Category Archives: Encyclical

St. Philip’s Nativity Fast

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To the Venerable and Christ-loving clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, South America, the United States of America and in Ukraine.

May the Grace of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!

We are currently living through the Pre-Nativity Fast – also known as Philip’s Fast because it begins on 15/28 November, the day following the Feast of the Holy Apostle Philip and known in the Western Church as Advent.  This fast continues to the Great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ – the Incarnation – God becoming one of us for no other reason than to prove the depth of His Love for us.

This is a period, which is often not the focus of contemporary Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians, secularized and smothered in the over-commercialization of the “Xmas” season.  The fast is, according to the Church Fathers, a time of mercy, kindness, compassion, self-examination – a time, which challenges us to personal renewal in the Light of Christ’s Gospel.  It is a sacred season, during which we are called to make a spiritual journey from wherever we are in the world – from the “now” in our parish churches, which we all too often have difficulty seeing beyond – to the City of Bread – Beth-lehem and into a cave, the “Holy of Holies”, and to a manager, pre-figuring the Chalice of the Eucharist, in order to bring the gift of ourselves to the Jesus Christ, Who is the Bread of Life.

In ways that we may never fully comprehend, we make this journey like the Magi, like the shepherds.  We each bring our gifts and we dedicate them to Christ.  These are gifts willingly given for the good of others – the gold, frankincense and myrrh of our parenting, teaching, healing, friendship and compassion – in other words, our Love for one another.

We must live through this fast period and each day of our lives in a prayerful attitude of openness to the empowering and unending Presence of the Loving and Living God.  Living an Orthodox Christian life makes heavy demands on us.  But, God gives us His strength.  The Power, the Love and the Grace of God are always with us – in our “community work”, the Liturgy and all other Divine Services, in our private prayer life, in all creation and every single one of His human creatures!  That living Presence makes all things new!

Such an attitude of openness, of awe and wonder and joyful expectancy is what it takes to receive the strength to fulfill our life’s purpose.  Our God is the God of Life and He never stops with a sense of self-satisfaction to say:  “We’ve got it!”  It is always a movement on into the future.  It is always His Presence with us now, doing some new thing.  We may be in the depths of despair and we may feel ourselves caving in, but that is precisely when He moves in and the Light breaks through and the hope and the power and the healing come.

Simply put, our goal during this Pre-Nativity Fast is to mature in Christ, to attain to spiritual quality and excellence in our profession of the Orthodox Christian Faith, to invite Christ Jesus into our very being, to proclaim to an increasingly nominal and apathetic Christian society that, which it would rather not hear:  “I bring you tidings of great joy…a Savior is born…He is Christ the Lord!” and He can be found in the hearts and homes of those who proclaim Him by their willingness to “let our light so shine before men, that they might see our good works and give glory to our Father Who is in Heaven” [Matthew 5:16].

We call you all, as our spiritual children, to pray fervently during this season for the leaders of the world we live in today.  It is a secularized world full of strife, economic weakness and political instability.  Evil often manifests itself in the cleverest of ways during such times.  Pray for the maturity of those who lead all our nations and most especially those who lead in Ukraine, that their heart’s desire will always be to build a strong nation based on a system of law, peace and justice.  Pray that our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church unites and returns to its historical role as the moral conscience of the nation.

May He, Who so loved the world that He sent His Only-Begotten Son to be our Lord and Savior, assist us in our resolve to mature and be nourished by the word of Truth and Life-giving mysteries. May we grow and mature in Faith as Ukrainian Orthodox Christians so that others, having witnessed the Faith manifested in our personal lives and in our parish communities, will be drawn to Christ and like the shepherds of Bethlehem, will glorify and praise God for all that they had seen and heard through us.

Assuring you of our prayers and love and requesting yours, we remain your servants in the Lord,

 

+ Yurij
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

+ Antony
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and Diaspora

+ Jeremiah
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, South America Eparchy

+ Daniel
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

+ Ilarion
Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

+ Andrij
Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

On the 84th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Holodomor

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It is with a heavy heart that we call to recollection one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century, namely, the tragic events in Ukraine during the years 1932-1933. Today, our Ecumenical Patriarchate joins Ukrainians across the globe in prayerful commemoration on the 84th anniversary of the Holodomor. Surrounded by the members of our local Ukrainian Orthodox Community and representatives of various nations serving in our City, we will preside over the celebration of the Divine Liturgy as well as personally offer a memorial service for the millions of people who inhumanely lost their lives during the orchestrated man-imposed famine.

Our Mother Church of Constantinople—which transformed centuries ago the river waters of the Dnieper into the sanctified living waters of rejuvenation and life eternal—was forever bonded spiritually to the Christ-loving nation of Ukraine, continuing to actively share in its pride and its joys, but also in its sorrows, always demonstrating Pauline ecclesiology: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

In the spirit of sharing intimately in the life of Ukraine, the Holy and Great Church of Christ stands in prayerful silence and solidarity with the victims of the Holodomor, contemplating the magnitude of death and destruction carried out by the oppressor.

“You will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” And it is the truth of the Lord that liberates. For, the world witnessed in Ukraine the destruction and death of millions of people due to falsehood and a godless ideology, but it continues to recognize the rejuvenation, baptism, and eternal life offered centuries ago by our holy predecessors, the saintly and wise Patriarchs of Constantinople. The “water road” of the Dnieper River system was transformed into a bridge leading to heaven.

While prayerfully commemorating the atrocity of famine, we would also like to make a prayerful appeal to all people of goodwill for the cessation of the war, aggression and ongoing violence in Ukraine, as well as to underscore the importance of respecting human rights and dignity, most especially of the prisoners of war, for whose safety and release we Orthodox pray for at every divine service. The aggressions and crimes witnessed in the early 20th century should not be repeated once again; rather, we should strive to be mechanisms of reconciliation and rapprochement, especially having fresh in our minds the disastrous results of the conflict and hostility 84 years ago. Let us all, each from our own standpoint, personally and collectively, work to de-escalate tension and cultivate dialogue and mutual understanding, so that the dark chapters of the early 20th century will never reappear before us.

Eternal be the memories of the victims of this travesty. And may peace and prosperity be granted unto Ukraine.

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, “On the 84th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Holodomor,” Phanar, November 25, 2017.

Council of Bishops of the UOC of the USA: Blessed Thanksgiving!

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THANKSGIVING 2017

Beloved in the Lord!

As 2017 year of our Lord draws to a close, and the sacred Season of St. Philip’s (Pre-Nativity) Fast about to begin, we in the U.S. come again to a peculiar weekend. Our national day of Thanksgiving is perhaps the only remaining civic holiday with an overtly religious purpose: the entire nation is meant to pause and thank God for the blessings bestowed upon it. Of course, many will spend this day without any thought of God whatsoever; since they don’t think of God at other times, why should this day be any different? This is a day for the people of God to delight in, however. We are a Eucharistic people; thanksgiving is our way of life. We are never more truly ourselves than when we are conscious of our dependence upon God, and God’s loving providence at work in our lives.

The Greek word, Eucharist, means ‘thanksgiving’. Each time, as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we, your hierarchs, offer our gratitude to Almighty God for His love and mercy. We thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the blessings received through the ministry of our forefathers, both clergy and laity, ensuring the blessed present for all of us. However, we are most thankful for you, the clergy and the faithful of our Metropolia – our extended family, as our most important blessing.

Of course, God’s gifts are never given merely for our own enjoyment, but to equip us and empower us to do God’s work in the world. Looking at our world, especially in this time of war in our ancestral homeland Ukraine and in other parts of the world, may we offer even more profound thanks, give more generously, and serve more effectively.

When we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this year, let us do so in the spirit of our ancestors. Let us make it more than a day to enjoy family fellowship, fine food and football, by taking time to count our blessings as individuals, as families, and as a nation. Let us begin the day properly, by attending the liturgical service – hopefully at least a Moleben – in all our parish churches to worship and thank our God.

Let us offer special gratitude for our religious freedom and remember in prayer all who have ever helped us in a time of need. Finally, as “one nation under God”, we cannot forget those who have less or nothing at all. Let us reach out to those in need – for example, through the Ukrainian Orthodox League’s Thanksgiving Tithe Event – to share our bounty, however humble, with them. The very best way to give thanks to God for His abundant blessings upon us is to imitate Him by providing blessings to others.

We know well that God is good; may we be helped to tell of God’s mercy and loving kindness to all we meet in this sacred holiday season. May the peace of Christ dwell with you abundantly.

With thankful hearts in prayer, we are those who pray for you unceasingly,

+ Antony, Metropolitan

+ Daniel, Archbishop