A great and marvelous wonder has come to pass this day. A Virgin bears child, and her womb suffers no corruption. The Word is made flesh, yet ceases not to dwell with the Father. Angels and shepherds give glory, and with them we cry aloud: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.

-- Aposticha at Vespers for the Nativity

To the Venerable Pastors, God-loving Monastics and Devout Faithful of the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania:

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

On this bright and sacred day, the entire universe rejoices in beholding the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ and in seeing all things illumined by His divine light and filled with His divine grace.

Our lives are so filled with darkness and confusion that it is often difficult for us to receive that joy and to perceive that light. We become entangled in our own thoughts, in our earthly cares and in the chaos of the world around us.  As a result, we sometimes forget that the great and marvelous wonder of the Incarnation is not simply a past historical event,  but is rather a great mystery which has come to pass this day.

This day we behold the miracle of the Virgin who bears a child without suffering corruption. This day we worship the Word made flesh without leaving the bosom of the Father. This day the gift of God’s love shines upon us and offers all human beings the possibility of being united with Christ. “Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born. Today has God come upon earth, and man gone up to heaven.” (Litya for the Feast of the Nativity). 

In becoming man, Christ offers to all of us the possibility of becoming, by grace, what He is by Nature, of piercing through the darkness that engulfs us and of ascending from earth to Heaven.  As we face the challenges before us, let us offer our fervent prayer that Christ will enlighten the darkness in the world and within our own hearts with the light of His Incarnation.  Let us find comfort and joy knowing that by His Nativity in the flesh, Christ “has shone upon the world with the light of understanding” and has granted us His great mercy today and for all eternity.

May the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, be with you and your loved ones now and always.

With love in Christ,

+ TIKHON

Bishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania