CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTER
(No. 242/2024)
To
The Holy Clergy and
Christonymos Laon
of our Holy Metropolis
Kythira and Antikythira
«...Christ from Heaven; answer.
Christ on earth; be exalted...».
(Christmas Eve)
My dear brothers and fellow ministers,
My Christian brothers, my beloved children in the Lord,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY EXPOSED!
Spiritual joy and gladness, joyful tremors and gladness of heart arise from the depths of our spiritual world for the world-saving and world-rejoicing event of the incarnate Birth of the Lord and God and SaviorJesus Christ, the Divine Incarnation.
«...Christ from Heaven; answer.
Christ on earth; be exalted...».
The Holy Hymnographer of our Holy Orthodox Catholic Church proclaims joyfully and triumphantly. The most joyful, hopeful, and salvific message. You have anticipated, welcomed, and embraced in your hearts the Heavenly Visitor, the Savior and Redeemer and Greatest Benefactor of humanity, Jesus Christ, worship and adore Him as our true Lord and God.
Saint John, the Golden-Tongued Father of our Holy Church, writes about the Divine Incarnation:
«The Son of God, without us being anything, visited us. And after taking on what was ours (i.e., human nature) and uniting it with Himself, He became superior to all.» (E.P.E. 24, 294).
«Think how great it is for the sun to descend from above, to see it running across the earth, and to leave its rays on everyone. And then think how great it is, the Sun of righteousness (Christ) through our own flesh, which He took on, to let His rays flood our souls.» (E.P.E. 35, 422).
«If the sun is not harmed in its purity, even though it touches so many polluted places, but every day it gathers its rays again, completely pure, how much more so The Sun of Righteousness, the Lord of the Unseen Powers! He came to earth in pure flesh (that of the Virgin Mary). Not only was she not defiled, but her very existence was made purer and holier.» (E.P.E. 35, 454-456).
And the beloved contemporary Saint of our Church, Kallinikos, Bishop of Edessa and Pella, wrote the following in his Christmas Pastoral Letter:
«Christ is on earth; exalt yourselves!”
«This saving exhortation is repeated to us, especially today, by the Holy Hymnographer.
“Be exalted” Our Mother Church cries out. Arise, wake up. Leave behind the slumber of laziness. Abandon sin. Change your life. You are “photomorphic children”, You are children of God. You have an immortal soul.
Let us not be deceived, brothers. Let us not delay. Let us not experiment. Let us not try anything else. We have tried enough and been tried enough. Without Christ, there is chaos. Without the Infant of Bethlehem, there is “destruction and suffering.”. With God incarnate, joy, blessing, life, happiness. “Come, let us see where Christ was born.”.
... Let each one of us take up this holy struggle, this sacred endeavor. The Savior seeks from every person and especially Christian and Orthodox to be transformed into a Child and to maintain the adoption. This is the message of the Great Feast. This is the duty of all of us. This will be the precious gift to God incarnate.
… Let us rise up, then. Let us awaken spiritually. Let us live a new life, according to the will of Christ Incarnate.» (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, «Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa,» Ed. A’ 2020, pp. 211-212).
My dear brothers,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, who, through His extreme goodness and philanthropy, took on human nature and united it with His divine nature, purified it, sanctified it, and deified it, as He raised it to the right hand of God and His Father, making it the right hand of the Throne of Divine Greatness. Through our human flesh, which He took upon Himself, He allows His divine rays to flood our spiritual world, as St. Chrysostom told us earlier.
And the newly revealed Saint Callinicus of Edessa, the miracle worker, urges us to ascend to the heavens, the supernatural, the true and eternal, to ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven. «Without Christ, there is chaos.» He assured us. «With God incarnate, joy, blessing, life, happiness» guarantees us.
«Let us lift up our hearts», This is what the divine Liturgist tells us during the Divine Liturgy. «Seek the things above, where (where) Christ is seated at the right hand of God; think about things above, not things on earth.» (Col. 3:1-2) urges us the heavenly Apostle Paul. And in another of his letters, the divine Paul advises: «With one mind, united in the faith of the Gospel... of one mind, thinking the same thing.» (Phil. 1:27–2:2).
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who became man, came down from heaven to our earth for our moral and spiritual upliftment. «Christ from heaven; respond.» «Christ on earth; exalt.». He invites us to detach our minds and hearts from the perishable, the temporary, the ephemeral, the material, the sinful, and to elevate ourselves. «mind, soul, and heart» in the heavenly, spiritual, and eternal things.
The composition of the Holy Hymnographer «Be lifted up» It means raising the level of our love, worship, and devotion to our incarnate Lord and God. If you love me, said the Divine Teacher to His disciples, «Keep our commandments». It is impossible to love God without obeying, observing, and applying the commandments of the Divine Law.
«Be lifted up.». Put off the old man, whom you carry within yourselves. «with passions and desires.» «Be exalted.». Love your neighbor as yourself.. «He who is merciful to the poor lends to God.» «Owe no one anything, except to love one another.». Behold the true and real exaltation!
My brothers, if we look back on the year 2024, we will see with deep regret that there was no spiritual growth and elevation, but a depressing decline and fall from the prominent moral and spiritual values of the Orthodox Faith and our Greek Orthodox Nation. And first and foremost, the «legalization» of same-sex «marriage.» This is an unprecedented degradation and destruction of the human personality from a Christian perspective. The rise of violence in and outside of schools, of criminality, especially against women. The problems arising among schoolchildren from the notorious «Sex Education» lessons for minors. The increase in delinquency at various levels. Robberies, burglaries, rapes, the ever-increasing number of victims of human brutality. «I mourn and lament when I understand the (modern) death», would say the poet of the Exodus Akolouthia, Saint John of Damascus.
The ongoing wars between fellow Christians in the north and the Middle East, even in the Holy Land. The harsh and relentless persecution of millions of Orthodox Christians of the Canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the regimeregime, but also to the millions of Orthodox Christians in Syria. «What shall we say and what shall we speak?» «Lord, Lord, look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine, and prune it, which Your Right Hand has planted.».
However, despite the most shocking and tragic events of the past year, our faith in the Divine Infant of Bethlehem, our Lord and God incarnate, the Savior, Redeemer, and Benefactor of the world and of humanity. And Not only must our Faith be firm and unshakeable, but so too must our Christian Hope and Divine Love.
If we have these three fundamental pillars in our spiritual journey and life in Christ, we will not be in danger of being swept away by the currents of unbelief, doubt, and atheism. «A child has been born to us, a son has been given to us... And his name is called Angel of the Great Council.».
With these pillars of unshakeable Faith, of steadfast Hope and Divine Love, it is fitting that we enter in a few days into the new salvific year 2025, the anniversary year of 1700 years since the convening of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in Bithynia (325 AD).
This ecclesiastical anniversary is truly momentous and historic! However, we will refer to this in our New Year's message, since it concerns the new year.
Let us pray, Brothers, with physical and spiritual health, peace, and the love of Christ, may we celebrate the holy and world-saving feasts of the Twelve Days, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Epiphany. Let this be so, despite the very sad event of the tragic fatal accident in Karava, which testifies to how much love, brotherhood, forgiveness, peace, and the brotherly spirit of the philanthropic Savior, Redeemer, and Benefactor of humanity. «Love one another» he told us. «Love your enemies» he declared. «Let all your things be done in love.» The Apostle Paul advises us. However, when love grows cold, we suffer sad consequences.
With our warm Christmas wishes to our brothers and sisters from Kythira and Antikythira living all over the world, and especially to our beloved sailors, we remain,
After Patrick's prayers and love
The Metropolitan
†Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythira
