Patriarch John X Sends Message Born of the East

Once again,Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East has sent out a Christmas encyclical with his customary eloquence and paternal regard for his worldwide flock,who,wherever they may have wandered,are spiritually rooted in the Middle East.Here are some excerpts that speak so powerfully in their language of prayer and sacred memory:
By God's Grace,His Beatitude John X
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East
It is about time that darkness may be scattered from the East and for the people of the East to live in peace on earth in their birthplace.It is about time for wars to cease in the land where Christ was born and from which heavenly religions were launched.The message of our East is one of freedom,peace,and of open hearts to the entire world.Neither is there any trace of Takfirism and violence,abandonment and terrorism,in our past and present time.We pray that the light of the cave will cast away the darkness of wars to instill in the minds of all people that our region is not an open market to sell arms,and that the destiny of our people should not end dead on the shores of other nations.*
We offer prayers today for the peace in Syria,for the stability of Lebanon,for the safety of Palestine,and for the welfare of the bleeding Iraq;for every spot and all peoples.We offer our prayers for Jerusalem and for its sacred shrines and institutions so Jerusalem may continue to be the city of prayers.We offer our prayers for all those who are captives;especially for the two hierarchs:Metropolitan Paul Yazigy and Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim.We pray for the kidnapped,homeless,and those who live in travail.*
And we remember the East during these difficult days,we shall never ignore the active Antiochian presence throughout the world.We pray that Christ the Child will bestow His mercies on the entire world and on all our spiritual children of the Antiochian See,in the Middle East and the entire world.*
From the heart of the church of Antioch to the hearts of all people,we extend to you the best greetings in the name of Christ who is born in Bethlehem.We can indeed recall that Christianity was born in the East,and lived together fraternally with the others,and that the Christian Church of Antioch stretches her hands and embraces all her children,and is proud of them,wherever they are,for through them and by their active presence,the Antiochian Church carries the gospel of Christ and its message of the good news to the entire world.
Issued from our Patriarchal Headquarters
Damascus,Syria
December 20,2017

Patriarch of Antioch John X Stirs Patriotism,Hope

His Beatitude John X,Patriarch of Antioch and All the East,has once more written a powerful Christmas message for his flock and indeed the whole Orthodox world looking on with interest.In it,the Patriarch firmly roots their faith in their homeland of the Levant,which is today defined as the Eastern Mediterranean and its countries and islands Israel;Palestine;Cyprus;Syria;Lebanon;part of Southern Turkey;and Jordan.His Beatitude also promises redemption from the horrendous suffering which they have felt there because of this faith.Here are some memorable excerpts:
With the mercy of God John X
The Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East
To my brethren the pastors of the holy Antiochian Church
To my sons wherever they may be in this Apostolic See*
He came to lay His seal on our hearts so as to cling and adhere to Him and defend our homeland and get deeply rooted in it;to be rooted in our cities,villages and mountains,in the first land,the land of the church of Antioch that then spread the word "Christians" to the whole world.*
We are called to know that the hardest circumstances would not take out from our hearts and our ancestors' a confession other than we received and preserved.We are written down for the sake of Christ.And we received our baptism 2,000 years ago,so we do not need anybody to convert us to Christianity.*
The peace of Christ is first of all a consolation that cures our hardships;it is not a magical substance that takes away the yoke of suffering from us.
Our prayer on this blessed day is for peace in Syria,for settlement in Lebanon and for prosperity in the East.
Our prayer on this blessed day is for Palestine,for Iraq,and for every spot where people have undergone pain and suffering.For more than five years,the Christian Antiochian Church has been crucified by means of pain and suffering that have come out of barbarism,terror,violence and a stifling economic siege.For more than three years the world has been watching the Golgotha of this East,by that I mean bishops to be abducted,priests to be killed,and many other people to be displaced.But this pain and agony shall be broken by the dawn of the resurrection,and by the big stone of the empty tomb being rolled away no matter how long the Golgotha may last.*