CANADIAN DIOCESE: 13 January 2026
Nativity Epistle of Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada

To the clergy and all God-saved flock of the Diocese of Canada.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

For yet another year we celebrate the grace-filled Feast of the Nativity of Christ not in the familiar setting of earthly peace and joyful hope that many of us have grown accustomed to for decades, but amid the fears and apprehensions brought about by the “wars and rumors of wars” that God has allowed for our sins (Mt. 24:6). At the same time our Lord commands us not to be alarmed, and adds: “The end is not yet”. But what, then, should we do? Let us turn to the words of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Confessor, the centenary of whose blessed repose we remembered in the year now ending. On Christmas Day, December 25 1918 / January 7 1919, the holy hierarch reminded his flock: “God does not save a man without the man taking part in it. The man ought to take upon himself the saving feat of the Redeemer. To do this, he must form the image of Christ within himself, embody Him in his heart, in his actions, and in his life, and not be content with merely bearing the name ‘Christian’ and being a mere formal member of the Church of Christ. And so, examine your heart: what is in it? Is it love for your neighbor, or is it envy, quarrelsomeness, and hatred? Do you not also come in the presence of the Lord, in the Lord’s temple, on the feast day, bearing these latter feelings?” Let us call to mind, beloved brothers and sisters, that the time when the holy Confessor Patriarch spoke these words to our forefathers was one of the most harrowing for our historical Motherland, when, as Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky) said, “all of life, all spiritual culture had wandered from the right way”. But the created world was in a similar state at the time of the Nativity of Christ, when the angel who appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem, said: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord… Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lk. 2:10-11,14). Yet did all the people then hear and receive these words of the angel? May all of us meet the Nativity of Christ and the approaching Feast of Theophany in peace, glorify the newborn Christ the Savior and offer Him prayers filled with hope.

CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!

+GABRIEL
Archbishop of Montreal and Canada
Nativity of Christ, 2025/2026

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