Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon

To the Honorable Clergy, Venerable Monastics, and Pious Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,

My Beloved Brethren and Blessed Children in the Lord,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Today, as we proclaim with joyous hearts that “God is With Us,” we give glory to God for the Feast of the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. At the same time, we are surrounded by a host of images, symbols, icons, and representations of what the world thinks this Feast is, and what it should be. From Christmas trees live and fake, to reindeer and snowmen, the world is drowning in empty images of Christmas. And even in those images that seem to follow the tradition of the Church, we find lacking a true engagement with the brokenness and emptiness around us.

In the Church, we behold “a strange, most glorious mystery” — a child, born in a tomb-like cave, laid in the feeding trough of animals, born into this world to a people unprepared to receive His message, a people unable to accept His message. This is indeed a strange image, an image of weakness, an image of defeat, poverty and lowliness. It is an image which could easily be dismissed if it were not so wondrous in its inexplicability. It is an image that has at its core the message of the life of the world to come. It is the image of our salvation.

When faced with this image of Christ born in a tomb, we are, as the Mother of God was, faced with a choice to say: “Yes Lord enter into my members, my veins, my heart; cleanse me, purify me, adorn me.” Or, we can choose to turn away and reject the joy, health and gladness offered us through the Christ and our communion with Him. And yet, this choice is not simply an intellectual assent to some vague and nebulous idea or concept.

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. In speaking of the motherhood of the Theotokos, Father Georges Florovsky reminds us that the act accepting Christ into our lives is not one that is exhausted by the initial moment, “even as natural motherhood is not exhausted by the fact of physical birth. The fulfillment of motherhood lies in sacrificial love. By this love for the One born the passive self-centeredness of the heart is broken. In this love is shown the natural image of love for another person, for the neighbor.”

Our turning to the tomb-like cave of Christ’s birth, and our acceptance of Him into our lives, commits us to a life of love for our neighbor and for all mankind. Our turning to the One Who laid in a manger is our accepting of the call to minister to our fellow man, here and now. Our turning to the One Who was born of a Virgin is a proclamation of our love of Christ and of His Cross. Indeed, our turning to the God Who is now with us is a proclamation of our anticipation of the life of the world to come.

With heartfelt prayers and in the ineffable love of the Holy Christ child,

With love in the Lord,


+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

The Orthodox Church in 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”. Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X Nativity Greetings from Patriarch John X
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. An Orthodox Reflection on the 12 Days of Christmas An Orthodox Reflection on the 12 Days of Christmas
Gabe Martini An Orthodox Reflection on the 12 Days of Christmas An Orthodox Reflection on the 12 Days of Christmas
Gabe Martini
Ultimately, then, the meaning of both the Nativity of Christ and the entirety of the 12 Days of Christmas is the receiving and giving of Christ, who is truly the gift and the giver, the one who is received and distributed.

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