The Nativity of Christ
†Archbishop John Maximovitch
Shanghai, 1935
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace in men of good will,
sang once the Angels of God in heaven.
Almost
2000 years have passed since then, and on earth there continues to be
discords, wars, robberies, quarrels, and licentious deeds. And to many
it seems as if the angelic hymn
had never resounded in heaven, but was invented by men who inserted
their own hopes into it; for there is no peace on earth, there is no
good will in men, and, consequently, there is likewise no glory of God,
there are no angels, there is no God.
But
those who think thus are cruelly mistaken, as well in their conclusions
as in their understanding of that which the angels glorified. For
although the angels, singing a hymn
of praise, used words which are often heard on earth, they did not speak
of anything earthly.
Men
desire glory and peace here, on earth; they desire every good for
themselves here, in this earthly life. But it was not of earthly glory
and not of ordinary peace that the angels
sang.
There
is not and there will never be on earth either eternal glory or lasting
peace. Glorious alone is the Blessed and Only Mighty King of those who
reign and Lord of those who
rule: His Kingdom is an eternal Kingdom and His dominion is unto ages
and ages.
Desiring
to make other beings also participants of His glory and blessedness,
the Lord created angels and men, that they in union with God might have
true joy and blessedness.
But
when one of the first angels wished to become equal to God and to have
glory and power identical to His, evil entered the world, for evil is
everything opposed to God.
He
who fell away from God became His eternal adversary—satan—for evil and
good are incompatible. Those who followed him were deprived of glory
and blessedness and became enemies
of God.
From that time until now the implacable battle of the devil with God, of falsehood with Truth, of evil with Good, continues.
Man,
created by God, deceived by the devil, went at first with him, but he
could not find life and peace without God. All mankind was tormented,
but it still went the way of evil
and could not break the chains of sin, if the Son of God Himself had not
come to earth to those who had fallen away from Him.
Having put on our nature, He united in Himself God and man and thus
the bar of enmity was thrown down.
The Lord by His Coming drew near to Himself men who had gone away from
God; He illumined by His light their sinful darkness, and by His love
He melted their frozen hearts.
Christ
calls all to Himself, but not all respond to His voice. Whoever opens
his heart to Him becomes His temple. The Lord comes to him and dwells
in him. The heart then is filled
with peace, and the soul with inexpressible blessedness and love; the
will is strengthened in goodness, and the mouth glorifies God in
heaven.
And
it is this interior peace of man that the angels announced to the
shepherds of Bethlehem, the peace of a man who has made peace with God
and become His dwelling.
Nothing
is fearful to such a man; there is no power capable of overcoming him;
there is no storm that can shake him; for with him is He than in Whom
there is none more powerful.
The
battle between good and evil continues yet longer; it continues with
yet greater force than before the Coming of Christ. There is no
agreement between Christ and Belial, no
communion between light and darkness. The light has been divided
between truth and falsehood, and the devil through the sons of darkness
wishes to conquer those who have become sons of light. And the longer
the battle continues, the fiercer it is. Sensing
the approach of the eternal Kingdom of God, the devil bends all his
efforts to continue his reign. But the storm which he has raised cannot
sink the Ship of Christ.
Let
the waves roar: they do not frighten those who hope in Him Who walked
on the waves. The power of God strengthens ascetics and martyrs for the
name of Christ. During ascetic
labors painful for the body, and even the most terrible tortures, they
sense a profound peace in their hearts: the body is tormented, but the
soul rejoices; evil is done them, but they render good in return, and to
hatred reply with love. Eternal blessedness
in the Mansions of God awaits them; there together with the angels they
will eternally glorify God, themselves becoming participants of that
Glory.
Let
us not fear, brethren, the battle with evil! Let us uproot it from our
hearts and souls, let us drive out of them ill-will and hatred, let us
plant in them love toward God and
neighbors. Let us not fear labors for the sake of God and toil for the
sake of our neighbors! Let us not be shaken in heart, seeing how the
godless tear to pieces those faithful to Christ! Let us turn our gaze
to much-suffering Russia, waging a battle for
Truth, and let us cry out: We send you our greetings of the Nativity,
our suffering brethren!
Let us pray to Christ being born, for our brethren:
Strengthen,
O Lord, those who suffer from the enslavers of Holy Russia, those who
are deprived of the possibility of visiting Thy Temple, those whom they
wish to compel to bow down
to the devil!
Confirm
in the Orthodox Faith those also of our brothers who are being deceived
into falling away from it for the sake of earthly gain!
Preserve
us all from the tempter and gather into one Thy flock, who with a
single peace-making and loving heart and with one mouth sing:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace in men of good will.
I invoke the blessing of God on you all and on all whom this epistle reaches, and I greet you on the Nativity of Christ!
CHRIST IS BORN !
†Archbishop John Maximovitch
Shanghai, 1935
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