Beloved Armenian People,
in Jerusalem, in Palestine, in Jordan,
in Armenia and throughout the Diaspora worldwide,
On the occasion of the Holy Nativity of our Savior Christ, we have once again gathered in this Holy Grotto of Bethlehem, where the Savior of the world was born. For centuries, the Brotherhood of Sts. James, together with its faithful children and Armenian pilgrims, has come to worship at this Christian holy place, in the faith of its fathers and according to Armenian tradition, joining its grace-filled voice to the angels’ glad tidings and unceasingly proclaiming to the world: “Christ is born and revealed,” and “He whom heaven and earth cannot contain was laid in a manger, without departing from the Father, He sat in the Holy Grotto.”
For centuries, the human world has heard the angelic proclamation that descended from the skies of Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago: “Peace on earth, and goodwill among people.”
Although more than two thousand years have passed since those unique days, the great hope for the salvation of souls and the magnificent vision of a peaceful and happy world continue to speak today to the hearts of all people—so sweetly, so freshly, and so relevantly—that it seems as though heaven has opened anew in our own days, precisely for us, to bring the message of that salvific night to our weary and thirsty souls. Therefore, with great joy, we proclaim to you the glad tidings of glad tidings: the Good News of the Nativity and Theophany of our Savior Christ.
How symbolic and meaningful it is that the Nativity and Theophany of Christ are proclaimed to the entire world on the threshold of the New Year, at the dawn of a new time, when past and future meet. The past comes bearing its achievements, conquests, and progress—but alas, also its bitterness, disappointments, and sins.
Standing today at the threshold of the New Year, we greet and bless all that was good and worthy in the past, yet we also grieve and sorrow over the evils and tragedies that the same past has brought upon the world.
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Standing today at the threshold of the New Year, our souls—filled with new hopes, renewed and inspired by the grace of the Holy Nativity and its heavenly message—once again renew their covenant with heaven, in the radiant faith that the true source of goodness, the true path of love and peace, and the true guarantee of the happy coexistence of peoples and nations begin with the supreme awareness that all people, without exception, are true brothers and sisters, children of the one Father God.
Let us all pray, and from our respective positions and with our means, act with tireless determination, so that the future may not be infected by the sins and failures of the past, and that the roots of every form of evil that poisons human souls and international relations may be uprooted. Such evils today include interethnic hatred, social injustice, nationalist selfishness and racist discrimination, uncontrolled armament, and the morbid inclination toward bloodshed, which in various parts of the world has reached unimaginable proportions through inhumane acts of terrorism that claim innocent lives. One cannot come to terms with such evils and such tragedies.
The tragic experience of the Armenian people throughout past centuries makes the solidarity of nations—based on the principles of freedom and national self-determination—even more imperative for us. How can we forget the unspeakable tragedies that befell the pious and industrious Armenian people for centuries, especially during the dark years of 1915 and 1916, as a result of imperialist selfish interests and the policies of ruthless tyrants—policies that continued into our own days, particularly in 2020, against our brothers and sisters in Artsakh, who struggled against injustice, choosing to die free rather than live as slaves.
Today’s world, which so often suffers from injustice, wars, and spiritual darkness, needs the light of Christ more than ever. From Bethlehem, that Holy City where the Lord was born, we lift our prayer for peace, so that the hearts of peoples may be filled with the love of the newborn Child and harmony may reign among nations.
Beloved faithful, may this Feast of the Holy Nativity become for all of us an occasion of renewal—in our faith, in our families, and in our communities. May the Birth of Christ grant us new strength to preserve our national and ecclesial values, to strengthen our identity, and to live according to the message of the Gospel.
On this sacred occasion, with paternal love, we extend our congratulations to the entire Armenian people in Jerusalem, in Palestine, in Jordan, in Armenia, and throughout the Diaspora. We express our unwavering love to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and to our beloved Pontiff, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
May the New Year and Holy Christmas be a year of peace, health, spiritual awakening, and hope, and may the blessing of the newborn Child of Bethlehem rest upon your homes, your souls, and your lives.
May the incarnate Savior keep our homeland and state safe, whole, and untroubled, according to His mercy and through the ineffable grace of His Incarnation. Amen.
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.
GOOD TIDINGS TO YOU AND TO US:
CHRIST IS BORN AND REVEALED
† Nourhan Archbishop Manougian
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
