In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Beloved brethren of the Royal Priesthood and the Holy Nation, assembled this day at the dawning of the Indiction, the sacred beginning of the ecclesiastical year, let us lift up our hearts in thanksgiving to the King of Ages, the Lord of Time and Eternity, who grants us to stand once more at the threshold of a new year of His grace.
As the emperors of old would proclaim the Indiction to order the affairs of the earthly realm, so does our Lord and God appoint the seasons and the times according to His providence. The stars traverse their courses, the sun knows its setting, the moon waxes and wanes, and the days are numbered by His command. For He who is before all ages reigns supreme over the succession of days and years.
Today, the Church, the New Israel, raises her voice before the throne of the Most High, beseeching Him for a year of peace, of abundance, and of salvation. As the Prophet David sings: “You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance” (Ps. 65:11). Thus, we enter not merely a cycle of days, but a cycle of sanctification, wherein each feast, each fast, each commemoration leads us into the mystery of the Kingdom.
O faithful, behold the mercy of God, who grants us again to walk the path of repentance and righteousness. The New Year is not for idle boasting nor for vain merriment, but for the renewing of our souls. The Apostle teaches us: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
The holy Fathers, adorned with wisdom from above, appointed this day also to commemorate the beginning of our Lord’s ministry in the synagogue, when He opened the scroll of Isaiah and declared:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Thus, the Church New Year is the proclamation of the Lord’s acceptable year—a year filled with His mercy, with His calling to the nations, and with His invitation to each soul to enter into the bridal chamber of divine love.
O children of Zion, let us enter this year with the fear of God, with fasting and prayer, with charity to the poor, with reconciliation among brethren, and with the holy desire to walk as citizens of the Heavenly City. Let every household be a small sanctuary, every heart a temple of the Spirit, every deed a sacrifice of praise.
Let us invoke the intercessions of the Ever-Virgin Theotokos, she who is the Calendar of Grace, ever directing us toward her Son; of the holy Angels, who minister before the throne; of the Apostles, who illumined the world; of the Martyrs, who watered the Church with their blood; and of all the Saints, who intercede for us before the Righteous Judge.
To the Master of Times, Christ our God, who is beginningless and endless, be glory, dominion, and thanksgiving, unto ages of ages.
Amen.
