Serbian
True Orthodox Church
Nativity
Encyclical 2024
Hierarchical
Council of the STOC
Under
the Chairmanship of His Grace Akakije
Bishop
of Uteshiteljevo
To
the Faithful Children of St. Sava’s Church
We congratulate the great and joyful feastday of the Nativity of Christ:
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
It is to our generation, to the children who are just beginning life, to the youth that are starting out on life’s journey, to the middle aged who have already passed a good part of their life, and to the elderly who are nearing the end of their life, that the providence of God has destined to witness and participate in the final act of establishing the rule of darkness (Lk. 22:53).
However, although the reign of darkness has never seemed stronger and more invincible due to modern events, it is, we remind you, forever scattered by the appearance of that miraculous celestial phenomenon, the Star of Bethlehem.
This Nativity Star shone in the sky brighter than all of the other stars (Matt 2:2-9). Its light, as St. Ignatius the God-Bearer says in his epistle to the Ephesians, was ineffable. Its appearance sparked universal amazement. All the other stars, sun, and moon, became the chorus of this Star, which outshone them all. Its appearance shook the foundations of the empire of darkness and was a pledge of its destruction. Piercing the thick darkness (Rom 13:12), the Star showed mankind the true light (1 John 2:8), the saving dawn of the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God (Mal. 4:2)
