CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTER
Strengthening all of our families
From the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine to the Esteemed Clergy, the Deaconate in Christ, the Venerable Monastics and God-loving Spiritual Children of the Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church:
Christ is born, give ye glory. Christ comes from heaven, meet ye Him. Christ is on earth, be ye exalted. O all the Earth sing unto the Lord, and sing praises in gladness, O ye people, for He has been glorified. (Irmos).
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
With what great joy we greet the Nativity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ!
We are happy and thankful to God for all His mercies so generously bestowed upon our pioneers and their descendants, who manifested their great faith in Christ the Savior in their prayers and deeds.
We and the faithful Ukrainian people express this holy faith and love to the New-born Jesus Christ through our deeply meaningful worship services and our diverse ecclesiastical and folk rituals and traditions.
Heaven and Earth welcome and glorify the Newborn Child, God before the ages.
This miraculous greeting is received by the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Newborn One and by the Guardian, the Righteous Joseph.
The Holy Angels sing the first heavenly carol/koliada: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)
Through this heavenly carol/koliada, the Holy Angels foretell the accomplishments and life of the people of faith, people of good will. Where shall these people of good will come from? Who will form these people? The answer is - the family.
Dear brothers and sisters, in order to focus the attention of the clergy and faithful on the importance of the family in the process of raising people of good will, we, your bishops, declare the year 1999 as "The Year of the Ukrainian Orthodox Family."
St. John Chrysostom, the great saint and teacher, taught that the family is a small church, for in it the father, mother and children are formed to be virtuous members of the Church common.
Who if not parents are encouraged to fulfill God's commandments in the raising of children in the spirit of God, in our native Ukrainian culture and the good culture of our country so they will develop as virtuous members of the Church and society? The family is indeed the basic unit of society.
The major responsibilities of the home, the family, of the "Home Church" are to foster: 1) a deep and abiding faith and hope in God and His help; 2) love and trust between all family members; 3) love for our Church and our Ukrainian Christian heritage.
The Church family - the parish, is an extended family, with the spiritual father, the parish priest, as its head. A parish cannot be viewed as merely an "organization" or a "social club," and even more so, it must not be looked upon as a business or other type of commercial enterprise. The parish is an ecclesiastical and eucharistic family. Its responsibility is to care for the spiritual life and moral integrity of its members. Our parishes, our communities, must be centers for fostering traditional family values and healthy family life. And in this, the parish priest and the parish executive must function as role models for others.
The parish family, subsequently is part of the diocesan family of parishes gathered around their spiritual leader - the local bishop, who is the chief celebrant of the Holy Mysteries and teacher of the Gospel, and who acts in the parishes under his care through his representatives - his "vicars" - the presbyter/priests. The diocese in turn, is a component of an even wider family, the local Church. The widest body of the Church family is the ecumenical Church, which consists of all the Orthodox Churches from numerous nations and peoples. This family embraces the whole People of God, in all nations and at all times throughout history.
We, the Permanent Conference of the Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine, on the occasion of this joyous feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, call upon our clergy to place the families of their parishes under their own special care, to ensure that the children are being raised up to be good and believing Christians, conscious of their spiritual and cultural heritage. We call upon all of our institutions to plan activities and events throughout the year to help strengthen our families.
Let us greet the joyous feast-day of the Nativity of Christ with thanksgiving and an appeal that the Son of God will always abide with us and will bless all of our good intentions and the aspirations of our holy and unwavering faith with success. We sincerely wish everyone to have this holy faith and love toward the Newborn Savior: our families and all our organizations who work for the good of our Holy Church and our people.
On the occasion of this joyous feast-day we greet His All-Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew I, all Ukrainians in Ukraine and the diaspora, and all people of good will.
We desire for the entire Ukrainian nation that God would bestow upon it His peace and wisdom and we further pray that in 1999 all the branches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine may come together into one Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church. With this accomplished, all Ukrainians worldwide will rejoice.
Celebrate with joy, celebrate spiritually, keeping the Newborn Christ-Child in your hearts and in the bosom of your family.
Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born. Today God has come upon earth, and man gone up to heaven. Today for man's sake is seen in the flesh He who by nature is invisible. Therefore let us also give glory and cry aloud to Him: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, which Thy coming has bestowed upon us, O Savior: glory to Thee.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Ý Wasyly
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of CanadaÝ Constantine
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and DiasporaÝ John
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of CanadaÝ Antony
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.,
Ruling Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
of Australia and New ZealandÝ Vsevolod
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.Ý Yurij
Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of CanadaÝ Ioann
Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the DiasporaÝ Jeremiah
Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Latin America
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 3, 1999, No. 1, Vol. LXVII
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