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The Nativity Epistle Of Bishop Viktor of Slaviansk and Southern Russia Beloved brothers and sisters! On this most-radiant day of the great feast of CHRIST'S NATIVITY I would like to join my words to the words of the Angel, directed at the shepherds of Bethlehem: "I announce unto you great joy, which shall be for all men: for today is born unto you in the city of David a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord". And how can we do otherwise than to sing out with the heavenly host: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men! The Saviour hath been born! Prior to this, humanity was experiencing a murky period of alienation from God, poignantly sensing that it was foredoomed to cheerless gloom even after death. For centuries did people await the coming of the Saviour, and finally it happened. What have we received with the Saviour's coming? We have been given great opportunities: with God's help, even if it be in struggle and suffering, to vanquish the enemy of the human race by our fidelity to God and to His Church, and to be found worthy of God's great mercy. It is enough to recall the life of at least one of our saints — the venerable Seraphim of Sarov — and we will see, right away, what great opportunities have been opened up for the human race with the incarnation of the Son of God. Let us not be dismayed by our earthly deprivation, our impoverishment, the rising-up against us of those who crucified Christ, and the schismatics who have abandoned the Church of Christ. God is with us! We have not sinned by befriending the enemies of Christ; we have not run to unite with those who have betrayed Him — the sergianists and other liars, anathematized for the heresy of ecumenism. Therefore we must doubly rejoice for our salvation. Let us continue to stand in the truth and not to lose hope in the predicted coming triumph of Orthodoxy and the return to Rus' of a Tsar' chosen by God! Inevitably, there comes to mind the impatient expectation of this holiday in childhood and the pure joy of its coming. May this joy remain with you on the radiant and joyous day of the Nativity [of Christ], and may it bring us the beginning of our triumph! Bishop Viktor of Slaviansk and Souther
Russia, ROCA(V) |
