December 22, 2023
Greetings and God-awarded Blessings,
Honorable Brothers of Ours, Archbishops, Bishops, Most Respected Clergy Deacons, Graceful Sisters and Faithful People
Honorable Brothers and Beloved Children in Christ,
We will convey the news of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to each other, in the unstable situation of the Middle East; the tragic and military situation in the Holy Land; the displaced and stateless Armenians of Artsakh and in general the alarming realities prevailing in various corners of the world.
The whole world vies for and talks about peace and justice, while crimes, injustices and wars continue; we also talk of the new achievements of civilization and science in this century, but innocents and children are killed, cities are destroyed…
And here, our common Mother, the Holy Church, comes to comfort and heal us all and unveils for us the message of salvation brought to us through the humanization of the Son of God: “Who, in the form of the Father and co-creator Being, for the salvation of the people race, cometh through Holy Virgin, in the form of the servant of God …” (Day II of Revelation).
The Herold of our Lord and Savior Holy Birth sung through the hymn in the Gospel of Genesis take us back to the time of the creation of man, when God, the Creator imprinted his image and likeness in the soul of a human being capable of reasoning: “Glorify the man according to our image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
This truth reminds us that at the moment of creation, the prototype is the Word, and at the moment of salvation, this image of man, corrupted by the man, is perfectly restored by the Divine Word. It is for this reason that Apostle Paul writes: “God sent his Son in the likeness of the flesh drowned in sin and for the salvation of the sinners that he might execute justice for us (Rom. 8:3-4).
When we see with the eyes of faith the Birth of our Lord and Savior, the eternal Light of heavenly love and the Sun of Justice, Jesus Christ continues to repair our sinful image, and this is the way to justice and peace.
In this process of our renewal, our gracious Intercessor and quick-witted Helper is the Holy Virgin Mary, who is the permanent Helper of her beloved Son.
Therefore, before we send you our congratulatory wishes, we advise you to trust in the Mother of God, that is the fastest way to the incarnate God, and we conclude our speech with the lines of the Armenian hymn: “Holy Virgin, born of God, incorruptible Temple, today with the morning vigil, you have announced, may the Lord bring us to You, for whom we wish to intercede with our silent voice” (Christmas Blessings: DK).
Wishing peace to the whole world on New Year’s Eve, we ask the Newborn King to bless you with a year filled with praise and God’s blessings.
To our Lord and Savior St. We convey to you the joyful news of the birth. “Christ was born and revealed. Blessed is the manifestation of Christ”, as well as with fatherly love we grant you our Patriarchal Blessing.
Dated in the Patriarchate, Beirut, Lebanon, on December 22, 2023, in the year of our Lord, on behalf of our Patriarchate.
†RAPHAEL-BEDROS XI.
Catholicos-Patriarch
The House of Cilicia of Catholic Armenians