Daily Readings for January 1

A Reading from Origin (Genesis) 3:1-15

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, 'You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die."” 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You won’t really die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8 They heard the LORD God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself." 11 God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it." 13 The LORD God said to the woman, "What have you done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,

"Because you have done this,

you are cursed above all livestock,

and above every animal of the field.

You shall go on your belly

and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will bruise your head,

and you will bruise his heel."

Great and Holy Bible. Copyright © 2024 Ancient Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Feast of the Theotokos

On January 1, the Antiochian Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church sets aside the day to honor the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the Theotokos—or Mother of God—who is also known as the Christotokos—or Mother of the Christ.

The birth of the Theotokos was a major turning point in the history of humanity.

It marks the time when humanity's enslavement to sin and death was passing away, in accordance with the prophesy in the Book of Genesis, by whom through this woman the Son of God will bruise the serpent's head, and He will be bruised by the serpent on His heel by way of crucifixion.

This woman, set apart for a time such as the birth of the Christ, was born to aged parents, Saints Joachim and Anna—according to the traditions passed from the beginning of the Church—and began a sequence of historical events that opened the Gates of Paradise, bringing about the union of Heaven and Earth, God and humanity, as it was in the beginning.

In her longsuffering love for God, she happily hearkened to the prophesy where God would become a human and set forth the method required in order for the death sentence to eternal separation from Him to be disqualified by conquering Death by death. By this, she bore the Christ Child and exemplified the Virtuous Woman of Proverbs by which each woman in the Antiochian Church and elsewhere has been encouraged to model.