„Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will toward men!”
(Luke 2: 14)
Your Graces Archpastors,
Honourable priests and deacons,
Venerable monastics,
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Archpastoral congratulations and blessings to you all on the glorious and bright Feast of the Nativity of the divine Infant!
The angelic singing of the heavenly powers that brought the good news of the nativity of the Saviour in the world resounds today in our church, warming our souls, strengthening us in faith, and planting deeply in our hearts the truth: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100, 5)
In the light of this truth we are also called today to experience and preach, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. (John 3: 16).
The truth of God must be preached from generation to generation, especially in our society that is increasingly facing the temptation of considering this truth obsolete and disharmonizing with the modern society. We need much courage and spiritual discernment in these evil days (Ephesians 5: 16), in order not to fall out from truth, verging into untruth, that is, lie that comes to deceive us with false holidays and false values.
The Church, as a loving Mother, who is up-bringing on earth the sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, call us to listen to the voice of the Son of God, who came from the High and preaches that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4: 17).
The heavens bent towards us and the angels preach through chants, calling us to be people of good will, to live in peace, in order to reach the Glory of God in the highest.
Let us rejoice of the great mystery of the Nativity of our God, as Holy Apostle Paul says: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3: 16).
This year, with the blessing of God, participating in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with some of our priests and church-goers during the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, we had a blessed opportunity of visiting the Bethlehem cave, where together with the angels, we gave glory to the One who came down from the Heavens on earth for us people and our salvation.
Right-Faithful sons and daughters of our Holy Church,
Being blessed by God to continue our life walk on the way of growing in Christ, I wish you: to the leaders of the country – wisdom and fear of God; to our beloved youth – being closer to Infant Jesus Christ and appropriate educational cultivation; to our fellow citizens who went abroad our country – patience and steadiness in preserving the faith and values received at home, and to all our Christians – peace and interior light, joy, and beautiful achievements!
Long live with grace!
With arch-pastoral blessings and wishes for all good,
VLADIMIR
METROPOLITAN OF CHISINAU AND ALL MOLDOVA
Nativity of the Lord,
Year of salvation 2018/2019,
Chisinau