Archbishop Sofroniy’s Nativity Epistle

At all times, Christ’s Church called its faithful not to neglect those riches that the Lord gave them. The Saviour of the world, Who comes to earth for each one of us, comes so as to heal and give us a priceless and invincible strength for ensuing struggles with the spirits of darkness. We are sometimes propelled to think that everything is lost in this world: antichrist will conquer with his globalization and we shouldn’t battle windmills. 

But the true servants of Christ know that we have the Holy Church as a certain ark, in which we can be saved: which in the words of Christ the gates of hell will not prevail. In the Church, through the partaking of the Holy Mysteries we have an opportunity to once again, touch Christ’s chasuble and be cured. But not to touch blasphemously, which today’s world is offering through all types of limitations: like the rinsing of the spoon in spirit solution after each communicant, and the cleansing of other holy utensils in cleaning solutions. God is right and doesn’t allow His Church to have such unrighteous communicants. In Church, we have God’s commandments which direct us on a correct life: assist in understanding the reason for Christ’s incarnation and see His Divine power and truth. Christ is always ready to come to our aid, only we must be true to Him and believe not only in Him, but in His every spoken word.

From the teachings of Saint Simeon the New Theologian, we know that “for those, who are ruled by disbelief and passions, the Holy Spirit is inaccessible and invisible. But for those who show worthy repentance and begin to fulfill Christ’s commandments with faith – together with fear and trepidation – it opens and becomes visible, and by itself produces a judgment within themselves, which undoubtedly is such that will be, or better said – it becomes their Divine judgment day. He, who always shines and is illuminated by this grace, does truly see himself (what he is and in what pitiful state he is in): sees all his subtle and frequent deeds he has committed physically and those that were active in his soul only… Thus, those who made themselves children of the Light and sons of the future can always walk every day with grace: the day of the Lord will never come to them, because they are always with Him and are in Him. Because the Lord’s day will appear not for those who are already illuminated by Divine Light, but He will reveal Himself to those who are in the darkness of passions: live in the world, worldly, and love the world’s blessings; it is to them that He will appear suddenly and seem frightening, like an excruciating and intolerable fire”.

May this not happen to us through the intercession of the All Blessed Mother of God before the new Born Christ!

I congratulate all the esteemed pastors, monastics and laity of our Diocese with the Birth of Christ!

Sofroniy, Archbishop of Sant-Petersburg and North-Russia.

25^th December 2021