His Holiness Patriarch Kirill congratulates Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches on the Nativity of Christ
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has sent greetings with the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilya II of Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada.
The message reads as follows:
I cordially greet you with the great and joyful feast of the Nativity of the Eternal Son and the Word of God.
‘When the fullness of time had come” (Gal 4:4) the Saviour of the world has come in the City of David to deliver humanity from sin. The Creator of the universe ‘emptied himself, taking the form of a slave’ (Phil 2:7). That is why the Heavenly Powers sing in amazement: ‘Glory to Thy condescension, O Only Lover of man’ (Stanza, Great Vespers for the Nativity of Christ). Being filled with adoration and awe before the great mysteries of God, we, together with the angels glorify the incarnate Lord who has shown his ineffable mercy to us.
On this festive day I wholeheartedly wish you peace and joy, good health and many years of life, and wellbeing and spiritual joy to the flock entrusted to your care.
With reverential love in Christ who has been born,
+ KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA