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Official documents
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Victor, Bishop of St. Petersburg and Northern Russia
"For I bring you tidings of great joy……"
Beloved of Christ, fathers, brothers and sisters,
Heartfelt congratulations on this great Feast, the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord and Savior.
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world;"
So begin the epistles of the holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews, showing that Christ is not a prophet sent by God, but indeed the Son, Consubstantial and Begotten. In this lies the "great joy."
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Vladimir, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America
Beloved of our Lord, fathers, brothers and sisters!
Greetings with the great and joyous feast of the Nativity of Christ!
This day Christ is born in Bethlehem of the Virgin……. (lauds of Matins)
Commemorating this great day, the Church offers us a litany of songs that witness the Divine Miracle of the virgin birth-giving of the Theotokos. This act is beyond human comprehension. This is especially evident in the Kontakion of the feast "Today a Virgin…..".
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Cassian, Bishop of Marseilles and Western Europe
"When bowing before the image of the manger, in which today lays the Savior of the world, do so with deep gratitude of His mercy and kiss the holy image fathoming the understanding; of what your Savior gave you in this divine act of His incarnation and coming into the world".
ENLIGHTENER PHILARET THE CONEFSSOR
Beloved brothers and sisters! Greetings with the great and joyous feast for all faithful hearts; The Nativity of Christ!
Faith in the incarnation of the Son of God is the foundation of the Church. No other act, committed by God, says St.
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Anastassy, Bishop of Vladivostok and the Far East
For the life was manifested, and we have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life (1 John. 1,2)
In these words of the Apostle is the essence of Christian faith - the promise of a New Life. Our Lord who is the "Resurrection and the Life" came into the world to give life, renewal, transfiguration and enlightenment; to bring unto Himself the fallen human people into eternal life.
The Son of God became man so as to allow man union with God. The first obstacle of this union was the separation of two essences - God and man. This was cured by the act of Incarnation. Two obstacles remain, these are sin and death. The work of Christ is to conquer these - to banish their unavoidability from the cosmos. To simply remove these however, would be to forcibly act against free will. Rather, our Lord made death powerless and granted healing for sin, thus removing the obstacle of sin and taking from death her sting.
God became man that man could become God. We must continually protect the grace given us and wash our sins which separate us from Him with tears of repentance. Sin brings death to our spiritual lives while repentance grants new birth to the spirit.
God became man that man could become God. We must continually protect the grace given us and wash our sins which separate us from Him with tears of repentance. Sin brings death to our spiritual lives while repentance grants new birth to the spirit.
From the Minutes and Protocols of the Synod of Bishops ROCA 2011
The following major points are from the 2011 Sobor of Bishops. Each session began with the prayer "O Heavenly King" and ended with "Meet is Is."
PROTOCOL № 1
In attendance: President of the Sobor, Archbishop Vladimir
Secretaries - Bishops Anastassy and Tikhon
Members - Bishops Victor and Cassian
By intercession of His Grace Vladimir, also in attendance - Hieromonk Ambrose (Dvornichenko)
Agenda :
1. Report from the President
Epistle from the Sobor of Bishops, Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, September 26/ 9 October 2011
Beloved in Christ, children of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, both in the homeland and the Diaspora.
As Archpastors gathered at the holy Transfiguration Skete in Mansonville Quebec under the protection of the Mother of God in the presence of her holy Kursk Icon and the myrrh streaming Reigning Icon; as well as in the presence of the Life Giving Cross we would first and foremost like to assure you that the vessel of our Holy Church has not altered path through these past 90 years, from the time of our forebearing Archpastors, when they gathered in Sremski Karlovci, Yugoslavia.
A uniting tie of these years is further witnessed in that we are gathered in the same hall today, as where our Bishops before us, under the Enlightener St. Philaret, in 1983 proclaimed and anathematized the heresy of heresies - ecumenism.
This past year has been one of relative calm in our Church. This is demonstrated by how even in our pre-apocalyptic times, the faithful can thru the mysteries of the Church, especially Confession and Holy Communion, not fall to the powers of the evil one, the enemy of our salvation.
Unfortunately, attacks that would have our ark of salvation swayed from the true course persist.
A uniting tie of these years is further witnessed in that we are gathered in the same hall today, as where our Bishops before us, under the Enlightener St. Philaret, in 1983 proclaimed and anathematized the heresy of heresies - ecumenism.
This past year has been one of relative calm in our Church. This is demonstrated by how even in our pre-apocalyptic times, the faithful can thru the mysteries of the Church, especially Confession and Holy Communion, not fall to the powers of the evil one, the enemy of our salvation.
Unfortunately, attacks that would have our ark of salvation swayed from the true course persist.
Ukaz
Ukaz of Bishop Victor regarding the Diocesan meeting of Northern Russia
3/16 July to 4/17 July 2011 we will convene the Diocesan meeting in the Cathedral of the Royal Martyrs, New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (Strelna Street 72/19).
The planned times are: 3/16 July 9:00 to 2:00 and 4/17 July 4:00 to 7:00
+ Bp.Victor of St. Petersburg and Northern Russia
26 Nov / 09 Dec 2010
St. Innocent of Irkutsk
Ukaz of Bishop Victor on the Anniversary Panikhida of Lienz
19 May / 12 June of this year is the 66th anniversary of the tragic betrayal of the Cossacks and their families, as well as other faithful Russians, by the English to the Soviet forces in the villages of Lienz and Udenberg. This mass sacrifice of souls included many clergy of the Russian Church Abroad. It has been a long tradition of our Church to serve a memorial Panikhida on this day, especially in Austria at the site of the killing and traitorous deportation.
Clergy of the Northern Russian diocese are instructed to serve this commemoration of the Cossack genocide.
+ Bp.Victor of St. Petersburg and Northern Russia
20 April / 03 May 2011
Paschal Epistle of Archbishop Vladimir
Christ is Risen!
Beloved of Our Lord Fathers Brothers and Sisters!
Greetings on the Great and Joyous Feast of the Pascha of our Lord - The Bright Resurrection of Christ!
"A Pascha sacred today has been shown unto us; a Pascha new and holy, a Pascha mystical, a Pascha all venerable! A Pascha that is Christ the Redeemer." - the Holy Church sings during these holy days.
The word Pascha means exodus, redemption, emancipation. Pascha in the Old Testament was celebrated to remember the exodus from Egypt and the freeing of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians. The New Testament Pascha replaced this with the celebration of our freedom from the bonds of sin, and the power of the enemy of our Salvation by the Redemption and Resurrection of Christ.
This Feast of Feasts and Celebration of Celebrations is truly the foundation of our Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinth. 15,17). The Resurrection of Christ is the greatest of miracles. Prior to this there were miracles where the saints (Elijah, Elias) resurrected the dead, and our Lord Himself raised the son of the widow, Jairus' daughter and the four day dead Lazarus. These however all were cases of returning to this temporary life and all these people eventually died. They did not resurrect of their own accord, but by fervent prayer and the might of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected of Himself, by His own power and to life eternal. "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” (Rom 6, 9). This great miracle shows us the Divinity of our Saviour.
With His Resurrection Christ showed and proved, that He is indeed God; the Son of God, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col 2, 9) that He is the God-man and that His teaching is the truth, divine and salvific.
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Alexei of Saltanov & Modovia
"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will to men!"
Beloved brothers and sisters, our Lord has allowed us to participate in this great feast. The joy of this night of the Nativity is expressed in the song of the angels: These words remind us of the essence of the feast. God came to the world in the flesh and dwelled among men to bring to not the distance between the Creator and Mankind that began with the fall of our forefather.
The era of the Nativity was in many ways similar to our own. Godlessness and a lack of faith prevailed, only a small flock of Jews maintained their faith in the one Living God.
Nativity Epistle of His Grace Cassian, Bishop of Marseilles and Western Europe
Beloved of Christ, brothers and sisters. Christ is born, glorify Him!
On this bright night of the Birth of Christ I greet you with His great gifts of love to mankind and mercy, for in the words of the holy Apostle Paul: "Because the grace of God that brings salvation to all men has appeared." (Titus 2:11)
On this bright night of the Birth of Christ I greet you with His great gifts of love to mankind and mercy, for in the words of the holy Apostle Paul: "Because the grace of God that brings salvation to all men has appeared." (Titus 2:11)