Nativity
Epistle of Metropolitan Laurus,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
In its hymns for the Nativity of Christ, the Holy Church says
of the incarnation of God the Word: ÒHe became man in His
love for mankindÓ (sticheron on ÒLord, I have cried...Ó Tone
2).
It is precisely this love for mankind which moved our Lord
Jesus Christ, the second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, to
be born of the Virgin in the lowly cave of Bethlehem. The
Lord assumed flesh, not for the salvation of some abstract
humanity, but for the salvation of each of us individually.
All of us are, as children, dear to our heavenly Father, so
dear that He not only took upon Himself the Òguise of a servant,Ó
but endured all the afflictions of a life of poverty and wandering
for the sake of our salvation, enduring mockery, torture and
death on the Cross.
The voluntary sufferings of our Savior are the highest proof
of His divine love for each of us. His love is ever efficacious,
for His very nature is love, and at any given moment it is
knocking at the heart of every lost man.
The Lord has told us that there will be great joy in heaven
over a single penitent sinner.
Let us pay Him back with repentance for His love for mankind,
and we will share His ineffable joy in eternity with the inhabitants
of heaven. Then will no man take our joy from us (Jn. 16:
22).
The Lord came to earth to save us from slavery to sin, the
devil and death; He came that we might inherit and share with
Him a Òjoy fulfilledÓ (Jn. 17: 13).
The day of the incarnation of Christ is the most joyous day
in the history of mankind, for Òtoday He Who is without beginning
beginneth; the hosts of heaven rejoice, and earth and men
are gladÓ (sticheron on the Praises). And we also are called
to participate, having cleansed ourselves of all defilement
of flesh and spirit in the mystery of repentance, and united
ourselves at the divine Table with the Lord Who loves mankind.
Now, as never before, the time has come for the children of
the Church Abroad to intensify their prayers for us, their
pastors, that, with the help of God, we may not commit any
errors at this fateful time for the Church, but may continue
to steer the ship of the Church to the safe harbor of our
common salvation.
Dear archpastors, pastors and flock, I greet you warmly on
the joyous feast of the Nativity of Christ. Amen.
+Metropolitan
Laurus
Nativity of Christ, 2003 |
