Feasts of the Forefathers of Christ and the Genealogy of Christ
This post comes from an email in the "Walk Through the Church Year" series which goes out to folks who sign up to receive two emails per month about major feasts and selected commemorations in the liturgical calendar. To receive these emails in your inbox, sign up here.
The original email was sent out in December of 2024.
by Brendan
Let us rejoice together, we who are friends of the Fathers, in commemorating their memory…
– Matins and Liturgy Hymn of the Feast of the Forefathers of Christ
...of whom the world was not worthy.
– Hebrews 11:38
What does it mean to be a friend of the Fathers?
During the two Sundays before Christmas, the Church offers readings within the liturgy to point the worshiper to the promise and fulfillment of Christ’s Incarnation. As part of the cycle of preparation during the Nativity Fast, both feasts demonstrate how the Old Testament saints prepared the world for God’s coming in-the-flesh. Both are invitations to join these faithful men and women in proclaiming the Good News to all mankind and creation.
Left to Right: Three Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from Mount Sinai; Prophet Elias & Enoch, 17th century; Three Holy Youth, Slivnichki Monastery in Macedonia.
We have the privilege of seeing the fulfillment of their hopes. But we, too, are awaiting the consummation of Christ’s victory over His enemies and the reunion of all of His people with Him. We have the opportunity to wait alongside the Forefathers and Ancestors for Christ’s coming.
How could that understanding help us to build relationships–even friendships–with these saints of old?
The first of the two feasts (December 15) commemorates the golden chain of men and women, stretching from creation through the days before Christ’s birth. The liturgy recalls the meekness of Abel, the piety of Enoch, the faith of Abraham, the devotion of Rebecca, the chastity of Joseph, the love of Ruth, the repentance of David, and the ascetic life of Elijah, among others. Each story is a link in God’s providence. Each provides a glimpse of His presence in the life of His people.
Within this “great cloud of witnesses,” special significance is given to the Three Holy Youths– Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah–from Daniel 3. Like their feast day later in the week (December 19), we remember their unyielding loyalty to the God of their Fathers. Their story features the final theophany of the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord accompanies them into the Babylonian fiery furnace. Within their extensive song, their voices combine with the rest of the Old Testament faithful to proclaim the triumph and glory of Immanuel, God-With-Us.
Regarding this feast day, Fr. Lev Gillet of blessed memory wrote,
Let us ask our Lord, on this Sunday, to open our understanding to the message of the Old Covenant and to teach us, as He taught the disciples at Emmaus: ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken…And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself…’ (1)
Falling on the Sunday before Christmas, (December 22) the second of these preparatory feasts recalls the lists of Christ’s ancestors found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. These two complementary lists of men and women include well-known as well as unknown personages. Together, they represent the human generations of joy and sorrow that led to the Incarnation.
Remembering these ancestors puts us in a frame of mind of seeing our own place in the context of the Church. Honoring and even venerating these saints is the way that the Church has provided for each Christian to become more like them, and ultimately, like our shared Christ. By doing so, we begin to make Christ’s ancestors our own, complementing the process of becoming more like Him.
Nearly two millennia ago, the writer of Hebrews noted the significance that these saints have for each generation of the Church.
And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
– Hebrews 11:39-12:2
To be a friend of the Fathers (and Mothers) is to follow in their steps and to model their virtues, the fruit of the same Spirit which we share. This is perhaps the best way to be a true friend of these Fathers (and Mothers). To love Whom they love, to worship our mutual God–what better way to build a friendship with anyone?
During this Nativity season, may we take the opportunity to build our friendships with those on this earth and beyond through a mutual love of our Incarnate and Risen Christ!
(1) The Year of Grace of the Lord, By a Monk of the Eastern Church (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Press, 1971) 54.
Brendan Byrd came into the Orthodox Church with his family in 2018. An educator, husband, and father of five, he lives in the west Michigan woods with his family and precocious cat, surrounded by mountains of books and icons.