From antiochan.org and dynamispublications.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: The Fast of the Nativity
Scriptural Readings:
Titus 1:5-2:1
Titus 1:5-2:1
5I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:
6someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. 7For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; 8but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 9He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. 10There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; 11they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. 12It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. 15To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
2But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine.
Luke 20:9-18
Luke 20:9-18
9He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. 10When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!” 17But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
Habakkuk 3:1-19 (12/2-12/15) Reading in Kellia at the Feast of the Holy Prophet Habakkuk
Wondrous Prophecy For You: Habakkuk 3:1-19 (the Fourth Ode) Patt70, especially vs. 1: “O Lord, I have heard Thy report, and I was afraid; O Lord, I considered Thy works, and I was amazed.” The Feast of the Prophet Habakkuk falls early in December as we fast in preparation for the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity, less than a month away. In Christian Orthodoxy, the present passage is understood as a vision of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is why, when the Church sings the opening verse of this ode, she hears the Prophet speak in the very moment of his enlightenment by the Holy Spirit “when he perceived [Christ’s] coming in the last days....” She understands the enlightened Habakkuk to say, “I have heard of Thy might, O Lord [Jesus], that Thou hast come to save all Thine anointed ones.”
The faithful in the generations since the Lord’s coming also are amazed at Him “...that spake in the Prophets and was proclaimed through the Law....” Consider the cost of being a true follower of Christ in these latter days. Be in awe of and amazed at the Prophet Habakkuk’s foresight, for we live in the gracious ‘years of the Lord’ following His Incarnation. Before our eyes the riches of Christ’s recorded works are arrayed for our prayers: “...all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs...” (Acts 1:1,2,3).
The Prophet could only look forward: Thou shalt “...be known, when the years draw nigh, Thou shalt be shown forth...” (Hab. 3:2). However, the future approach of Christ is now for us, the present time, when He is with our benighted race. Now He manifests Himself as the Great Mercy. Now, because of our iniquities, let us be troubled before God’s righteous anger (vs. 2)! Habakkuk foresaw, but we meet Christ as judgment and mercy, Who gives “...light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lk. 1:79).
The Prophet continues: “God shall come out of Teman” (vs. 3). How precisely the Spirit opened the Prophet’s eyes! Teman is a name for the southern region of Israel, the area that includes southern Judah where Bethlehem is located, the city of Christ’s birth. This mention of God coming from Teman is exactly how Saint Irenaeus perceived these words of the Prophet: “...thus [Habakkuk] indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was to take place in Bethlehem...which is toward the south of the inheritance.”
What is more, the Church understands the “...mountain overshadowed and densely wooded” to refer to the Theotokos. Our hymnody sings: “Habakkuk foresaw as an uncut mountain Thine undefiled womb, O pure One, and so he cried out: ‘The holy God shall go forth from Teman and from a wooded and uncut mountain.’” That is prophesy! Recall that the Virgin was told: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore, also that Holy One Who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35).
The prophecy is a vein of ore laden with the gospel riches that the Spirit of God longs to give to us as He did to His servant, Habakkuk. Christ’s “...virtue hath covered the heavens, and the earth [is] full of His praise” (Hab. 3:4). The Word brings “...instruction at His feet” (vs. 6). Let us sing in triumph with the Prophet concerning the Lord our God Who become man: “Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, to save Thine anointed ones art Thou come. Thou didst cast death upon the heads of transgressors,” trampling down death by death (vs. 13).
Today the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth in an ineffable manner to the pre-eternal Word. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when thou hearest the Prophet’s message.
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