OCA Chancery
Syosset, New York
December 25, 2000
OCA Chancery
Syosset, New York
To the Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
I greet you with great joy on this radiant Feast of our Lord’s Nativity.
Today we join the choir of angels proclaiming “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among men” (Luke 2:14). Today we draw near and adore the One who is our Peace. The child born of the Virgin Mary is given by God to the world to end the tyranny of sin and death. Indeed, the God-Man who reigns over all creation while lying in a manger has come to abolish all division and hostility (Ephesians 2:15).
While celebrating this feast of our Savior’s Nativity in the Flesh we live between His incarnation and glorious second coming. Between these two poles of salvation history we are challenged by the Gospel we preach to show the world that evil will never be victorious. Our celebration compels us to reveal that God incarnate now confronts the hatred, strife, and injustice which shrouds the world in darkness. Our joy must point to the One who, emptying himself and taking of the “form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7) now seeks to change the minds and hearts of the arrogant and vain.
Entering the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity, let us be generous in extending the joyous news of eternal life to all people. Celebrating God’s descent to earth and our ascent to heaven, let us also remain vigilant. For through watchfulness the gift of the incarnation—the gift of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection—will never cease to be embraced as life-giving and life-transfiguring.
Accept my heartfelt best wishes for a celebration of the Lord’s Nativity that is rich in divine blessings.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
With love in the newborn Christ,
+ THEODOSIUS
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada