Page 15 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

The Greatness of Orthodoxy
Two thousand years after the unique and unrepeatable
turning point in history brought about by the “kenosis” of
God’s love—through the Incarnation of His Son and Word,
His sacrifice on the Cross, and His Resurrection from the
dead—the Orthodox Church raises, with noble humility, her
God-formed countenance in order to proclaim the greatness
and the glory of God. By His mercy and grace, she has been
deemed worthy to preserve and offer these treasures to hu-
manity within her earthen vessel.
Clothed in the purple robe of her countless martyrs,
crowned with the wisdom of her great Fathers and teachers,
and watered by the streams of tears shed by her ascetics, she
celebrates the great jubilee of human history, and in humility
magnifies Him who has magnified her.
Two thousand years of offering, sacrifice, glory, and humil-
ity—how could these remain unnoticed by the human being
of our age, even if his vision has been dimmed and his sensi-
tivity dulled by the materialism of our times?
From Revelation to Universality
Two thousand years ago, the good pleasure of God encoun-
tered humanity in Judea, and from the very womb of His cho-
sen people brought forth the Savior of the world in the person
of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son and Word. With the descent
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the first nucleus of
disciples and apostles—those who received Jesus as the Savior
of the world and became witnesses of His earthly life, His
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