wfn.org | GOAA PATRIARCHAL PROCLAMATION UPON THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10021
    Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0215
    Web: http://www.goarch.org
    Email: communications@goarch.org

    December 16, 2003

    This  Proclamation	of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
    is	being  released  in  advance  to  assist  parishes  and  media	with
    publication and distribution.

    PATRIARCHAL PROCLAMATION UPON THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY

    Protocol No. 1074

    + B A R T H O L O M E W
    By The Grace of God Archbishop of Constantinople,
    New Rome, And Ecumenical Patriarch,
    To The Plentitude Of The Church,
    Grace, Peace, And Mercy
    From Christ Our Savior, Born In Bethlehem

    Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
    Children in the Lord,

    By God's divine dispensation we celebrate once again the great and
    joyous feast of the birth of the Incarnate Logos of God. The most
    merciful God, who created man and endowed him with the gifts of
    self-consciousness and the capability to know and communicate with
    others, ultimately destining him to partake in the joy of love, did not
    abandon man when he rejected God's love by choosing to grow apart from
    His Creator.  This choice, made by the first-created human beings, was
    detrimental.  It brought about spiritual death upon humankind, turned
    life materialistic, and gave birth to the sin of selfishness. This was a
    predicament from which humankind could not escape by its own means. It
    was precisely for this reason that the Logos of God condescended to take
    on flesh and become human; by doing this, He healed human nature so that
    man, reborn in Christ, would love God anew in the person of Jesus
    Christ. This restoration of the loving relationship between humanity and
    God is the source of the greatest joy in the universe.  It is a present
    that God offered to humanity and for which the angels sang in the night
    of Christ's birth in Bethlehem. It is this very restoration that we
    celebrate joyously and spiritually, sharing, in a certain measure, in
    all the material gifts given by God to alienated humanity-gifts that
    constitute a clear indication of God's love for humankind.

    Most of our fellow human beings revel in a state of enthusiasm created
    by many opportunities which elicit worldly joy.  They busy themselves
    with the enjoyment of abundant riches and numerous entertainments and
    pleasures with which wealthy countries are replete, all the while
    forgetting the deeper meaning of the birth of Christ. At times, even
    devout and faithful Christians might be misled by the secular notions
    heralded by others. It is a definite possibility that they might
    overlook the true meaning of the Incarnation of God's Logos, Jesus
    Christ, and that they might decide not to experience deeply this event,
    which is of tremendous importance for our lives.

    The great importance of His birth rests on the fact that God took on
    flesh and becomes human in order to deify man. He took on flesh in order
    to offer humankind the potential for maximum growth, the potential to
    become one with God. All human joys and pleasures are very miniscule
    compared with the joy of partaking in the life of Christ.

    Humankind, though, does not occupy itself with this potential. Instead,
    it contents itself with being mortal and malicious, while setting goals
    that are very limited and mundane. It tends to alter the feast of
    Christmas to a universal feast of seasonal nature, totally
    anthropocentric and completely cut off from the Church and its Christian
    content. To counterattack these tendencies, we Christians ought to
    undergo all labors in an effort to realize consciously the great
    spiritual meaning of the Incarnation and birth of God's Logos. This
    meaning concerns us directly; it affords us the opportunity to partake
    in the life of Jesus Christ, which is an inconceivable notion for the
    unfaithful, an opportunity which necessarily fills us with heavenly and
    inalienable joy. For us to be able to receive this joy and peace though,
    we must accept this opportunity and its consequences. We must love Jesus
    Christ, the One who gave us this opportunity; we must seek divine grace
    and allow ourselves to change under the influence of God's grace.

    Devout Christians, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born in a cave and was
    laid in a manger, expects that we open our hearts to Him, so that He
    will reside in them, as if inside another cave. From within our hearts,
    He will guide our thoughts and feelings toward everything that is good
    and beautiful. He will become our fellow traveler in life and will
    illumine our hearts with love and happiness, for happiness is born only
    of love. Let us clear our hearts from malevolent addictions, from bad
    habits, from the bondages of our souls, from sin, and from evil
    intentions; let us purify them by the cleansing qualities of confession,
    through which our souls become purer than snow. Then, we will be ready
    to welcome Jesus Christ with a pure heart and in holy anticipation, as
    an infant in the manger of our hearts.  Accordingly, in time, through
    our practice and adherence to His commandments, "Christ will be formed
    in you (Galatians 4:19), to mature manhood, to the measure of the
    stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).

    We paternally greet you on the occasion of this distinctive day and
    wholeheartedly bestow upon all of you our paternal wishes and
    patriarchal blessings.  We pray to Christ, the Prince of Peace, to put
    an end to the wars and the bloodshed and to bring about peace to our
    agitated world. We pray that you, all our beloved children and brothers
    and sisters, may celebrate these holy days with peace, joy and
    exultation under the gratifying protection of God, through the
    intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos and of all the Saints.

    May the grace and abundant mercy of Jesus Christ, who was born in a cave
    and was laid in a manger, be with you all.

    At the Phanar, Christmas 2003
    Your fervent supplicant before God,
    +Bartholomew of Constantinople

    To be read in Church at the Divine Liturgy of the Feast of the Nativity,
    after the reading of the Holy Gospel.