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Holy Christmas Mass at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ/ Message from the Metropolitan of Korça, Anastasios

2025-12-25 11:34:00, Aktualitet CNA

Holy Christmas Mass at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ/ Message from

Today, the Holy Christmas Mass was held at the "Resurrection of Christ" Cathedral in the city of Korça.

The religious ceremony was led by His Grace, Monsignor Anastasi from 09:00 this morning.

Hundreds of Orthodox believers gathered at the cathedral to participate in the traditional rites of this holy holiday, praying for peace, health, and prosperity.

His Grace Anastasius emphasizes that Christmas is not a temporary stop in the course of the church year, but the heart of the history of salvation.

Message from the Metropolitan of Korça, Anastas

The truth of the human person.

To the clergy and hopeful believers of our Metropolis,

Brothers and sisters, fellow travelers in faith and hope,

"The true light, which enlightens every man, was coming into the world" (John 1:9).

With spiritual joy and a deep sense of gratitude to the living God, our Church celebrates once again the ineffable mystery of divine love: the Incarnation of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The eternal Word of the Father, “through whom all things were made” (John 1:3), in deep humility consented to become man in order to save man, healing his nature and uniting him with God. Today everything is filled with joy, because Christ was born of the Virgin.

Christmas is not a temporary stop in the course of the church year, but the heart of the history of salvation. It is the greatest expression of God's love, it is the response of Him who "first loved us" (1 John 1:9), to man's deepest thirst for life, for love, for meaning, and for truth. For every person who comes into the world, the path to sanctification is already open. As Saint Athanasius the Great testifies: "God became man, so that man might become God by grace." The birth of Christ proclaims that human history is not abandoned, but visited, arranged, and renewed by God himself.

In the simple manger of Bethlehem, the great truth of the human person is revealed. Where God became man, every person regains his inalienable identity. At a time when man is often reduced to numbers or data, seen simply as a labor force and measured only by productivity, Christmas reminds us forcefully that every person is an icon of the living God, who has absolute dignity, regardless of age, health, ability or social status. He is not a biological coincidence, but the will of God's love, created for love and eternal life.

This Christmas takes on a special meaning for the life of our Metropolis. For the first time we celebrate together the Nativity of the Lord, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son and the Word of God. In the silence of the Bethlehem cave, my heart unites with yours, to accept the newborn Christ as the foundation of a new relationship. Today, on this holy day, we are not simply individuals celebrating a past event, but the Living Body of Christ who gathers to witness that the Nativity of Christ is not experienced in solitude, but in communion and that the Church is a family on the path to salvation and an “icon of the life to come.”

This Christmas also has a special spiritual charge for us, because it is the first Christmas that we celebrate without the earthly presence of His Beatitude, our late Archbishop, Anastasios. Our wise Father and Shepherd, who for more than three decades served the Church of Albania, with sacrifice, humility, apostolic vision and unconditional love for every person, now celebrates the Birth of Christ in the light of the Kingdom of God. His life and ministry remain for us a living testimony that Christmas before being a celebration, is a way of life, a descent towards the other, service without distinction, respect for every human person and unwavering faith in the healing power of Christ's love. On this Christmas, with gratitude and prayer, we entrust his soul to the God of love, keeping alive among us his paternal and missionary spirit, so that our Church may continue to walk on the path of witness, which brings hope and peace.

We cannot celebrate Christmas without honestly confronting the reality we live in. Poverty, loneliness, insecurity, forced displacement, as well as the moral and spiritual wounds of our society are challenges that require not only beautiful words, but also social responsibility, an alert conscience and concrete love. As Saint John Gojarti reminds us: “Nothing makes a person more like God than caring for those who suffer.” The birth of Christ calls us to become workers and living witnesses of His love in our daily lives.

In this context, the family remains the first and irreplaceable place where the mystery of the Incarnation becomes tangible. It is the small church, the first space of love, faith and education of the human person. Where husband and wife live in fidelity, where children are welcomed as a gift from God and where forgiveness, patience and sacrificial love are cultivated, there Christ is born every day.

However, today the family faces serious and numerous challenges. Models foreign to the spiritual tradition of our people, ideological currents and laws inspired by them that relativize marriage, parenthood and the very meaning of the human person, risk diminishing the identity of the family as a community of love and life. Under the guise of freedom, there is often hidden an attempt to deform human nature and separate man from the order of God's creation.

The Church proclaims this truth not with an exclusive or judgmental spirit, but with pastoral love and prophetic responsibility. She, and as an integral part of her, all of us, are called to defend the family, not as a rigid inherited social structure, but as the sacred space where the person learns to love, forgive, sacrifice and live in true freedom. Defending the family is defending the person himself.

Christmas is also a powerful call for peace, peace in every aspect. The angelic hymn “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace…” is not a romantic sentiment or a festive slogan, but a permanent program of life. For the Christian, the peace of Christmas is not the absence of war, but ontological reconciliation: 1-) peace between God and man, 2-) peace within man himself, 3-) peace of man with creation. This peace is not imposed, it is born where Christ is accepted. Peace is built with humility, with dialogue, by giving up what belongs to us, with respect for the other and with the rejection of any form of hatred, violence or division. In a troubled and polarized world, Christ is born to make us builders of peace and servants of reconciliation.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Let us await the Birth of Christ with an open heart and a readiness for true change. Let us allow His Light to illuminate our personal and social darkness, to heal our wounds and to guide us on the path of hope. Only in this way will Christmas not remain a passing celebration, but will it become a new spiritual beginning for each of us and for our entire society.

Merry Christmas, with peace, health, joy and spiritual strength.

With sincere love in Christ./ CNA





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