Merry Christmas

To all my readers, may you and yours have a Blessed Christmas and an Happy and Healthy New Year. Below is the Christmas Homily of my name-saint, Sv. Jovan Zlatoust.


Homily on the Nativity of the Lord
by St John Chrysostom

I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd's song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.
The Angels sing!The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!The Seraphim exalt His glory!
All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.
Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side the Sun of Justice.
And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, he had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God.
This day He Who Is, is Born; and He Who Is becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became he God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassibility, remaining unchanged.
And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.
Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His care, nor because of His Incarnation has he departed from the Godhead.
And behold,Kings have come, that they might adore the heavenly King of glory;Soldiers, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven;Women, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of child-birth into joy;Virgins, to the Son of the Virgin, beholding with joy, that He Who is the Giver of milk, Who has decreed that the fountains of the breast pour forth in ready streams, receives from a Virgin Mother the food of infancy;Infants, that they may adore Him Who became a little child, so that out of the mouth of infants and sucklings, He might perfect praise;Children, to the Child Who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod;Men, to Him Who became man, that He might heal the miseries of His servants;Shepherds, to the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for His sheep;Priests, to Him Who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech;Servants, to Him Who took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might bless our servitude with the reward of freedom;Fishermen, to Him Who from amongst fishermen chose catchers of men;Publicans, to Him Who from amongst them named a chosen Evangelist;Sinful women, to Him Who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant;
And that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that they may look upon the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world.
Since therefore all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice. I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival. But I take my part, not plucking the harp, not shaking the Thyrsian staff, not with the music of pipes, nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ. For this is all my hope, this my life, this my salvation, this my pipe, my harp. And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels, sing: Glory to God in the Highest;and with the shepherds: and on earth peace to men of good will.

Monarchs of Canada

With Her Majesty, Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, becoming Britain's longest lived Monarch on 20 December 2007 (at approximately 17h00 GMT if Buckingham Palace is to be believed), the question has arisen, "Which Monarch of Canada had the longest reign?" Of course, Buck House pointed out that she would have to reign until 2015 to surpass her ancestor Queen Victoria, but was the last Queen the longest reigning Monarch of Canada? No. And to illustrate the point, I decided to compile a list of all the Monarchs of Canada with their regnal dates as far as I could find them.

Here it is, along with the Dynasty to which each belonged:

House of Bourbon

Henri IV (reigned 1604-14 May 1610), By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, co-Prince of Andorra, Duke of Albret, Beaumont and Vendôme, Count of Foix, Armagnac, Comminges, Bigorre and Marle, Lord of Béarn, and Donezan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois (Style until 1607), from 1607-1610, he was styled, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, co-Prince of Andorra, Lord of Béarn, and Donezan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois.

Louis XIII, the Just, (reigned 14 May 1610-14 May 1643), By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois (Style until 1641), from 1641-1643 he was styled, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Barcelona, Rousillon and Cerdagne; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois.

Louis XIV, the Sun King, (reigned 14 May 1643-1 September 1714), By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Barcelona, Rousillon and Cerdagne; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois (Style until 1652) from 1652-1715 he was styled, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois.

Louis XV, the Beloved, (reigned 1 September 1715-10 February 1763), By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois.

House of Hanover

George III (Note 1), (reigned 10 February 1763- 29 January 1820), By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France (Note 2)and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, Prince-Elector of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick (Style until 1801) from 1801-1820 he was styled, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick.

George IV, (reigned 29 January 1820-26 June 1830), By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick.

William IV, (reigned 26 June 1830-20 June 1837), By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick.

Victoria, (reigned 20 June 1837-22 January 1901), By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith (Style until 1876) from 1876-1901 she was styled, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India.

House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Until 1917)

Edward VII, (reigned 22 January 1901-6 May 1910), By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

George V, (reigned 6 May 1910-20 January 1936), By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India (Style until 1927) from 1927-1936 he was styled, By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

House of Windsor (from 1917)

Edward VIII, (reigned 20 January 1936-11 December 1936), By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.

George VI, (reigned 11 December 1936-6 February 1952) By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India (Style until 1948) from 1948-1952 he was styled, By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith.

Elizabeth II, (reigned 6 February 1952-Whom God Preserve) By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith (Style until 1953) since 1953 she has been styled By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. (In French: Elizabeth Deux, par la grâce de Dieu, Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres royaumes et territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi.)

So, based upon the above list, Her Majesty must reign until 2024 to surpass His Most Christian Majesty, Louis XIV as Canada's longest reigning monarch.

Note 1) It should be noted that there were no Monarchs of Canada known as George I or II, William I-III, Edward I-VI or Elizabeth I, but as a matter of Convention, Canada follows the regnal numbers of the United Kingdom.

Note 2) Listing the official Style of George III until 1801, implies no endorsement of the English claim to the Throne of France.

The Loyal Proclamation

WHEREAS the longstanding tradition of representative monarchy as constitutionally practiced by the independent peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the other Realms of the Crown Commonwealth is continuously threatened by the unrelenting regressive forces around them, that left unchallenged will cause the venerable institution of monarchy, the most splendid form of constitutional government to have evolved on this Earth, to degenerate into a pathetic shadow of its former glory and inevitably or suddenly wither away;

AND WHEREAS a defeat for monarchy and for the people in any one Realm, is a defeat for monarchy and for all our peoples in all our Realms, we do hereby mutually proclaim therefore that any further acts of disloyalty carried out against our peoples as represented by their Sovereign, or any further encroachment by the political elite on their residual powers of State, or any further attempts to undermine the legitimacy, independence and dignity of their office, shall no longer be tolerated with gradualist abandonment, but fought vigilantly and honourably with dutiful obligation, bound by our undying affection, loyal devotion and true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Her Heirs and Successors.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Originally posted by Beaverbrook on The Monarchist