Epistles

Paschal Encyclical 2013

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN
AT PASCHA, 2013

I R I N E J

BY THE GRACE OF GOD

ORTHODOX ARCHBISHOP OF PEC, METROPOLITAN OF BELGRADE-KARLOVCI AND SERBIAN PATRIARCH, WITH ALL THE HIERARCHS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH - TO ALL CLERGY, MONASTICS, ADN ALL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF OUR HOLY CHURCH: GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITH THE JOYOUS PASCHAL GREETING:

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!

“For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
 (Psalm 16:10)

True, indeed, is this word of God’s prophet by which he announces the radiant feast of Christ Resurrection, this feast of great Christian joy and spiritual celebration. If there is a day among all days for celebration, that is today — the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ our God. Thanks to this holy day, all the days of mankind — from the beginning to the end of the world — receive their true meaning, and all that has happened in those days and is happening receives its proper meaning. If there is an event to which Christianity can be narrowed down, then that event truly is the Resurrection of Christ. If there is a feast to which all feasts can be narrowed down, then again, that is the Resurrection of Christ. That is why the Church calls the feast day of Christ’s Resurrection the Feast of Feasts; and in the Church we sing: This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24).

Nativity Encyclical 2012

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN AT CHRISTMAS 2012
+ I R I N E J

BY THE GRACE OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF PEC, METROPOLITAN OF BELGRADE KARLOVCI AND SERBIAN PATRIARCH, WITH ALL THE HIERARCHS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO ALL THE CLERGY, MONASTRICS,AND ALL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF OUR HOLY CHURCH: GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITH THE JOYOUS CHRISTMAS GREETING:

PEACE FROM GOD! CHRIST IS BORN!

"Rejoice O ye righteous, rejoice O heaven, dance O mountains for Christ is born…”
(Hymn from the Nativity of our Lord Matins, tone four)

The Nativity of our Lord brings to us joyous and wonderful news that the Son of God became Man, the God-Man Jesus Christ. With His Incarnation, the prophesy of Saint Isaiah the prophet has been fulfilled: “Lo, the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emanuel, which is translated: “God is with us”. (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14) From that day until the end of the age, God is with us and we belong to Him. The Son of God has descended to earth, and man has ascended to heaven. Everything has been united. Angels sing with men and men participate in the angelic life. Saint John Chrysostom called Christmas the mother of all feasts, and contemplating the Birth of God in awe as a wondrous mystery, he glorifies it by saying: “I look upon an astounding mystery. Shepherds’ voices I hear in my ears. Angels and archangels sing, seraphim glorify, they all participate in the Feast, looking upon God on earth, and upon man in heaven. They look upon God, Who is in heaven, as upon Him Who is the Cause of His own descent to earth. They look upon man, who is on earth, and see how through God’s love for mankind he dwells in heaven.” God without body puts on flesh; the Invisible becomes visible, He Who is unapproachable becomes approachable, the Timeless one receives a beginning, the Son of God becomes the Son of man. This manifestation of God in our world and our life is the beginning of our own entrance into God’s world. And so, the meaning of Christmas is in the reality that God came to people so that they may come closer to Him.

Patriachal Paschal Encyclical 2012

The Serbian Orthodox Church
to her spiritual children
at Pascha, 2012

IRINEJ

By the grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with the all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church – to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

”This is the day which the Lord made;
Let us rejoice, and be glad in it”!

The Resurrection of Christ our Savior is, dear brothers and sisters and all our spiritual children throughout the inhabited world, “The Feast of Feasts, the celebration above all celebrations” – the Miracle above all miracles and the Gift above all gifts, which All-Mighty God, in His immeasurable mercy and love, has given to mankind. In this Gift are found all gifts; in this Blessing are found all blessings – as here on earth, so also in heaven (cf. Ephesians 1:3).

Patriarchal Nativity Encyclical 2011

The Serbian Orthodox Church
to her spiritual children at Christmas, 2011

+IRINEJ

By the Grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Christmas greeting:

Peace from God! Christ is Born!

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son…”
Gal. 4:4

With the genealogy of Jesus Christ, “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1), dear brothers and sisters, begins the Gospel of Christ, God’s blessed and joyous news to mankind.

On this day of the joyous Feast of the Nativity of Christ all Christian hearts throughout the world are filled with the song of the angels of God, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”. (Luke 2:14) This Day is a great joy for the entire world “for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”. (Luke 2:11)

Patriachal Paschal Encyclical 2011

The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2011

I R I N E J

By the grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with the all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church – to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

“Christ is risen!
He has destroyed death,
Bringing eternal life”!

Greeting you, dear brothers and sisters, with these words of eternal joy, in their light and immortal meaning, we, your hierarchs, witness before you and all people the great and holy truth of our Christian faith and our Orthodox Church. Enlightened by the light of Christ’s resurrection, we learn that on earth there are only two kinds of people, two kinds of faithful: those that believe in eternal life and who live by it and for it; and the other kind, those who worship death and nothingness. Every one of us, every day, every moment of our earthly life, should ask himself: to which of these two groups do I belong, to what kind of people do I belong? Do I belong to those who have recognized that they are eternal and immortal beings, or do I belong to those who believe that death and nothingness are their beginning and end, ultimately consuming all beings and all things? Am I in the community of salvation with those who already here on earth live with and for eternal life; or am I in that sad company of those ruled by death? That is why, among other things, such people restlessly hold on to transient life, worshipping – publicly and secretly – death and ephemeral matters…

2010 Nativity Encyclical of His Holiness Patriarch IRINEJ

The Serbian Orthodox Church

to her spiritual children at Christmas, 2010

+IRINEJ

By the Grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Christmas greeting:

Peace from God! Christ is Born!

Blessed and most joyous news, dear brothers and sisters in Christ the Lord, begins with the words of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1). That news reveals and witnesses to us and to everyone, to heaven and to earth, and to all visible and invisible worlds, a two-in-one mystery and truth.