“The Christmas Tree reminds us of the Tree of Life, with the many gifts of the Holy Eucharist. The Tree of Life – Christ. In the Holy Trinity icon painted by Andrey Rublyov, the Tree of Life is placed exactly behind the Son, meaning Christ, Who is blessing the content of the Chalice,” explained Patriarch Daniel on Monday to the members of the Romanian Orthodox Christian Students Association (ASCOR).
The students came to announce the good tidings of the Lord’s Nativity singing Christmas carols at the Patriarchal Residence, where they were received by the Patriarch of Romania.
“The Christmas Tree first appeared in Western Christianity. It was a fir tree ornated with hosts, which become, through consecration, the eucharist in the Catholic Church. When Christmas trees were first made in our country, they were decorated with white prosphora-shaped small breads, then also with apples and walnuts. One hundred years ago, all was edible in the Christmas tree,” Patriarch Daniel explained.
“Therefore, the Christmas tree appeared first as a symbol of the Tree of Life, which Adam was not allowed to reach after failing to obey God. The New Adam, Jesus Christ, loving God and mankind, obeyed God and thus He gained for us the Tree of Life, which is the Holy Eucharist, as Holy Apostle and Evangelist John told us: ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”
Quoting from the sixth volume of the Filokalia, the Patriarch of Romania said: “The Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden of Eden was Christ Himself. He reveals it in the Holy Eucharist. For our disobedience, we have lost heaven and Adam was denied access to the Tree of Life. But the New Adam, Jesus Christ, obeyed to death and thus offered us the Tree of Eternal Life, which is the Holy Eucharist.”
“So there is a mystic connection between the mystery of Christ and the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist since the Proskomedia (Offering) Service is officiated in a place which resembles the cave in Bethlehem,” emphasized Patriarch Daniel.
“Our Saviour’s whole existence, from childhood to His Resurrection, was humble obedience to God. That is why Jesus Christ, the New Adam, came into the world to teach man obedience to God, while the first Adam, as you sang here, lost heaven for disobeying, for not fasting, for not refraining himself, and also for being unrepentant, continued the Patriarch of Romania.
“He only repented after he was excluded, expelled from heaven. He did not ask for forgiveness while he was still there. He blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake. In the end, God seemed to be the One to be blamed for having created them.”
“Man lost heaven through disobedience,” emphasized the Patriarch. “It was not because he wanted to become God, since God had inscribed this vocation in him: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. God made him in His image and man would become in God’s likeness through cooperation with God’s grace. God’s image is given to man, while likeness with God is acquired through cooperation.”
“Man did not fail because he wanted to be like God, says St. Maximus the Confessor, he failed because he wanted to be like God without God and against God, therefore in separation from God, in Godless solitude. That is why man lost heaven. He wanted to reach the Tree of Life but could not, because he misused the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and consequently did not approach the created world in a spiritual manner, but in a material and possessive manner,” Patriarch Daniel explained.
The Patriarch of Romania congratulated the ASCOR Christmas carolers for their choice of carols with high theology content.
“You have transmitted the message that people have to choose between the Holy Trinity and hell. Father [Dumitru] Stăniloae said the Holy Trinity is the structure of supreme love. And hell is extreme solitude. Man’s freedom of choice is manifested between supreme love and extreme loneliness,” Patriarch Daniel mentioned.
“We congratulate you for your missionary activities and for striving to study Theology and other subjects. We thank you and wish you happy holidays. May you be a joy for your parents, for your families, for friends, for the Church and society. Merry Christmas!” Patriarch Daniel wished the young Christmas carolers.
Source: basilica.ro
