“The commercial exploitation of the holiday contradicts its meaning. Seeking happiness in material goods is futile. Times are critical. And we Christians must save, with our way of life, the true meaning of them Christmas. That is, that God and man are not in conflict”, points out, among other things, in his Christmas message the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Hieronymos.

In the message he addresses “to the holy clergy and the Christ-named staff of the Theosotis Holy Archdiocese of Athens”, the Primate of the Hellenic Church, in detail, emphasizes:

“My dear brothers and children in the Lord,

It is a fact that, in recent decades, the holiday of Christmas has faded for most people. Earlier and earlier houses and shops are decorated.

The image of the celebration is made up of fir trees, reindeer, lights. And a supposed Saint Basil, exuberant in the red uniform.

Television persistently advertises a vague ‘Christmas spirit’. A miracle that will magically solve all our problems. And it will bring us happiness in the revivals, which have replaced the Divine Liturgy.

But the splendor of Christmas has nothing to do with any of that. And the ‘miracle’ has nothing to do with the Western construction of individual happiness. A happiness that we must necessarily feel.

And in order to feel it, we must consume more and more material goods. But this brings greater emptiness and depression.

The miracle is the Birth of Christ. That God became man. And with His incarnation began, within history, the renovation of the world.

Christ never spoke of happiness in the above terms. He Himself was born in poverty and obscurity, because He wanted to show that the real meaning lies in man’s relationship with God.

To the extent that this relationship exists, man does not need any of these phantasmagorias.

The commercial exploitation of the holiday contradicts its meaning. Seeking happiness in material goods is futile. Times are critical.

And we Christians must save, with our way of life, the true meaning of Christmas. That is, that God and man are not in conflict.

I wish everyone a real and blessed Christmas!”