Forwarded from Brotherhood of Saint John the Wonderworker (Seraphim)
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill: "We Cannot Compromise on the Purity of Faith"
On December 16, 2025, speaking at a report at the Diocesan Assembly of the Moscow (City) Diocese, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia emphasized the importance of preserving the purity of faith and the moral teachings of the Church.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church stated that it is unacceptable to deviate into "all kinds of doctrinal syncretism", explaining that "Orthodox Christians are sometimes tempted to do this under various, even seemingly plausible pretexts, for example, for the sake of uniting with people of other faiths in battle or in joint work".
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill also ruled out the possibility of "compromise on moral issues".
"The word of truth is very much in demand by people today, they still thirst for the living gospel truth. And woe to the one who, instead of the bread of life, puts a stone in the outstretched hand," concluded His Holiness.
Source: Patriarchia.ru
On December 16, 2025, speaking at a report at the Diocesan Assembly of the Moscow (City) Diocese, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia emphasized the importance of preserving the purity of faith and the moral teachings of the Church.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church stated that it is unacceptable to deviate into "all kinds of doctrinal syncretism", explaining that "Orthodox Christians are sometimes tempted to do this under various, even seemingly plausible pretexts, for example, for the sake of uniting with people of other faiths in battle or in joint work".
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill also ruled out the possibility of "compromise on moral issues".
"The word of truth is very much in demand by people today, they still thirst for the living gospel truth. And woe to the one who, instead of the bread of life, puts a stone in the outstretched hand," concluded His Holiness.
Source: Patriarchia.ru
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And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years and can not say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone, we always remember him and try to please him; day and night, our heart is occupied with that object. Is that how you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy commandments? For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else and to fulfill His holy will.
St. Herman of Alaska
St. Herman of Alaska
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Happy New Year's, friends. Thank you for being members of this group. It's been a fun year, and I'm grateful for all of you. May this coming year be fruitful for us all, and may our Ever Merciful God have mercy upon us. Thank you all, and God bless you.
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Nativity Epistle of His Eminence KYRILL Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
To the Clergy, Monastics and Laity of the Western American Diocese!
As we enter into the joyous season of Nativity, we must put aside the distractions of this world and remember that Jesus Christ came into the world to reconcile Divinity with creation. When the Heavenly Angelic Hosts revealed themselves in glory to the shepherds in the fields, the angels glorified God by proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards man!" (Luke 2:14). Heaven itself confesses the reason God became man – the Divine and the celestial wish to reconcile with man. We see God’s extreme humility in this reconciliation taking upon Himself the flesh, which He created, so that man can experience and know the Light of the Divine. However, our inclination towards sin does not allow us to value, or recognize, the Divine humility that occurred 2000 years ago. Therefore, we are mired in the "cares of this world" and repeat one and the same mistakes over and over again.
One hundred years ago, in 1925, the world was in turmoil and instability just as we are now. Political ideologies were rampantly fanning the fires of war and violence throughout the world. Extreme wealth and hedonism were coexisting with poverty and austerity, and yet, the Orthodox Faith remained steadfast with such saints as St. Tikhon of Moscow, St. Jonah of Hankou and the thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia who were both in the homeland and in the diaspora. That same Light that shone forth in Bethlehem lived, and proliferated, in the hearts of these countless, known and unknown, luminaries in those tumultuous dark years and was passed onto our own time.
Saint Tikhon, in 1903, wrote to his flock a timeless instruction: "Christ the Saviour has said that, having lit a candle, one does not place it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all (Matthew 5:15). The light of the Orthodox Faith was not kindled that it might shine only upon a small circle of people." As the Orthodox Faith continues to grow and spread, we behold now, as one hundred years ago, persecutions against the Church: in Ukraine, churches and monasteries are seized, the pastors of canonical Orthodoxy are persecuted; while here in America, our own Church Abroad is slandered and falsely accused. Yet, as a lamp shines more brightly in the darkness, so must we bear witness all the more to Christ amidst the darkness which surrounds us. Christ shall not forsake His Church, and the "gates of hell shall not prevail" against Holy Mother Church (Matthew 16:18).
In these holy days of the Nativity of Christ, let us be zealous in nurturing the light of Christ in our hearts. This year, as in the year of St. Tikhon's repose – 1925, the world attempts to snuff out the light of Orthodoxy first publicly and then in our hearts. Let us not be shaken by the mercurial distractions of this world, but hold fast to the fact that Christ shall not forsake His Church and His people. May the Lord, Who was born in the cave of Bethlehem, enlighten our hearts with His Divine Light and strengthen us so that we can say with true heartfelt conviction:
CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!
Archbishop Kyrill
25 December 25/7 January 2026
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
To the Clergy, Monastics and Laity of the Western American Diocese!
As we enter into the joyous season of Nativity, we must put aside the distractions of this world and remember that Jesus Christ came into the world to reconcile Divinity with creation. When the Heavenly Angelic Hosts revealed themselves in glory to the shepherds in the fields, the angels glorified God by proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards man!" (Luke 2:14). Heaven itself confesses the reason God became man – the Divine and the celestial wish to reconcile with man. We see God’s extreme humility in this reconciliation taking upon Himself the flesh, which He created, so that man can experience and know the Light of the Divine. However, our inclination towards sin does not allow us to value, or recognize, the Divine humility that occurred 2000 years ago. Therefore, we are mired in the "cares of this world" and repeat one and the same mistakes over and over again.
One hundred years ago, in 1925, the world was in turmoil and instability just as we are now. Political ideologies were rampantly fanning the fires of war and violence throughout the world. Extreme wealth and hedonism were coexisting with poverty and austerity, and yet, the Orthodox Faith remained steadfast with such saints as St. Tikhon of Moscow, St. Jonah of Hankou and the thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia who were both in the homeland and in the diaspora. That same Light that shone forth in Bethlehem lived, and proliferated, in the hearts of these countless, known and unknown, luminaries in those tumultuous dark years and was passed onto our own time.
Saint Tikhon, in 1903, wrote to his flock a timeless instruction: "Christ the Saviour has said that, having lit a candle, one does not place it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all (Matthew 5:15). The light of the Orthodox Faith was not kindled that it might shine only upon a small circle of people." As the Orthodox Faith continues to grow and spread, we behold now, as one hundred years ago, persecutions against the Church: in Ukraine, churches and monasteries are seized, the pastors of canonical Orthodoxy are persecuted; while here in America, our own Church Abroad is slandered and falsely accused. Yet, as a lamp shines more brightly in the darkness, so must we bear witness all the more to Christ amidst the darkness which surrounds us. Christ shall not forsake His Church, and the "gates of hell shall not prevail" against Holy Mother Church (Matthew 16:18).
In these holy days of the Nativity of Christ, let us be zealous in nurturing the light of Christ in our hearts. This year, as in the year of St. Tikhon's repose – 1925, the world attempts to snuff out the light of Orthodoxy first publicly and then in our hearts. Let us not be shaken by the mercurial distractions of this world, but hold fast to the fact that Christ shall not forsake His Church and His people. May the Lord, Who was born in the cave of Bethlehem, enlighten our hearts with His Divine Light and strengthen us so that we can say with true heartfelt conviction:
CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!
Archbishop Kyrill
25 December 25/7 January 2026
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