Springfield, Virginia, November 13, 2025
Photo: putna.ro
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada released a message to the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America on November 12, dedicated to the beginning of the Nativity Fast.
The primate notes that the first day of the Nativity Fast coincides with the commemoration of St. Paisius Velichkovsky, whom he describes as “one of the great transmitters and exponents of the Byzantine hesychastic tradition among both Slavic and Romanian peoples.”
Met. Tikhon emphasizes that Orthodox Christians should not merely claim their Tradition in words but live it daily. “Without making Holy Tradition our own through practice, it is in vain that we celebrate St. Paisius and other teachers of Orthodoxy,” he writes. “‘Orthodox’ is not a shiny label that we proudly apply to ourselves; it is our path to living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Metropolitan urges the faithful to return to the sources of Orthodox Christianity during the fast, including the New and Old Testaments, the Fathers, and the saints. He explains that studying the Tradition should lead to it becoming “the rhythm of our existence” rather than something to “show off self-consciously.”
Met. Tikhon calls on Orthodox Christians to practice “humble self-abnegation” through prayer and making time for others despite personal stress and busy schedules. He states that believers “incarnate the Holy Tradition when we choose, not to blame or complain, but to thank God and to wait on him.”
The message concludes with prayers that the fast would be “a time of renewal for us all” through the intercessions of St. Paisius Velichkovsky.
Follow OrthoChristian on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, and MeWe!
