In the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sarajevo, a holy bishop’s liturgy was held this morning, led by Metropolitan Chrysostom of Dabro-Bosnia. Orthodox believers who respect the Julian calendar today celebrate the most joyous Christian holiday – Christmas.
After the divine service, archpriest of Sarajevo archpriest-stavrofor Vladimir Stupar read the Christmas message of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, in which the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church called on the faithful to build bridges of understanding, love and peace among themselves at any cost.
In the epistle, it was pointed out that Christmas is a holiday of peace, and that the angel’s Christmas carol is a prayer for peace, unity and reconciliation, based on faith in God and living according to God.
“Today’s humanity more than ever needs to return to the source of peace that is not imposed by force, but is revealed in calmness, in love that ‘does not seek its own’, and in a relationship that builds trust, togetherness and respect for every person,” it is stated in the epistle.
And precisely with Christ’s birth, it is added, the world gets a measure by which it can understand itself, which is why today the weight of the times we live in, marked by deepening religious, ethnic and cultural divisions, growing geopolitical tensions and wars, which become a means of resolving economic and political conflicts, is felt even more strongly today.
The letter also points to the change in the global order, the struggle of great powers for supremacy, and the consequences that such processes have on people’s daily lives – from economic insecurity, inflation, growing inequality, poverty and hunger, to the uncontrolled depletion of natural resources.
It warned of the challenges of contemporary technological changes, which bring new ethical dilemmas and create digital isolation, i.e. the appearance of presence without real community. All of this, as stated, leads to a crisis of trust in institutions and the media, the relativization of truth, an increase in anxiety and loneliness, and even to the loss of meaning in life for many people.
“Many of us welcome this holy night and this holy day with restlessness in our hearts, worrying about children and their future, about daily bread, about health and about tomorrow,” the epistle states.
It is emphasized that the world, despite all the fractures and fears, is not abandoned to the blind forces of history, because with the birth of Christ, God entered the very heart of human history and showed that evil does not have the last word.
The epistle states that fear arises where a person thinks he is alone, while Christmas reveals that a person is no longer alone, and that crises, wars and loss of trust cannot be the final measure of human life.
The role of the family is particularly emphasized as the first place where a person learns what peace means, but also what its loss means, with the message that the home turns into a true manger of Christ’s Nativity when there is room for forgiveness, patience and common prayer.
In the epistle, Porfirius finally called on the faithful to love each other “not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth”, to overcome divisions and reach out to each other, and to become living witnesses of peace and hope in times of crisis.
The Christmas epistle is concluded with the words of the angel’s hymn: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among men.”
