Nativity Epistle Vladyka Agafangel

Dec 25, 2024 o.s.  (Church Calendar)
Metropolitan Agafangel
First-hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

We are originally endowed with riches from God -– majestic nature with its diverse plants, animals and other benefits that we need, as well as people dear and close to us.

The most precious thing for a person is Christ, who, having become incarnate, also became part of the universe that He created.

However, we know that the sinful essence of man did not accept Christ and, for the most part, people rejected the disciples and followers that He sent. The coming of Christ divided the human race into a small flock of those faithful to Him and many opponents of God, and between them a huge number of indifferent and deceived people.

* * * *

Our time has been distinguished by the creation of an artificial anti-spiritual space – the so-called virtual world, which has already managed to replace for many the God-given nature and the God-given Sacred Tradition.  The evil mind has easily captivated simple souls, moving them from God's universe into the virtual world of deception — starting with children's games and ending with real "electronic slavery."  Through new technologies — from artificial diseases to artificial intelligence — having himself “digitized” and entered “in a database,” using Internet information and money, a person, unnoticed by himself, found himself inside a closed information prison — in his new and unexpected "electronic homeland,” where all information coming to him is carefully selected and “protected” from the genuine, saving truth of God.  This virtual captivity is becoming more and more hopeless every day, closely approaching the final stage of human history — the appearance of moshiach-Antichrist, [мошиаха-Антихриста] for which the combined scientific “progress” and “ecumenical religion” have successfully prepared this world.

* * * *

Today (and always) there are only two real paths before a person — for Christ or from Christ.  The path to eternal life or eternal death.  We see clearly that humanity as a whole is moving away from Christ.

Believers in Christ the Savior should not follow the completely lost majority into destruction.  Let us not betray our soul to the vain world, but let us be close to the Born, Died and Resurrected Christ — our only true and saving path — today this is not only a question of exit from a fallen and dying world, but also a question of our escape from the abundance of digitized information that has unexpectedly surrounded us, where a small drop of truth is mixed with a sea of what impedes our salvation.  Let us always remember that one can come to Christ only by being guided by the Holy Scriptures and Tradition, by being in living communion with His faithful followers, by being in His only Church.  There is not and cannot be a “virtual” path to Christ through the Internet, a path without our real and effective participation in the life of the Church.

We believe, confess and glorify Christ God, who has now been born for our salvation, and who became a man not having any sin.  Let us pray to Him, who became incarnate, to deliver also us, His faithful followers, from the power of sin and death!

I greet all Orthodox Christians on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ!

+ Metropolitan Agafangel
Nativity of Christ 2024/2025

http://internetsobor.org/index.php/stati/avtorskaya-kolonka/2024-2025