Church celebrates Circumcision of the Lord

The Icon of the Circumcision of the Lord. Photo: tatmitropolia.ru

On January 14 according to the new style, the Orthodox Church celebrates one of the great feasts – the Circumcision of the Lord, an event mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:21).

According to the Old Testament ordinance, every Jewish boy was to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth as a sign of God's covenant with righteous Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:10–14; Lev. 12:3). This rite signified a person's inclusion in the people of Israel.

This is precisely why the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Most Holy Virgin Mary as a Descendant of David's lineage, underwent this lawful custom. On the day of circumcision, He was given the name Jesus, as the Archangel Gabriel had announced (Luke 2:21).

The feast has important theological significance. At the end of the first century, the heresy of Docetism (from Greek dokeо — "to seem") spread among Christians, whose adherents claimed that Christ did not have real human flesh and only "seemed" to be human.

The Gospel testimony that the Savior was circumcised like an ordinary infant became a substantial argument in defense of the truth about His genuine incarnation. This fact confirmed that Christ assumed true human nature, not a phantom appearance.

As a liturgical feast, the Circumcision of the Lord was established in the church calendar in the fourth century. The canon for the feast was composed by Saint Stephen the Sabaite.

Previously, the UOJ reported on the meaning of circumcision.

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