Nativity Epistle

God the Word, Who from the beginning was with God, now strengthens our nature which of old was seen to be weakened, that He may preserve it, through a second communion with Himself, straightway showing it to be free from the passions. (2nd Canon of the Nativity, Ode 6)

Dear Fathers, brothers and concelebrants, mothers and sisters,

I congratulate all of you on the great Feast of the Nativity of Christ!

What is the meaning of this “second communion” with God, mentioned in the troparion of the Nativity canon, written by St. John of Damascus? St. John borrowed this expression from the homily on the Nativity of Christ by St. Gregory the Theologian. Here is how this great hierarch teaches:

“What riches of His goodness! What is this mystery that is around me? I received the image of God, and did not keep it; He partakes of my flesh that He may both save the image and make the flesh immortal. He enters into a second communion with us, which is much more marvellous than the first, since then He gave us the better Nature, while now Himself partakes of the worse; but this is loftier in the eyes of all men of understanding!” (Homily 38:13)

God entered into the first communion with us when He created man in His image and likeness. “ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul ” (Genesis 2:7).

The image of God appears in man in the God-like qualities of his soul. God has done great honour to man by endowing him with His own qualities that no other creature possesses.

Man has freedom that God Himself does not restrict. But freedom gives the opportunity to choose: to be with God, or to turn away from Him. Man has reason as a reflection of the all-embracing Divine Reason. But reason that is not joined to God inevitably falls into pride. Man has immortality, like God, “Who alone is immortal” (Tim. 6:16). But for those who reject God and become His enemies, the gift of eternal life turns into eternal death.

Sin darkened the beautiful image of God in the soul of man and distorted it. The beauty of God’s image in the soul changed into the abominable image of sin.  For this reason the Creator comes to His beloved creation and becomes man Himself in order to save His image and restore its original beauty.

In His first communion with us, God created us in His image, imparting His qualities to us. And now He Himself took on our image, and has become like man in all things, except sin. “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Philippians 2:7).

This is the second communion with God, much more amazing than the first communion with Him at the creation of man. This is the greatest event that we celebrate today – the Nativity of Christ.

Man can become an angel and can become a monster. The beauty of the soul is revealed in repentance and humility. As soon as a person humbles himself and confesses his sin, the beauty of the image of God in the soul is renewed, and it becomes pleasing to God. On the contrary, in the one who rejects repentance and humility, sin starts to develop, so that a person can gradually come to extreme evil.

On these festive days, let us increase our prayers that the angelic tidings “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” may be fulfilled in us, so that the devastating, bloody and aimless war will end.

Current events, as never before, have revealed the Sergianism of the Moscow church, i.e., its complete, unconditional submission to the authorities. The Moscow church approves and justifies the criminal war against the Orthodox people of Ukraine, although they also belong to her own flock. The unprovoked aggression against the neighbouring country is blessed by the submissive church as “defence of the fatherland.”  The MP priests bless the troops and weapons aimed at killing their own spiritual children. A handful of priests, who dared to express their disagreement, were ruthlessly defrocked by the ecclesiastical court, as allegedly violating the canons. What hypocrisy! In this way, the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate seeks to make all its obedient clergy accomplices in the sin of fratricide.

What justification can there be for the ROCOR-MP clergy, who turn a blind eye to this injustice, as if nothing had happened, and continue to commemorate their false Patriarch of Moscow as “His Holiness”?!

We see how rapidly the spirit of apostasy predicted in the Holy Scriptures is increasing in the world. The spirit of apostasy is evident even in the church. The present time imposes on each of us the greatest responsibility. Let us try to draw nearer to God, just as He became near to us through His Incarnation.

“Christ cometh from heaven, meet ye Him. Christ is on earth, be ye exalted”. Amen.

Bishop Andrei

Nativity 2024 / 2025