Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
Archdiocese of Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition
in Western Europe
EPISCOPAL VICARIATE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
‘Christ is born, glorify Him.’
Dear Clergy and Faithful of the Vicariate,
Each year we welcome with hymns the birth of the ‘Prince of peace’ (Isaiah 9:6), the Son of God become the Son of Man for the salvation of the world.
But the peace that Christ comes to give us is not at all the peace of this world: ‘My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you’ (John 14: 27). It is an inner peace that has nothing to do with the quiet and undisturbed life, for the Lord goes on immediately to say: ‘Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ The peace He brings, ‘the peace which passes understanding’ (Philippians 4:7), is His gift for those who find themselves in the midst of troubles, for those who are tempted to be afraid, who find themselves in the midst of the storm.
May this peace, brought to us by the Prince of peace whose birth we celebrate today, come to us as a gift from God. May it ‘rule in our hearts’ (Colossians 3:15), protecting us from undue anxiety and distress, and enable us to ‘quench all the fiery of darts of the Evil One’ (Ephesians 6:16) by bathing them in the peace of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, ‘May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace’ at this time ‘by all means’ (2 Thessalonians 3:16).