December 23, 2014

Blessed Christmas and New Year!

Nativity
The Nativity of Christ (Mosaic from Chora Church, Constantinople, 1315-21)
Magi
The Magi and Herod (Chora Church, Constantinople)
Flight Egypt
The Flight into Egypt (Chora Church, Constantinople)

As you can tell from the stories and photos from Halki and Constantinople, and before that the trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg, it has been a very full December for Metropolitan Tikhon and the Chancery. These visits demonstrate once again that Church life at every level—from parishes to patriarchates—is sustained by shared faith and face-to-face encounters.

This was reinforced for me personally when I got back to New York on the evening of December 19th and the next day was in the Chancery Chapel for the baptism of my granddaughter Eloise. “Have you renounced Satan?  Do you unite yourself to Christ? Do you believe in Him?” The answers to these simple questions are at the heart of all we do in the Church, and they unite us with Moscow, with Constantinople, with all faithful Christians of all times and places who say “Yes, I have renounced Satan. Yes, I do unite myself to Christ. And yes, I do believe in Him as King and God.”

I will be returning to the Chancellor’s Diary after January 6, 2015, the feast of Theophany. 

In the meantime, may the Lord grant us joy as we celebrate His humble birth in Bethlehem. And may He “bless the crown of the coming year with His bounty, quench the flames of discord, enmity and strife; and give us peace, perseverance, sincere love, and a virtuous disposition” (Prayer for the New Year). 

Christ is born! Glorify Him!