From antiochan.org, oremus.org, rongolini.com, and dynamispublications.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Nativity Fast
Scriptural Readings:
2 Kingdoms 7:1-4, 8-16 (12/13-12/26) Fourth Reading in Kellia: David as a Type of Christ
David: Type of Christ 4 ~ Divine Promises: 2 Kingdoms 7:1-4, 8-16, especially vs.16: “And his house will be made sure, and his kingdom shall be forever” Considering all the royalty that have come and gone on earth, the many nations that have seen the light of God’s sun, and the crowns that have tumbled into the dust, one can see that God’s promises to King David are most remarkable when measured by the exigencies of history. In fact, the Kingdom of the Son of David has an ineffable significance, for the faithful who confess that all the kingdoms of this world shall “...become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). That knowledge gives this passage from Second Kingdoms an importance far greater than an interesting study in Hebrew antiquities!
The Lord’s promise to David - that his son Solomon’s “...house will be made sure, and his kingdom shall be forever” (vs. 16) deserves close attention. In the original, the word ‘house’ is ‘oikos,’ which connotes ‘household,’ or, in the case of royalty, a ‘dynasty,’ as the ‘house of Romanov’ or the ‘house of Tudor.’ The implication of the term promises a continuity of lineage. Both Saint Matthew and Saint Luke, with variations in details, carefully place the Lord Jesus within the lineage of Joseph, the spouse of the Theotokos, which they trace back to King David.
Of greater significance, however, is the lineage of the Virgin Mary since the Lord was conceived in her without earthly father. We read among the Holy Fathers: “...she, being like a precious stone, was of royal lineage, having descended from David, who placed a stone in his sling and with it killed Goliath, which stone foreshadowed the Rock that is Christ. And she was fashioned, as it were, from aromatic woods of cedar and cypress, being of priestly ancestors as well, who offered God sweet-smelling sacrifices. Her father, the holy righteous Joachim, was the son of Barpaphira, who traced his ancestry to Nathan, the son of David” (see 2 Kg. 5:14).
Further, God promised David “I will raise up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will prepare his kingdom....and I will establish his throne forever” (2 Kg. 7:12,13). Measured historically, the dynasty of David apparently ended with the Babylonian exile, for the Hasmonean kings did not lay claim to Davidic ancestry, yet the Apostolic witness is careful to declare such a bloodline for the Lord Jesus. Even if the Hasmoneans had claimed to have Davidic blood, their throne was superseded by Idumeans in the Herods, and all kings of Judah were abolished by the Romans. Rome settled her doubts about Jesus when Pontius Pilate believed that he eliminated Him as a royal threat. How the Lord of history thwarts empires! “Come, let us all extol David...the grandparent of God; for from him...did shine forth Christ!”
Most wonderful is the final element in the Divine promise to David, for the Lord promised David that his son, Who would establish an everlasting kingdom, would have an enduring love relationship between Himself and God His Father. God specifically promised David, “...I will not take My mercy from Him...” (vs. 15). The Lord Jesus, great David’s greater Son, in His prayer to His heavenly Father, affirmed an eternal loving relationship between Himself and His Father that all should consider: “And I have declared to them [the Disciples] Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn. 17:26). Love certainly was and is the essence of the relationship between the Lord Jesus and God the Father, and it is the test of authentic life in the Church in every age.
Let us celebrate the memory of David the Prophet-king of true worship, so that being saved from error by his teachings, and by God’s true promises to him, we may glorify Christ Who shone forth Incarnate from the Virgin to save our souls.
Hebrews 8:7-13
Hebrews 8:7-137For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. 8God finds fault with them when he says: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord. 10This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13In speaking of “a new covenant,” he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.
Mark 8:11-21
Mark 8:11-21
11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
14Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
The Synaxarion:
December 13
Memory of the holy Martyrs Eustratios, Auxentios, Eugene, Mardarios, and Orestes (beginning of the Fourth century).
The holy Martyr Lucy, virgin (Fourth century).
According to the evidence of tradition, the holy martyrs Eustratios, Auxentios, Eugene, Mardarios, and Orestes suffered for the faith under Diocletian, around the beginning of the Fourth century.
A native of Syracuse, Sicily, Saint Lucy likewise suffered martyrdom under Diocletian.
Fifth Class Feast.
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