The Nativity Epistle Of Metropolitan Vitaly of ROCA-V

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The Nativity Epistle Of The Most-Blessed Metropolitan Vitaly, The First-Hierarch Of ROCA

FELICITATIONS UPON THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST AND THE NEW YEAR !

 Dear Sons and Daughters of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad,

Once again the Lord has found me worthy of greeting all of you on the occasion of the radiant Feastday of Christ's Nativity and of wishing you all the best in the New Year.

During these holy days we always greet one another and express our wishes for spiritual peace and joy.  The principal angelic hymn declares: «Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth, peace, good will among men!». These words contain the complete spiritual and moral essence, the entire heavenly and earthly meaning, of this holy day.

Each and every feast in the Orthodox Church consists of several days, i.e., the forefeast, the Feast itself, and several post-festal days.  Thus, we initially prepare ourselves for the Feast, as for a great spiritual event.  The Nativity of Christ should be, for us, a reminder of our own birth.  At first, we did not exist; then we were born into this world and must not only properly, but also righteously, live out our earthly life, which will determine our state in Eternity.  Properly, in relation to each other and to those around us...  Righteously, in relation to the Lord God and to His Church...

Death does not exist for us, for that which we call death is but the exodus of our soul from out of the body which was its home up to that moment.  This so-called house of our soul, i.e. our body, is buried and soon it will return to the dust, as it is said: «dust thou art and unto the dust shalt thou return». Inasmuch as we are not only «dust», it can be said of us that we are eternal.  The Lord was born precisely in order that He might show us the way into Eternity through His life and His suffering.

Thus, let us express for all the wish that they might find their true Christian path in life, seeking, first of all, the Kingdom of God, and all the rest the Lord will add unto you.

I invoke God's blessing upon you.

• Metropolitan VITALY
  The Nativity of Christ 2004

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The Nativity Epistle Of Antonii, Bishop of Belz and Moldova

Felicitations Upon Christ's Nativity!

Beloved fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the true Orthodox Church!

May the festival of love — THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST, which this year is likewise a long-awaited celebration, both in the heavens and upon earth — be one of great joy in your souls and in your homes. The heavens sang, the earth sang, the angels sang, and throughout the ages shall mankind sing of the inexpressible mercy of the incarnation of the Lord, our God.

Let us, O beloved Christians, also join together, in imitation of that heavenly host of 2000 years ago, in order that we, too, might glorify the wondrous infant Christ, born in a cave, in a manger in Bethlehem of Judaea. Everything in the material world is transient, only the virtue of love is eternal. Let the love of God the Father, Who sent us the promised Messiah (Gen. 3, 15), bring us salvation through His Son, Who will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of Whose kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1, 31-35).

Let the wonderful feast of the Nativity bring you the most radiant and goodly feelings and spiritual joy. May the Holy Spirit teach us to love the Lord God. For love observes His commandments, inasmuch as it is through love of the Lord that the soul loves its neighbour as itself.

Antonii, Bishop of Belz and Moldova, 2004