Nativity Encyclical of the Serbian True
Orthodox Church
Serbian True Orthodox Church
Nativity Encyclical 2022
From the Hierarchichal Council of the STOC
Under the chairmanship of His Grace Bishop
Akakije of Uteshiteljevo
To all clergy. monastics, and spiritual
children of our holy Church: We wish you
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Spirit, in our joyful Christmas greeting:
God’s Peace be with you - Christ is Born!
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace, and good will among men.” (Luke 2:14)
Dear brothers and sisters,
Behold, God comes
in the body of a man! This is the greatest mystery of our holy Christian faith
- “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). This mystery is above all human
understanding, which is why we place faith above reason. We cannot perceive the
fullness of the mystery of the bodily birth of the Son of God without
understanding His pre-eternal birth from God the Father. To better understand
the pre-eternal birth, as much as our limited intellect can, the Gospel wisely
calls the Son of God “Logos” (the Word) so that we, hearing about the Son,
would not think of a passionate, bodily birth. The Gospel calls Him “Logos”
(the Word) to tell us He was Born dispassionately from the Father, as a word is
dispassionately born from the mind. Thus, God the Word who was pre-eternally
born from the Father without a mother and without passion, is born
dispassionately today without a father from His mother, the immaculate Virgin
Mary.