Nativity Letter
from the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine
to the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics, and All Faithful Children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Christ is born; glorify Him!
Christ comes from heaven; come to welcome Him!
Christ is on earth; lift up your hearts!
Sing to the Lord, O earth!
(Canon of the Nativity of Christ, ode 1, irmos)
I wholeheartedly greet all of you: God-loving archpastors and pastors, devout monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters — on the great world-saving Feast of the Nativity according to the Flesh of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The great mystery of godliness was fulfilled: God was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3, 16). The sacred promise given by God’s Love to the fallen Adam back in Paradise was carried out: that the Seed of the Woman would bruise the head of the serpent — the devil, because of whom man had lost Paradise (Gen. 3, 15). Singing of the Mystery of the Nativity of Christ, Saint Athanasius the Great says that the Master of all, the Creator and Maker of man, came to earth, became Man so as to make mankind alive and overthrow the malicious enemy (Tvoreniya, the Trinity Lavra of St Sergius, 1903).
The Nativity of Christ excited the whole world — visible and invisible — with its greatness and the strength of God’s Love. Angels were beholding the great Mystery of God’s coming to earth and were marvelling, mankind was rejoicing, and demons were trembling. The entire creation served the newly born Son of God. Earth brought Him the Cave, Heaven — the Angelic praise, and mankind — the worship of the shepherds and the gifts of the Magi. Even the malice of King Herod, which made the newly born Divine Child flee to Egypt, served to fulfil the prophecy in which the Lord said: “Out of Egypt have I called My Son” (Matt. 2, 15).
Becoming the Son of Man, the Pre-Eternal Son of God illuminated the entire creation with rational light. The poor Cave in which Christ the Saviour was born became a Heavenly Palace, and the manger in which the Divine Child lay became a Throne of God, for, as the Holy Fathers say, God’s Throne is where He rests.
On the sacred Nativity night, the Angels in Heaven sang a marvellous song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2, 14). The Holy Dwellers of Heaven announced that along with the Son of God, Who had come to earth in the image of man, the peace of God and the goodwill of God had come to earth. The Son of God has reconciled all things through Himself: both which are in Heaven and which are on earth (2 Cor. 5, 19). God has given people peace. Only one thing is needed from us, from people: to come to God with due humility and take this marvellous, sacred gift from His Goodness with a prayerful hand.
Unfortunately, not all people seek peace. There are those who, instead of peace, saber rattle, start wars, and rob and destroy others. We are also suffering from one of such wars, but we are standing courageously. Defending our land and our spiritual freedom, we pray the Lord to soften the hearts of those who are waging war against us, to give them reason and courage to stop the war and beat their spears into pruning hooks and their swords into plowshares (Is. 2, 4). We pray for all people to realise that the Lord has made us not to be at war against one another or rob one another; not to bear hatred or malice in our hearts; but to live in peace, respect one another, and bear God’s love in our hearts. Where there is love, there is God, “for God is love” (1 John 4, 8).
Every man ought to be a vessel of God’s Love. The heart of man is a spiritual Bethlehem cave, and the mind of man is a spiritual manger, where God, our Creator and Maker, should rest. And blessed is a man who understands it and who prepares himself to be a vessel of God’s Love with a good and godly life. Blessed is a man who humbly unites his mind with the Eternal God through prayer and sacred meditation on God and makes his mind an acceptable Throne for the King of Heaven.
In the contemporary world, full of malice, hatred, and human greed, it is hard but possible. We should simply pull ourselves together: we should patiently work on our spiritual improvement. We should patiently and courageously correct our lives, we should make rational efforts for our lives to be built on the sacred laws of God. The feat of living according to the commandments of God seems tough on the outside, especially at its beginning, but it is bright and joyful in its nature; it is useful for everyone: first of all, for the labourer, and then for those around him. All other modes of human life, where malice, aggression, and lie reign, seem attractive on the outside, but in fact, they are spiritual poison, which is sweet at first taste, but which, sooner or later, kills the one who bears it and destroys everything around.
Let us open our hearts for God, for God’s Love; for the Lord stands beside each one of us and lovingly says: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” (Rev. 3, 20). Let us open our hearts for God’s Love and wrap it in the swaddling cloths of our mutual self-sacrificing love; then our lives will become joyful and happy, and nothing and nobody will be able to defeat us. For, taking on the image of man, the Pre-Eternal Son of the Pre-Eternal God has not only redeemed us from evil; the Son of God has given us the strength to defeat evil.
I greet all of you again, dear brothers and sisters, on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. I wish everyone health, salvation, and the blessing of God. May the peace of God, praised by the Angels on the sacred Nativity night, reign in every heart, in every family, in our Motherland — the Ukrainian land — and in the whole world.
Merry Christmas!
Christ is born; glorify Him!
Sing to the Lord, O earth!
Amen.
Humble
+ ONUFRIY
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine
Nativity of Christ, 2024/2025, Kyiv
