MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II,
SUPREME PATRIARCH AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS,
ON THE FEAST OF THE HOLY NATIVITY
AND THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
(Holy Etchmiadzin, 6 January 2026)
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“The people who sat in darkness saw a great light,
and upon those who sat in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
(Matthew 4:16)
Beloved faithful people,
Today once again the angelic good tidings of the Holy Nativity resound in our churches and in our families. Together we glorify our Lord and Savior, who was born and came into the world for our salvation. “The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.” The Evangelist compares the Birth of the Son of God to the rising of light.
Indeed, it is a “great and wondrous mystery.” The Timeless God entered the temporal world. The Creator of the boundless universe was enclosed in a human body; He who sits upon the heavenly throne lay in a small and poor cave. The nations were called to renounce sin, come out of the darkness death, and to become heirs of eternity. “God became man so that man might become god,” teach the Holy Fathers of the Church. Truly, the incarnation of God marked the beginning of humanity’s purification, sanctification, and deification.
Dear ones, deviation from this Christ-marked path turns the world into a stage of injustice, misery, and calamity; it plunges it into the darkness of delusion and leads to the distortion of personal and social life, the perversion and destruction of values, manifestations of which we also witness in our own reality. Today, faith and trust toward one another are weakening; disrespectful and unrestrained behavior is perceived as courage; freedom of speech is met with intolerance toward dissenting views; dialogue is reduced to insults and defamation; and the common good, patriotic and selfless service, is subordinated to narrow personal and group interests. Our Holy Church continues to be subjected to oppression. This situation is a serious blow to the authority of our nation and state and a deep wound inflicted upon communities and believers. Despite unlawful and anti-canonical actions, our Holy Church, together with its devout people, remains firm and unshaken, faithful to its God-given calling and mission. The Armenian Church is holy and sanctifying, founded through the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ’s holy Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew as a “place of purification for humankind, a dwelling of angels, and the house of God.” Throughout the course of history, our Apostolic Mother Church has been subjected to numerous assaults, has passed through dreadful trials and sufferings, has been martyred and sacrificed, yet has never become captive to despair, for she has understood that true freedom and salvation are found in obedience to Christ and in placing trust in Him. Life in Christ is filled with love and mercy, integrity and justice. Christ is the Way from darkness to light, from sin to holiness.
The Lord is ever faithful in saving fallen humanity from error and downfall, for as the prophet Ezekiel proclaims, God does not desire the death of the sinner but that he turn from his evil way and live (18:23). In Christ, the path of resurrection and renewal through faith is opened before us. According to the Apostles, the Savior is our living Stone, who can keep us steadfast amid the storms of a turbulent world (cf. 1 Peter 2:4; Romans 14:24). By the saving power of the Son of God, oppression, death, and destruction retreat, and through the Holy Nativity of the Savior, light dawns upon those who sit in the land and shadow of death.
Beloved devout faithful,
The angelic good tidings of the Holy Nativity and the light of the Bethlehem star today, as ever, are an invitation to all people to transform life through trust in God, with goodness and virtue, to establish peace in the world and goodwill among humankind. Heeding this heavenly message, let us live and act with the Lord, offering zealous and wholehearted service in all spheres, for the sake of a secure and prosperous personal, family, and national life. Let us be resolute in upholding respect for the law and in rejecting injustice and arbitrariness, hatred and vengeance, which greatly harm and erode our state and national potential.
Before us lies the path to the Lord, to heavenly gifts and eternity. By walking this path, by fulfilling the Lord’s commandments, our people will overcome the darkness of suffering, and, according to the word of the Evangelist, light will dawn in our lives along the path of overcoming our trials and adversities. Therefore, like the simple shepherds and the wise Magi, let us without hesitation worship Infant Jesus and open our hearts to receive the incarnate Son of God. Let us be eager to be transformed by the grace bestowed by the Savior, so that just as Christ was born and became the Son of Man, so too may we, through a righteous path, become children of God, according to the Apostle’s words: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son … so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). Let us remain faithful to this greatest grace bestowed upon us by God, and through ever-new God-pleasing deeds, build our safe and secure present and the bright future of generations to come.
With the joyous glad tidings of the Holy Nativity to the Heads of the Hierarchical Sees of our Holy Church: His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; and His Beatitude Archbishop Sahak Mashalian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. In Christ’s love we greet the Heads of the sister Churches, imploring the support of the incarnate Savior in their God-entrusted mission. We extend Our pontifical blessing and good wishes to the entire clergy of our Holy Church and to all Our faithful people in the homeland and in the diaspora.
On this hope-filled day of the Holy Nativity and Theophany, let us raise prayer to our Savior Lord, imploring that peace may reign throughout the world and within the borders of our homeland, and that our state may be strengthened in security and prosperity, and our people may endure in well-being. Let us raise our suplication for the perseverance and strength of spirit of our Artsakh Armenian children who have been deprived of their homeland, and for the restoration of their violated rights. Let us pray for the soldiers who defend the homeland, for the repose of the souls of our brave sons who have fallen for the homeland, and for the consolation of their parents and loved ones. Let us pray for the clergy who have been unlawfully deprived of their freedom; for the national benefactor and devoted sons of the Armenian people; and also for our children who are in captivity or listed as missing. May our lives, under the protection of the Holy Right Hand of the Most High, remain illumined by the divine presence, adorned with faithful good works, and may we with gratitude glorify our incarnate Savior and Lord, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ is born and revealed!
Good tidings to you and to us.
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin