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)