Christmas Greeting of Bishop of Kashira Iov

Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada

Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!

Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

I heartily greet you with the feast of the Divine Incarnation with the inspiring words of Gregory the Theologian at the beginning of his homily addressed to his flock: «Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be ye exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?» (St Gregory the Theologian: Oration 38 (On the Theophany, or the Nativity of Christ)). It is precisely from this homily that are taken the beloved heirmos: «Christ is born, glorify Him!» (heirmos of ode 1) of the Nativity canon.

Divine Incarnation is an eternally living event as far as our salvation is concerned. For this reason, Archbishop Gregory uses in his homily for the Nativity the present tense: Christ is born.

Our Lord indeed constantly wants to be born in the life of each of us. Today, the place of His birth – that very same cave, the same cradle in which the Most Pure Mother of God wants to put Him – is our heart!

How wonderful would it be if the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ could occur in our lives every morning! But, in order for our Lord to be born in our hearts, we must bring peace in our lives, purify our hearts, banish from it passions and sins, all evil and impure spirits. Then our hearts truly will become the throne of God and the palace of the Heavenly King. Then in our souls will be the paradisiacal feast of joy, peace, grace and love. And no sorrow, no loss will tarnish in our hearts this joy, because the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is the feast of the beginning of life!

I prayerfully wish you that, through His Divine Grace, Our Lord in His humble way and mysteriously be born in our souls and that we may have “life more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). Let the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord become for us the day of our solemn meeting with our new Born Saviour and help us to better contemplate His Face, to be inspired by His Gospel.

Христос Раждается! — Славим Его!

Christ is born! – Let us glorify Him!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

With prayerful wishes for God’s help in the New Year and with love in the Christ-Child,

+Iov (Job), Bishop of Kashira, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada

Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ * 2017 * Edmonton