CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTERS (12/21/97)

CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTERS

Let us prepare for the new millennium

To The Reverend Clergy, Religious and all the devout faithful of the Eparchy of Stamford:

Khrystos Razhdaietsia!

On our spiritual pilgrimage towards the great jubilee, the beginning of the Third Christian Millennium which we shall celebrate in the year 2000, we should not forget that the Mother of God is an exemplar of cooperation with the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Gospel teaches us that "Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 1:18). When the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the Mother of the Messiah, Mary asked how this could be, since she was a virgin and intended to remain so. Gabriel told her, "The Holy Spirit will descend upon you" (Lk 1:35).

This mission of the Mother of God as the bearer of the Holy Spirit was confirmed when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. As the Gospel tells us, "when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Lk 1:41). The Holy Spirit has not descended upon Mary solely for herself, but for others - indeed for everyone.

Our liturgical tradition emphasizes this mission of the Theotokos as the bearer of the Holy Spirit. Early in Advent, we keep the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, where the parents of Mary, St. Joachim and St. Anne, brought her as a young child. The divine services for this feast dwell on the similarity of the young Virgin Mary to the Temple itself, since both were dwelling-places of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Kontakion for the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos states: "The all-pure Temple of the Savior, the precious Bridal Chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of the glory of God, is led today into the house of the Lord, and with her she brings the grace of the Divine Spirit. Of her God's angels sing in praise: 'She is indeed the heavenly Tabernacle.'"

At the fourth prosomion for "Lord I have cried" at Great Vespers for the feast, we sing: "Led by the Holy Spirit, the Immaculate Virgin is taken to dwell in the Holy of Holies," and at the doxasticon for "Lord I have cried" at the Great Vespers, "All the powers of heaven stood amazed, seeing the Holy Spirit dwell in you. The divine tokens of your Motherhood past understanding, O pure Virgin, are written today by the Holy Spirit in the house of God" (Orthros, second canon, fourth tropar).

We read in the Protoevangelium of James that when Mary was only 3 years old, the Holy Spirit was preparing her to become the Mother of God.

At the Theotokion at the Aposticha of Great Vespers on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, we chant to the Mother of God: "Through the Divine Spirit, by the will of the Father, you have conceived the Son of God ... do not cease to intercede that our souls may be delivered."

During the pre-festive period before the Nativity of Christ, we note that the Holy Spirit actively enables the Birth of Our Savior (December 20, Orthros, Canon of the Forefeast, Ode IX, Theotokion): "The Virgin, like an alabaster vial, bears Christ, the inexhaustible Myrrh. Through the Spirit He comes to be poured forth in the cave, to fill our souls with His fragrance."

At Orthros on the morning of Christmas Eve, we chant: "Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, who of the Holy Spirit has borne Life unto the world to the deliverance of all (Theotokion of the Aposticha)."

With these liturgical texts in mind, we should strive to cultivate our devotion to the Blessed Mother of God, that through her prayers she may bring us to an ever-increasing measure the abiding grace of the Holy Spirit.

The traditional icons of the Nativity of Christ show His Mother as the central figure on Christmas; the Kondak of the feast begins, "Today the Virgin gives birth ...," and concludes "because for our sakes the Theotokos has given birth to the pre-eternal God."

On the second day of Christmas, December 26, we keep a feast of the Holy Theotokos in honor of her role as Mother of the Messiah. The poetic liturgical texts love to reflect on how God the Son was eternally begotten of the Father without a mother, but now is born in this world of a mother without a father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we approach the year 1998, I pray that not only our Epachy of Stamford, but the entire Church - indeed the entire world - may be blessed with an outpouring of the abundant grace of the Holy Spirit by the intecessions of the Holy Mother of God. May the Holy Spirit move the hearts of men and women everywhere to turn to Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin for our salvation. May the Holy Spirit by the prayers of the Theotokos remove the barriers that divide the Christian people and lead all the baptized into the full unity of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. May Ukraine, which has always maintained a strong devotion to the Holy Mother of God, be granted a strengthening in the Christian faith, with all progress and prosperity, and a full recovery from the ravages of atheism and communism.

As we celebrate the Birth of the Christ child from the Holy Theotokos, may the United States repent of the sin of abortion and understand anew the sanctity of the right to life of children.

May each of our parishes pray fervently that through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God they may receive the grace of the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ with great power in all of our communities, to fulfill the potential of this decade of evangelization as we prepare for the new millennium.

And may everyone in our diocesan family know the joy and blessing of this Christmas feast.

With every blessing, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Basil
Bishop of Stamford
(New York and New England)

Let us open our minds to the Holy Spirit

Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Deacons, Venerable Sisters, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Christ is Born!

Let us Glorify Him!

Last Christmas we began the three-year preparation for the jubilee year 2000. The year 1997 was dedicated to Jesus Christ, the son of God. We focused our attention on our personal relationship of faith with the person of Jesus Christ. As we are coming to the close of this year, let us continue to keep Christ in the very center of our lives and thus remember it as a year of faith. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos (God-bearer), who is our model of faith, be our constant help in our endeavors.

The year 1998 is a year of hope, and our focus will be on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent to the Church on Pentecost, and since then He is constantly present with us by His gifts, charisms and fruits. What we must do during the coming year is to open our minds and hearts to the various forms of the gifts and charisms raised up by the Holy Spirit. It is a known fact that the Holy Spirit is guiding many people within the Church toward participation in lively and dynamic prayer groups and communities where they can live more fully their encounter with Him and to live more personally with Jesus Christ. In many churches extraordinary manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit are made evident through spiritual conversions, reconciliations, healings and the outpouring of gifts.

We, Ukrainian Catholics, who claim that we have the true faith, are doing what to bring our brothers and sisters to our Ukrainian Catholic Church? This coming year let us open our minds and hearts to the presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Let us get rid of the prevalent negative attitudes, simplistic refusals and misunderstandings due to our lack of interest and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Let us try to be opened to be filled with the Holy Spirit!

There is a movement in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and other countries which is called the Charismatic Renewal. Many of our Ukrainian Catholics have participated in these renewals with very beneficial results. The coming year, 1998, will give all of us an opportunity to reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we all received during our reception of the mystery of chrismation (sacrament of confirmation).

Can you imagine yourself filled with the Holy Spirit and overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Did you know that all this is possible when we exercise or make use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which were freely given to us at our chrismation? Let us then use the gifts of: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and the fear of offending God and then see how great God is!

In his letter to the early Christians in Corinth, St. Paul stated the following: "To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit to another faith by the same spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes." (I Cor.12:7-11).

When was the last time that you read the Word of God and prayed over It? As a Christmas gift to yourself, your family, to our newborn Child Jesus, open up the Holy Bible and read the Gospel of St. Luke. This is just for starters. May the Holy Spirit activate the gifts you already have, and may He give you others.

May this Christmas be Spirit-filled for all of us, and may our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be born in each and everyone of our hearts. May the joy of Christmas be upon all of us, and may it be forever!

ÝMichael Wiwchar, C.Ss.R.
Eparch of St. Nicholas Eparchy, Chicago

ÝInnocent Lotocky, OSB
Bishop Emeritus

Given in Chicago, this 6th day of December 1997, on the feastday of St. Nicholas, the wonder-worker, patron of our eparchy.

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