Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X

With the mercy of God Almighty

John X

Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

To

My brothers, pastors of the Holy Antiochian Church

And my sons and daughters wherever they are in the parts of this Apostolic See

“As Thou art God of peace and Father of mercies, Thou hast sent unto us Thine Angel of great counsel, granting us peace. So are we guided towards the light of the knowledge of God, and watching by night we glorify Thee, O Lover of mankind”

With these words, beloved, the hymnographer described the great event of Nativity. With these words, Kosmas the Melodist, son of this east, surpassed ages and times to tell about what he might chant and ask concerning the Nativity of the Lord Christ, messenger of love and spring of peace.

The “Angel of great counsel” comes bringing to humanity the peace of the Creator of all breath. He comes to say to each one of us: “O man, who suffers all the preoccupations and afflictions of this world, come to me, to the Bethlehem, and put the burden of your weariness under my feet to find comfort and peace”. The grotto of Bethlehem is an image of the entire being of every human, who is fed by humility, strengthened by virtue, armed with passion and bearing the Lord inside. The Lord will sanctify his life.

In these days, the peace of all creation, Jesus, comes to us. He is our peace and the medicine for the wounds of this east. He comes to us so that we might bury in his birth the sadness of the current year and open with His hope the next year. He comes to us with His peace. And His peace is a guarantee for the peace of our countries, the Church and humankind.

We say to our people in these parts. We are messengers of peace and love, but we are, at the same time, deeply rooted in the history and the geography of this land. Our unique way, the true spring, is to meet the other, mediating to him his acceptance and the collaborating with him to overcome the difficulties and the burdens of this world. We are messengers of peace, but at the same time, we are not silent victims, bearing the blows of others without any kind of reaction. We are messengers of peace, love and acceptance of the other. Our way is peace. Our hope and message is of a concrete fraternity with those with whom we submit ourselves to God, the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth. The bells of our churches hung long times past will ring strongly and enthusiastically forever in spite of all conspiracies. These bells will keep ringing out our chime of love for the other, our fellow human being and neighbour. The same bells will announce to all the world that Apostles were sent out from here and their fellowship will be as a messenger of love and a strong root which will overcome in these difficult days.

The Church which gave birth to confessors such as John of Damascus and martyrs such as the priest Yousef Haddad, (Joseph of Damascus), will not cease to be a messenger of love and peace. The same Church gave us several sons on the altar of country, church and humanity. To be a messenger of peace does not mean that one is a messenger of submission. We will not submit ourselves to those who destroy our holy places. We will not keep silent seeing the abduction of our bishops, Youhanna, Paul, and all the innocents of this land. We will not keep silent in the cases of those who kidnapped the voices of our peace; I mean, the nuns and the orphans of Maloula. We are invited to raise our voice, in the home countries and abroad, against those who want to kidnap the voice of our peace. The nuns and orphans of Maloula did not hold anything but candles of prayers. The bishops, our brothers, did not have anything but the voice of peace. Where is all the world in this and what does the world do for the light of the nuns and the peaceful message of the bishops?

Our peace, O Lord, is a guarantee for our Antiochian Orthodox Church. She is invited, clergy and people, to approach all issues with spirit of love and meekness. Wounding the body of the Lord brings sadness to all. Our Church has many ways to deal with the weakness of each one of us, ways which avoid divisions in the body entrusted to our care. Our love for God and toward the other necessitates that we do not lose this substantial unity for personal and individual reasons. God condescended to come down and live among us granting us joy. The Lord lives in the calmness of our spirit and occupies hearts dressed with love. “Love one another ... by this the people might know that you are my disciples” (John 13: 34-35). This love is not only essential for us, but it is essential for the world and in order to trust in God who moves us. And this is a great responsibility for all of us, if we really love Christ. The Lord says in the Gospel of John “that all of them may be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17: 21). With this hope we receive the Nativity and we recall insisting that all our sons might possess the spirit of this hope. Our Church will be glorified and our Lord also, if we remove from our hearts the condemnation of the other. She will be glorified when we avoid filling the newspapers with threats and resolve our issues through the logic of love and acceptance of the other, and that is exactly the logic of the Gospel. Our Church will be glorified and also her Bridegroom when we, pastors and people, are one body, one heart, consoling the sad and being ideal persons for the world.

From here, from the heart of the Mariamite church of Damascus, I send apostolic blessings to all our spiritual sons and daughters in the home countries and abroad. I pray to the Baby of the Grotto to remove the tears of the sad, to counsel the hearts of the refugees, to have mercy on the souls of the departed and to embellish the New Year with the return of those kidnapped and with His divine peace.

May God protect Syria. May God protect Lebanon and protect them as countries of peace and peaceful common living. May God protect the East and all the world. May He grant you blessed feast days in which all is transfigured with his Divine and true peace.

Issued from our Patriarchal Centre in Damascus

On the 20th December 2013.

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

1/7/2014

See also
Nativity Epistle of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, 2013/2014 Nativity Epistle of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, 2013/2014
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill
Nativity Epistle of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, 2013/2014 Nativity Epistle of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, 2013/2014
And today we celebrate an event which at its root has changed the entire course of human history. God enters the very depths of human life, he becomes one of us, he takes upon himself the weight of our sins, human infirmities and weaknesses – he brings them to Golgotha in order to free people from this unbearable burden. God henceforth is no longer to be found somewhere in the unattainable heavens, but is here, with us, among us.
Christmas Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia published in twenty languages Christmas Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia published in twenty languages
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill
Christmas Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia published in twenty languages Christmas Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia published in twenty languages
Christmas message published in the official languages of a number of countries included in the canonical space of the Moscow Patriarchate, and some others.
Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Metrpoloitan Hilarion (Kapral)
Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral)
With the simplicity of the shepherds, let us go to the cave in Bethlehem to worship the living God Who became a living Man. In other words, let us go to church bringing the Infant Christ the gift of warm tears of compunction, a heart enlivened with delight and boundless devotion; and to our neighbors and the needy – benefaction and love.
Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas 2013 Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas 2013
His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas 2013 Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas 2013
Many centuries ago, the Prophet foresaw and announced with enthusiasm and joy the birth of the child Jesus from the ever-Virgin Mary. Naturally, even then, there was no period of census by Augustus Caesar, no place to stay for the safety of the Holy Virgin who was carrying a child by the Holy Spirit. So the holy Joseph as her betrothed and protector was obliged to lead her to a cave, a manger with animals, “in order to give birth to a child.”
Nativity Encyclical of His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia Nativity Encyclical of His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia
His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia
Nativity Encyclical of His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia Nativity Encyclical of His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia
His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia
“I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord”(St. Luke 2:10-11).
Message of His Holiest Beatitude, Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem Message of His Holiest Beatitude, Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem
His Holiest Beatitude, Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Message of His Holiest Beatitude, Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem Message of His Holiest Beatitude, Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Here, in this land, God the Father had deigned that His hitherto fleshless and timeless Son be born in flesh and appear in time. Here came the Magi from the East, led by a bright star, and saw an infant in the arms of the Virgin and worshipped Him, offering Him their presents of ‘gold, frankincense and myrrh”.
Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon
Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard)
Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon
Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard)
When we decide to turn to Christ and invite Him into our hearts, we commit to a life of action, a life in which we not only hear, but act upon the commandments of Christ and the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church.

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