« CHRISTMAS MESSAGE from Metropolitan ANTONY of Korsun and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe »

Christmas message from Metropolitan ANTONY of Korsun and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe to Archpastors, Pastors, monastics and laity of the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Beloved bretheren in the Lord, Archpastors, pastors and deacons, monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!

I sincerely congratulate all of you with the feast of the Nativity of Christ!

After many days of fasting, we are again honored to reach this holy day and to fall with reverence at the Manger, in which the Lord, who came “for us for our sake and for our salvation” reveals Himself.

It pleased God to knock on the door of a world that did not wait for Him, that did not accept Him, that from the very first days of the Divine Child's life unleashed all his malice against the One who brought salvation to earth in meekness and humility and opened the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to mankind.  But, despite the depth of human evil, it was defeated by God's Love, and this great victory is the guarantee of enduring hope.

This year we are celebrating the feast of the Nativity of Christ in difficult circumstances.  The coronavirus pandemic has greatly changed our lives.  What seemed so mundane and familiar, today suddenly became inaccessible.  What we did not value before, revealed to us a previously hidden value.  Perhaps we have never before seriously thought about how important for us are health, communication with our family and friends, prayer in a church of God that is said every time when our hearts require it.  Today, enduring many hardships, we are learning to reappraise our own life.

Beginning the New year and summing up the results of the outgoing one, let us learn, following the covenant of the holy Apostle Paul, to thank God for everything and to see in everything the action of His ineffable Providence, leading us on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Looking at the trials that have befallen the humanity, we, being believers, still do not lose heart, and now, standing at the Nativity scene, we look with hope at the Divine Infant stretching out His hands to us.  We believe that the Lord, who smashed the gates of hell and trampled down death by death, will soon deliver the world from the harmful epidemic, grant healing to the sick, and comfort those who are in sorrow.

I send to you, dear Vladykas, Fathers, brothers and sisters, my most sincere congratulations with Christmas and the New Year. 

May the coming year be peaceful and blessed for all of us.

+ ANTONY,

Metropolitan of Korsun and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe.

Nativity of Christ, 2020/2021