I am pleased to felicitate you all with the beginning of 2022 and the Nativity which the Eastern Christians celebrate today, wishing all goodness and peace to our beloved Egypt, pleading for God to protect the world from the pandemic.
The Nativity recalls to minds the hymn of heaven chanted by the angels: “goodwill toward men”; as Nativity is a message of joy carried by the angels and delivered to mankind which had been stumbling in the darkness of life path, it is said: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” Nativity is also a message of rejoicing in the peace restored between man and God: “The Lord will bless His people with peace.” It is also a message of rejoicing in fulfilling the prophecies given by God’s men and prophets about the birth of Immanuel: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Happy blessed many returns to all of you
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
