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Repose of Archpriest Georgiy Primak.
07:07 AM
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Nativity Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
07:42 PM
NEW YORK: January 4, 2018
Beloved in the Lord Brethren Archpastors, Honorable Fathers,
Brothers and Sisters, God-Beloved Flock of the Russian Church Abroad:It is with a feeling of the greatest joy that I express my heartfelt greetings on the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the approaching feast day of the Baptism of the Lord!
As expressed in one of our church prayers celebrating this holy event, when God deemed it good to appear on Earth, the entire world hastened to bring him gifts: “The Angels offer a hymn; the heavens, a star; the Wise Men, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger.”
What will we offer as a gift to the Almighty God, Who is now born a helpless Infant? “My son, give me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26), says the Lord. Our hearts, our love, is the only gift most worthy in the eyes of God. To offer God one’s heart means to give Him all of ourselves: our mind in obeying the Gospel, our will and obedience to the commandments, submitting and actively striving for God, not as a servant but as His offspring, for whom happiness and bliss is to live in Christ and with Him.
In this past year, the fullness of the Local Russian Orthodox Church prayerfully marked the 100th anniversary of the sorrowful events connected with the Revolution and the beginning of the epoch of godless persecutions, but also the 100th anniversary of the reestablishment of the Patriarchate in Russia, when St Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia the Confessor, ascended to the Patriarchal throne, which was to be his personal Golgotha. In 2018, we intend to continue this prayerful commemoration, remembering Holy Hieromartyrs Vladimir of Kiev, Andronik, Archbishop of Perm, the Righteous Royal Passion-bearers, Holy Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara, who offered their hearts to Christ, the Church and their people to the extent that no earthly power could tear them from God’s love, no earthly circumstances: not “tribulation, or distress, or persecution” (Romans 8:35).
And so as we celebrated the Nativity of Christ and participate in the prayerful commemoration of this year, let us seek out the renewal of our inner strength and edification, let us pay heed to both Holy Scripture and the history of our Fatherland, let us strive to learn of the lives of these holy people and contemplate their personalities in order to enrich ourselves spiritually and intellectually. Let us bring these labors as a gift to the Child Who offered Himself to the Cross, remembering that we must extract from ourselves our wicked and dark hearts, so that in exchange for this Sacrifice we receive the gift of peace in our hearts, bright and renewed, a gift earned by the Holy Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
As we bend our knee before the Christ Child and joyously experience this world-saving event, I prayerfully ask on behalf of all of you God’s mercies and blessings, heavenly aid in your labors and good deeds, good health, joyful celebrations and a happy New Year!
With love in the Nascent Christ,+HILARION,
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.Nativity of Christ 2017/2018.
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Nativity epistle of His Eminence, Archbishop Gabriel. 2018
07:37 PM
The Most Reverend Archbishop Gabriel
of Montreal and CanadaThe Nativity Epistle
To the clergy and all the faithful flock of the Canadian diocese
Beloved in Christ brothers and sisters!
The great and joyful feast of the birth of Christ in the flesh, the appearance in the world of the
infant Christ, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, is an historical event. It is not a
coincidence that our forefathers felt that the events tied to the Nativity of Christ as related in the
Gospels were events that were not far removed from what they had experienced in their own
past. Metropolitan Anthony, the Abba of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia,
remarked: “After all, the Child born in Bethlehem soon became a refuge in a foreign land.” In
the preceding year of 2017 we remembered a mournful anniversary – the 100th anniversary of
the Russia’s historical tragedy, the lessons of which our people have not yet fully
comprehended.
The ever-memorable Metropolitan Anastasy said the following prophetic words 80 years ago:
“There is nothing more dangerous, than if Russia will wish to adopt something from its sad
inheritance, left to it by corrupt bolshevism: anything, which has been touched by its
decomposing atheistic hand, is at risk of being once more infected by the old leprosy.”
The new year brings with it the 100-year anniversary of a new massacre of the infants: the death
of the Russian royal family, including the innocent children of the last Russian emperor. The
loss of the Russian emperor, who was anointed by God and had a special restraining
interdiction before the throne of God, brought about innumerable woes not only for Russia, but
for the whole world. Now, when we hope, the time has come for the Russian people to return
to the ideals of Holy Russia, we have faith that the prayers of the royal passion-bearers at the
throne of God are heard and that the Lord will not and has not forgotten the Russian land.
The joy of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem could not be darkened by the anger which boiled up
during this greatest of events in the history of mankind: the appearance of the Saviour of the
world. Brothers and sisters, when we remember the wisemen’s gifts of gold, frankincense and
myrrh brought to the manger in Bethlehem let us not forget about the gifts that we should bring
to our Lord throughout our earthly life: “Let us earnestly open the treasure chest of our hearts
and bring Him good deeds – faith, hope and love” (Stichira on ‘Lord I have cried’ for December
28).Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
GABRIEL
Archbishop of Montreal and Canada -
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