Nativity Epistle of Metropolitan Valentine

[schetsmark]

So ROAC is the only Orthodox group on earth?

That is the same question that comes to my mind after reading this, what about the Old Believers?

[Seraphim Reeves]

So ROAC is the only Orthodox group on earth?

My understanding is that since ROAC as of yet doesn't have any official relationship with any other local Church, it can only be certain of itself - though I know privately/personally, many in ROAC have more specific views on other bodies (GOC Chrysostmos II, GOC Lamians, various "Matthewites", etc.)

I recently had a good conversation with someone on this topic. While these "divisions" are a scandal to some, I think when viewed in perspective they are understandable. Orthodox Christianity has been hammered from many directions in the 20th century, by betrayals from within, and machinations from without. That this has led to a situation where there is some degree of "mutual agnosticism" between groups who in fact agree not only in matters of faith, but also in just where they perceive the problems to be, is understandable...particularly when joined to that other scandal, sin.

Seraphim

[Justin Kissel]

If agnosticism (right now) is the ROAC position, then I certainly can't argue with the

[Chrysostomos]

Nativity Epistle of Metropolitan Laurus,

First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

In its hymns for the Nativity of Christ, the Holy Church says of the incarnation of God the Word: ТHe became man in His love for mankindУ (sticheron on ТLord, I have cried...У Tone 2).

It is precisely this love for mankind which moved our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, to be born of the Virgin in the lowly cave of Bethlehem. The Lord assumed flesh, not for the salvation of some abstract humanity, but for the salvation of each of us individually.

All of us are, as children, dear to our heavenly Father, so dear that He not only took upon Himself the Тguise of a servant,У but endured all the afflictions of a life of poverty and wandering for the sake of our salvation, enduring mockery, torture and death on the Cross.
The voluntary sufferings of our Savior are the highest proof of His divine love for each of us. His love is ever efficacious, for His very nature is love, and at any given moment it is knocking at the heart of every lost man.

The Lord has told us that there will be great joy in heaven over a single penitent sinner.
Let us pay Him back with repentance for His love for mankind, and we will share His ineffable joy in eternity with the inhabitants of heaven. Then will no man take our joy from us (Jn. 16: 22).

The Lord came to earth to save us from slavery to sin, the devil and death; He came that we might inherit and share with Him a Тjoy fulfilledУ (Jn. 17: 13).

The day of the incarnation of Christ is the most joyous day in the history of mankind, for Тtoday He Who is without beginning beginneth; the hosts of heaven rejoice, and earth and men are gladУ (sticheron on the Praises). And we also are called to participate, having cleansed ourselves of all defilement of flesh and spirit in the mystery of repentance, and united ourselves at the divine Table with the Lord Who loves mankind.

Now, as never before, the time has come for the children of the Church Abroad to intensify their prayers for us, their pastors, that, with the help of God, we may not commit any errors at this fateful time for the Church, but may continue to steer the ship of the Church to the safe harbor of our common salvation.

Dear archpastors, pastors and flock, I greet you warmly on the joyous feast of the Nativity of Christ. Amen.

+Metropolitan Laurus
Nativity of Christ, 2003

[Lounger]

Here is a translation of Met. Valentin's Epistle from last year:

A NATIVITY EPISTLE of
HIS EMINENCE VALENTIN, METROPOLITAN OF SUZDAL AND VLADIMIR

To their graces the archpastors, the honorable pastors, and the honorable monastics

Today the Divinity placed upon Itself a seal of humanity
So that humanity be adorned with the seal of Divinity,
(Ven. Ephrem the Syrian).

Again and again the twilight of a wintry night learns of the ray of the brilliant Divine announcement of the Good News: the great mystery, the God-Logos was manifest in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16), the Son of God has become incarnate and become the Son of Man, while remaining the Son of God, in order to uplift us fallen into sin, to the 'first blessedness'. God becomes the son of the All-pure Virgin, being like us in everything, except sin, to call us to be God-like. 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered: into the heart of man' (I Cor. 2:9) this blessed condition of life with God and in God, the path to which is revealed to us through the Nativity of Christ.

How disgusting and worthless turn out to be the supposed 'pleasures' in whose pursuit a miserable man multiplies the number of his sins, if only we would keep in mind the genuine good-fortune of sanctity, of the joy of communion with God, of eternal life with God, for which purpose God has created us!

As result of the fall into sin by the first human beings, which was multiplied by more and more new sins of later generations, humanity has lost its original ability to see God 'face to face'. Its 'eye of the heart' became clouded, became veiled with the crude covering of flesh which forced it to seek only the consolations of fleshly joys.

Human beings-the best and supreme creation of God, which carries the image and likeness of the Creator Himself-was irresponsibly immersed in the abyss of non-existence. Even the greatest righteous ones of the Old Testament who sat 'in the darkness and shadow of death' (Ps. 107:10) while waiting for Christ's incarnation, understood that after death they would share in the condemnation which was drawn down upon the entire human race by sin. 'I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning' said the righteous Fore-father Jacob (Gen. 37:35).

There was no possibility for the human race to be able to prevent the unavoidable perishing of humanity-temporal as well as eternal. Only the Divine Incarnation could save humanity from condemnation and eternal death-through the change of the entire sinful nature of humanity through union with the sinless and utterly all-perfect God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ accepted the flesh of His fallen slaves, whom He Himself had created. He became man and suffered in the flesh in order to redeem our unfortunate flesh from condemnation and death and to regenerate us unto eternal life.

It is necessary to remember that the union of human nature with God and which was revealed to us through the sacred mystery of the Nativity is a two-fold process. The Lord, Who has condescended to us, and accepted the image of the slave, died for us by the shameful death on the Cross, calls to us to take the small step toward Him.

We should not 'rest on the laurels' that He has redeemed us and has saved us. The sin ruling the human race and the redeeming podvig [ascetic struggle] of Christ, the Savior of the world, only opens for us the path for salvation through participation in this podvig, through union with Christ. Whether we go down this path or not depends upon the free will of each one of us and the Lord, Who knows all hearts, does not force us to make such a decision.

We are surrounded by the world in storm, whose prince is the God-hating devil. This world presents to us many tempting images, which advertise crime and sin. The overwhelming majority of our unfortunate countrymen and contemporaries are fascinated by these images and like a thoughtless herd goes where the enemy of our salvation, the devil, invites them.

He invites humanity to his banquet - to hell, whispering to them to part from Christ and the Kingdom of God. He draws us pictures of worldly well-being, comfort, material achievements, cozy home, much good-tasting food, expensive and seductive clothing.

It is hard, very hard, to make a proper choice under these conditions, especially, if those close to one in every way try convince one 'to live like anybody else does'. A Christian in the contemporary world seems like 'a heterogeneous body,' a fool. But Christ the Savior has told us: 'If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world... therefore the world hateth you' (Jn.15:19).

He draws our sacred Christian holidays within the orbit of his demonic power, to emasculate their spiritual content and to turn them into a reason for secular delights, a means for more new sins.

In the West, 'Christmas' is celebrated everywhere, i.e, 'the Nativity'. However, this 'Christmas' is least of all connected with the spiritual experience of the mystery of the Nativity. This is a commercial show, when the number of sold products brings in a ten-fold income, through a flood of tempting advertisements, and people engage in senseless amusements and sins during 'Christmas vacation'.

The main personality of this 'Christmas' is a half-pagan 'Santa Claus' who is a blasphemously distorted image of St. Nicholas. He advertises various drinks, cigarettes, clothing and, in general, calls people to spiritual relaxation and sin. For us in Russia, most regrettably, Christmas gradually has become a commercial holiday.

Despite all these temptations, let us try again and again to concentrate on the great mystery of God's Nativity. In this mystery we are amazed and astounded by the especial self-effacement of the Son of God, who accepted the 'form of a slave'. In the irmos of the Nativity canon we sing: 'I see an unusual and most glorified mystery: the heavens-a cave, the throne of the cherubim-a Virgin, the manger-the vessel in which lies the uncontainable Christ God.:' The cradle of the Christ Child in the poor Bethlehem cave carried in it the beginning of the deprivations and sufferings of the God-Man. Bethlehem was the threshold of Gethsemane and Golgotha!

Today the mercy of God has led us to the sacred cave and we with the eyes of our faith contemplate the wonderful image of Christ's Nativity. We become the participants in this saving event, but what did we bring as a gift to the Child Christ? Unfortunately, nothing but our sins!

We see that in those places where Christ was born blood is flowing today, tears are flowing. The fields of Bethlehem, which once heard the angelic song 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace', today resounds with cannon fire, bringing not peace, but death and destruction.

May the Child God teach the unwise and save the world which has sunk into darkness and the shadow of death [sin].

My beloved in God Archpastors, pastors, venerable Monastics, brothers and sisters!

On the day of the all-joyous Feast when Orthodox Christians glorify the Christ Child, born from the unwedded ever Virgin Mary, with a feeling of great spiritual joy I greet all of you who are endlessly dear to my heart on the day of our salvation.

In the upcoming New Year may the Child God Who has been born grant a blessed peace on earth and peace to our souls and our homes.

May the Lord God give to all of us saving love for each other, so we can sing of the Trinity in one essence-Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit! Amen.

• Humble Valentin, Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir

Suzdal, 2002 / 2003

[Lounger]

Congratulations to all of you in this great diaspora of the Russian people. This diaspora carries in itself a deep meaning of the providence of God. The Lord desired to spread the true faith of Christ over the whole globe with us, the unworthy and sinful. It is not appropriate for the Truth to be hidden in dark alleys, for the whole earth and all who live on it belong to Her (the Truth ? transl.). By now all the nations say and write, willingly or not, that we live in the year 2003 from the Birth of Christ and not any other way.

Do not forget, dear brothers and sisters, that even more has been given to us, because we have an opportunity to partake the true Body and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at every Divine Liturgy. By this we are made God-like, we become related to Christ.

The greatest miracle of all miracles happens during a Divine Liturgy; bread is transformed into the Body of Christ and red wine is transformed into the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through our prayer and we all partake of these great Mysteries. Let us then remember, how good we feel! To

say the truth, we cannot even describe with words what we feel at that moment, only the Lord knows. Amen.

+Metropolitan Vitaliy.

+++++++

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Beloved in Christ, brothers and sisters!

Our Great Orthodox Feasts are mysteries of the grace of God, for every feast the Lord grants a special grace-filled gift to a believing soul. You all know what an indescribable gift of bright spiritual joy is given by the Lord to a Christian in the Bright Paschal night. And on the feast of the Nativity of Christ the Saviour grants a special gift of inner peace

and joyous divine calmness to every sincerely believing and humble soul. We hear about this in the good tidings of the angels when holy bodiless hosts sung on the blessed night of the Nativity: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among men" (Lk. 2, 14).

Peace on earth may very, but the true peace is given by the Lord Himself - it is a spiritual peace, peace between man and God, and one's neighbours, peace with one's conscience, which can neither be bribed nor fooled, which always convicts for committed sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples, while saying goodbye to them at the Last Supper: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you". And right away He commented: "not as the world giveth, give I unto you" (Jn. 14, 27). Peace, which can be given by the "world (which) lieth in wickedness", is not the peace of Christ. The Lord said for all times about this peace, which in its basis has a denial of Truth or indifference towards Her (the Truth ? transl.), compromises with falsehood and even often persecution of Christ's followers: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Mt. 10, 34). And, according to another Gospel, He says: "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division" (Lk.12, 51). What may these words of the Lord mean?

The Saviour brought the light of Truth into the world, and it is namely the relationship of people towards this Truth, that separates them: some defend Her, confess, and try to preserve it uncorrupted, as the most precious treasure on earth, and others are lukewarm towards Her. Sometimes they distort Her in their conscience and actions, or simply deny Her and are persistently at enmity with Her.

The time in which we live is the time of particular spreading of Ecumenism and Sergianism in the world ? some of the most wicked distortions of the Divine and Ecclesiastical Truth. You know enough about these heresies, but we should ask ourselves: why so many people now give into these spiritual forgeries with such ease, accept in their heart the lies and falsehood instead of the Truth, leave their recent Orthodox beliefs with particular carelessness and voluntarily choose darkness instead of the light?

It is because, as the holy Apostle Paul writes, "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thes. 2, 10). The "gift of discerning spirits" is taken from a believer for this indifference towards the truth. This is why he lapses into many different calamities, which appear to him as "good things". The Apostle writes about those, who are lukewarm towards God's Truth that "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thes. 2, 11- 12).

These words of the holy Apostle Paul are a clear answer to the question: why do the contemporary Christians leave the Orthodox path with such ease and veer to the spiritual impassable roads? Another reason "why" is that confessing the truth, which may coincide with certainn difficulties or a loss of habitual outer wellbeing, is perceived by them as uncomfortable and back-breaking burden. In their view, the truth itself is not vital and precious. If they loved the Truth, which exclusively encompasses the true spiritual life and our salvation, then they would be dedicated to Her, no matter any outer circumstances, and they would treasure Her. For those, who deviate towards paths of apostasy, being indifferent to God's Truth, the real truth does not exist or appears as some abstract "middle path" between the Truth and the falsehood.

Our third First Hierarch of the ROCOR the ever-memorable Metropolitan Philaret of holy life has said that "in the issues of principle we must always, as they say, dot our "i's" and cross our "t's" ? to bear witness of Truth until the end, even if it has to do with complications, troubles and difficulties". In our modern times it is impossible to bear witness of Truth without the struggle (podvig) of being a confessor for the

faith. Archbishop Averky (Taushev) had a good reason to give special attention to the fact that "our time is the time of confessing the Faith. Such confession is even more important and frightful now than that of the early Christians. Then the danger threatened mainly a body ? now it threatens a soul much more than a body". And the souls of many contemporary Christians are, regretfully, entrusted to persons who, instead of guiding them to Christ, draw them into an atmosphere of deadly compromises and indifference towards the truth by their word and example, and thus they guide them away from the path of salvation.

Our time is the time of confessing the Faith. The faithfulness to the true faith ? the holy Orthodoxy is required of us the most now. We can show this faithfulness, with the help of God, first by trying to "hold fast which we have" (Rev. 3, 11) and by diligence to preserve that holy treasure of the Orthodox faith which was left for us by our Spirit-bearing Fathers, who were faithful to the teaching and traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! We need to take care before all else that the Lord would fill our sinful souls with the peace of the light of Christ not only during these holy days, when the Church sings to us of peace, which was proclaimed by the angels, by also during all the days of our earthly journey. And this peace is possible only upon the firm

foundation of the love of truth. Amen.

+Bishop Vladimir of San Francisco and Western America.