Epektasis

Today, as we celebrate the Afterfeast of the Nativity and the Synaxis of the Holy Theotokos, my thoughts return to the ways God gathers His people, often in unexpected and tender ways. The Synaxis reminds us that the Church is built around Christ through the Mother who bore Him, and in her obedience, humility, and attentiveness, we see the model for our own journey in faith.

For me, this day evokes memories stretching back nearly twenty years, to the humble beginnings of my relationship with the Greek Orthodox Community of St. Andrew in Edinburgh, in the chapel affectionately known as The Small Church. It was here that I first encountered Orthodoxy in the living, breathing sense—the community, the worship, the gestures of prayer and presence.

I had been drawn to inquire after reading a collection of works on the Desert Fathers and, by what seemed chance or providence, meeting a priest, Father John, memory eternal, in the Grassmarket. Though shy by nature, I felt compelled to greet him. That small act opened a door, and soon I found myself writing to the church to ask if I could come along.

The day I first entered the Meadow Lane chapel remains vivid. Father Avraamy greeted me warmly with the words, “You must be the young man we’ve been expecting.” I do not fully understand why, even now, these words have remained with me all these years, but I have treasured them as a sign of God’s quiet providence and the loving patience of the Church. Father Raphael, now Bishop Raphael of Ilion, also showed me kindness and care, teaching me how to cross myself, how to bow, and the deep meaning behind these gestures. They instructed me not merely in ritual, but in the embodied faith of the Church.

I drifted over the years, come and gone, sometimes shy, sometimes stubborn, sometimes unsure of my path. Yet the seeds planted in those early encounters—the welcome, the patience, the love of the Fathers and the community—have never been lost. Even in absence, God’s work was quietly unfolding, drawing me closer in ways I could not yet see.

“He who is planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” — Psalm 92:13

These memories remind me that Orthodoxy is not measured by perfection or constant presence, but by faithfulness to the moments God gives, and by openness to His call in our lives. The Synaxis of the Theotokos invites us to remember that our own journey of faith, however halting or uncertain, is gathered into Christ through the Church, through prayer, through obedience, and through humble attention to His will.

The lessons I carry from the Small Church are simple yet profound: welcome others with love, offer patience, honor tradition, and open your heart to the small, ordinary ways God acts in the world. These gestures, these seeds, bear fruit slowly, over years or decades, just as the Christ born in Bethlehem gradually changes hearts, communities, and the course of human history.

“Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth.” — James 5:7

On this day, I offer gratitude for the Fathers who welcomed me, for the community that bore witness to Christ, and for the Theotokos who, in her obedience, bore the Light into the world. May we, too, be open to the call, ready to receive and nurture the seeds God plants in us, wherever they may take root.