06 January 2026
Dear brothers and sisters!
With the joy of heart, I greet you on the great, saving feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
On this sacred night, we again stand before a most great Miracle: God erases the boundaries between Heaven and earth. He no longer sends angels or prophets to us — He comes Himself. And He comes not in the shine of earthly glory, not in royal chambers, lest He should overwhelm us by His greatness; but He comes in a cold cave, in the image of a defenceless Babe. He does it so that we do not fear His power but respond to His love.
God became vulnerable in order to teach us trust. There is no such depth of fall, not such dark 'basement' of human sorrow where the Lord would not descend so as to stand by us and share our fate.
It sounds particularly touching today. Our land is wounded, many hearts are chained by anxiety, and sometimes blackness seems to be thickening everywhere in the world. But against the background of a dark night is where the Star of Bethlehem — the Light which darkness is unable to comprehend — shines the most brightly. And this Light cannot be cancelled by decrees or erased by political expediency. No matter how forces alien to Orthodoxy try to move Christmas to another date, no matter how much they want to forbid Ukrainians to pray the way their fathers and grandfathers did, millions of believers have not been led by the nose by this spiritual gamble. Our people have showed wisdom: they have remained faithful to the traditions of their ancestors and their Mother Church and preserved the purity of faith.
These days, we inevitably ask ourselves: how to live on when usual foundations are breaking?
The answer is hard yet saving. Our contemporary, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, taught, 'In the most difficult situation, we must first of all remain people.' That is what the lesson of the Nativity is. God became Man so that we too, amidst hatred and chaos, do not cease to be whom He has conceived us to be — people of God. So that we do not harden in our hearts and do not lose the ability for compassion, forgiveness, and Christian love.
The Nativity brought 'the light of knowledge' to the world. When mankind rejects this Light, the world plunges into the insanity of self-destruction. But when we return in our thoughts to the Manger of Christ, we realise the most important thing: true peace is not cunning political combinations or loud declarations. Peace is a great Gift of God, which is born in the quietness of a heart reconciled with the Creator.
Dear friends! Christ our God came to earth so as to save everyone who would respond to His call. He promised to be with us in all days to the end of the age. And the Bright Nativity of Christ is an eternal reminder that Heaven is not silent. God has entered our history, our sorrows and afflictions so as to transform them from within by His love.
On this bright feast, I prayerfully wish all of us the main thing — to feel that we are not alone. Today, the Church triumphantly sings, 'God is with us!' May this truth become your invincible foundation. May your homes be warm and safe. May the Light of the Nativity dispel all blackness, heal wounds of soul, and bring nearer the coming of blessed peace in our long-suffering land.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
All related news With the joy of heart, I greet you on the great, saving feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
On this sacred night, we again stand before a most great Miracle: God erases the boundaries between Heaven and earth. He no longer sends angels or prophets to us — He comes Himself. And He comes not in the shine of earthly glory, not in royal chambers, lest He should overwhelm us by His greatness; but He comes in a cold cave, in the image of a defenceless Babe. He does it so that we do not fear His power but respond to His love.
God became vulnerable in order to teach us trust. There is no such depth of fall, not such dark 'basement' of human sorrow where the Lord would not descend so as to stand by us and share our fate.
It sounds particularly touching today. Our land is wounded, many hearts are chained by anxiety, and sometimes blackness seems to be thickening everywhere in the world. But against the background of a dark night is where the Star of Bethlehem — the Light which darkness is unable to comprehend — shines the most brightly. And this Light cannot be cancelled by decrees or erased by political expediency. No matter how forces alien to Orthodoxy try to move Christmas to another date, no matter how much they want to forbid Ukrainians to pray the way their fathers and grandfathers did, millions of believers have not been led by the nose by this spiritual gamble. Our people have showed wisdom: they have remained faithful to the traditions of their ancestors and their Mother Church and preserved the purity of faith.
These days, we inevitably ask ourselves: how to live on when usual foundations are breaking?
The answer is hard yet saving. Our contemporary, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, taught, 'In the most difficult situation, we must first of all remain people.' That is what the lesson of the Nativity is. God became Man so that we too, amidst hatred and chaos, do not cease to be whom He has conceived us to be — people of God. So that we do not harden in our hearts and do not lose the ability for compassion, forgiveness, and Christian love.
The Nativity brought 'the light of knowledge' to the world. When mankind rejects this Light, the world plunges into the insanity of self-destruction. But when we return in our thoughts to the Manger of Christ, we realise the most important thing: true peace is not cunning political combinations or loud declarations. Peace is a great Gift of God, which is born in the quietness of a heart reconciled with the Creator.
Dear friends! Christ our God came to earth so as to save everyone who would respond to His call. He promised to be with us in all days to the end of the age. And the Bright Nativity of Christ is an eternal reminder that Heaven is not silent. God has entered our history, our sorrows and afflictions so as to transform them from within by His love.
On this bright feast, I prayerfully wish all of us the main thing — to feel that we are not alone. Today, the Church triumphantly sings, 'God is with us!' May this truth become your invincible foundation. May your homes be warm and safe. May the Light of the Nativity dispel all blackness, heal wounds of soul, and bring nearer the coming of blessed peace in our long-suffering land.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
