merciful master more, the one who was forgiven a small debt, or the one who had a large debt. In short, He knows what Simon is thinking, so He shows that He IS indeed a prophet, and more than a prophet, by answering Simon’s unspoken challenge.)
5) Who does Jesus think is closer to the Kingdom of God? Who does He say loves God more? (He says that the sinful woman, who has been forgiven much, loves more, and proceeds to tell her that her sins are indeed forgiven. As for Simon – we don’t know what ends up happening to him.)
6) What is more important to the Lord? Would He rather we be perfect, or is it better that we learn how to repent? (This is a discussion question – some of the kids might say that it would be better to be perfect. If it were possible for us to be perfect, they might be right…but we know that it is not possible for us to be perfect. We all are sinful and inclined to sin – so we must learn to repent, how to confess our sinfulness and turn to the Lord, seeking His mercy and putting our trust in Him, and not in ourselves.)
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