"In the midst of the circumstances and sorrows of many, the faint voice of the "angel of the Lord" sounds today”, of the "evangelized joy great… everywhere of the people, that a savior was made today, who is Christ the Lord”», Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew emphasizes in his message for Christmas………
Subsequently, including, points out: "We celebrate Christmas, praying for our brothers in danger and sickness. We admire the self-sacrifice of doctors and nurses and all contributors to tackling the pandemic. We are glad to see that the patient is approaching’ of them as a holy person and is not converted into a number, incident, object, faceless biological unit. As it was said very closely, the "white blouse"” of doctors is "a white robe”, expresses resignation from ‘emon” for the sake of the brother, the "ask for the other”, the total dedication to the sufferer. In this "white robe"” and in the race of the clergy, symbol of both sacrifice and deaconry, inspiration and the driving force are love, which is always a gift of divine grace, never our own achievement ".
Detailed message of the Primate of Orthodoxy:
PATRIARCHAL PROOF
ON CHRISTMAS
+ ΒΑΡΘΟ Λ Ο Μ Α Ι Ο Σ
ELEO GOD ARCHBISHOP OF ISTANBUL,
NEW ROME AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
EVERYWHERE THE CHURCH CREW
ΧΑΡΙΝ, MERCY AND PEACE
DESPITE THE BIRTH SAVED CHRIST IN BETHLEHEM
* * *
Most honorable brothers in Christ and most beloved children,
Collaborating with the Virgin Mary, the coming "constitutes secretly" the eternal Logos, and looking forward to receiving the Divine Infant Bethlehem, here we are again at Christmas, full of feelings of gratitude to the God of love. The path to the great celebration of the incarnation of the Savior of the world was different this year in terms of external conditions, due to the severe pandemic. And church life, the participation of the faithful in the sacred services, pastoral care and good witness in the world, suffered the consequences of health restrictions. But these do not always concern the innermost relationship of the Christian people with Christ., in the faith in the providence of Him and the devotion in the "en, you need ".
In secular societies, Christmas is discolored, became the feast of ostentatious consumption and secularism, without suspicion that on this holy day we honor the "eternal mystery" of the Divine Incarnation. The Christian celebration of Christmas is today an act of resistance to the secularization of life and to the weakening or even necrosis of the sense of mystery..
In the incarnation of the Word the content is revealed, the direction and purpose of human existence. The perfect God exists as a perfect human being, to be able to exist "in the way of God". "God made man, fiber we are deified " .
Man is, according to the thoughtful expression of Saint Gregory the Theologian, "God blessed", "Animal god". This is the highest value to man, which attaches to its existence an insurmountable value. In Christ, all people are called to salvation. Before God, «Ουκ ένι Ιουδαίος ουδέ Έλλην, no slave is free, ουκ ένι άρσεν και θήλυ˙ πάντες γαρ υμείς εις εστε εν Χριστώ Ιησού », the Apostle Paul theologically inspires. This is a decisive turning point in the field of anthropology, in the hierarchy of values, in the view of morality. Since, whatever offends man, turns against God. "No one is a holy man, oh and nature communicated God ».
Christmas is the whole theo-human life of the Church, in which Christ is perpetually lived as the En, On and the Coming. "In the arms of the Mother" is "in the bosom of the Father", the child Jesus is the crucified, resurrected and glorified in heaven, the just judge and King of glory. This unseen mystery is glorified in psalms and hymns, this is what we serve, ministered and served at the same time under’ his. He said this in a divinely inspired way, "Next to the Saints Patrasin", η εν Χαλκηδόνι Δ’ Ecumenical Council.
The "doctrine of Chalcedon", the pro-reason and meaningful way of receiving the flesh of the world under the Word of God, "Sings" through the expressive architecture, of the organization of the sanctuary, of the impressive dome, which depicts the all-ongoing divine charity and concludes the heavenly and earthly, through images and decoration, through the unique theological language of the light shedding, the sailing temple of the God of Wisdom in the City of Cities, the boast of Orthodoxy and the closure of the universe.
In the midst of many circumstances and sorrows, the faint voice of the "angel of the Lord" sounds today, of the "evangelized joy great… everywhere of the people, that a savior was made today, who is Christ the Lord ". We celebrate Christmas, praying for our brothers in danger and sickness. We admire the self-sacrifice of doctors and nurses and all contributors to tackling the pandemic. We are glad to see that the patient is approaching’ of them as a holy person and is not converted into a number, incident, object, faceless biological unit.
As it was said very closely, the "white blouse" of doctors is "a white robe", expresses the resignation of the "me" for the sake of the brother, the "ask for the other", the total dedication to the sufferer. In this "white robe" and in the robe of the clergy, symbol of both sacrifice and deaconry, inspiration and the driving force are love, which is always a gift of divine grace, never our own achievement.
The dangerous pandemic took many for granted, revealed the limits of the titanism of the modern "human god" and highlighted the power of solidarity. Together with the indisputable truth that our world is a unity, that our problems are common, and their solution requires cooperation and concurrence, the value of the personal contribution was highlighted, of the love of the Good Samaritan, which goes beyond the human measure.
The Church actively supports, I work and because, to the most diligent brothers and prays for their support, relatives and caregivers, proclaiming at the same time, that the treatment of the patient, as a temporary victory over death, refers to the transcendence and final abolition of it in Christ.
Unfortunately, the health crisis did not allow the development of actions, which were provided for 2020, "Year of pastoral renovation and youth care".
We hope that next year it will be possible to hold the planned events for the new generation. We know from experience that, εφ’ as young men and women are approached with understanding and love, reveal their creative powers and participate enthusiastically in the events.
Finally, youth is a particularly "religious" period of human life, with dreams, visions and deep existential quests, they gave me the hope of a new world of brotherhood. This "new building" , the “new heavens and new earth… he dwells in justice " , the Church of Christ is evangelized, depicts her on her way to the End.
Dear brothers and blessed children,
In the Church, man is all renovated, it is not simply "helped", but "true", experiences its inherent destination. As proclaimed by the Holy and Great Synod of Orthodoxy, in the Church “every man is a unique entity, destined to a personal society after God " . We have the God-given certainty that the present life is not our whole life, that evil and negativity have no last word in history.
Our Savior is not a "machine God", who intervenes and eliminates suffering, while at the same time it catalyzes our freedom, as if it were a "condemnation", of which we need an exemption. by’ to us Christians the incomparable Paterikon applies: «Βουλομένων γαρ, of the tyrant the mystery of salvation ". The truth of freedom in Christ is tested by the Cross, which is the road to Anastasin.
In this spirit, celebrating after all of you in reverential mind-eye Christmas and the other feasts of the Twelfth Day, we wish from our sacred Center of Fanari, as the consent of the people's Savior is given hymn health, the love for each other, προκοπήν εν παντί έργω αγαθώ, and all blessings from above, in the rising new year and in all the days of your life. Genuine!
Christmas ‚βκ’
† Constantinople
fiery to God wishing you all