Christmas 2024 Edition

"O Child of the Cave"

Around Your cradle, nations gather, extolling Your Incarnation
as the beginning of Your salvific mission,
From the ends of Babylon, the Magi came to the coastline of Phenicia-Canaan to bow before Your humble throne,
The universe announced Your coming, heralding a new covenant for humanity,
Heaven and earth rejoiced at Your dwelling among us,
guiding humankind toward liberation,

O King of Glory,
By Your birth, You honored the children of the world,
and granted the act of birth a sanctity beyond human comprehension,
O Manifestation of Light,
From this humble cave, You sent forth a ray of brightness that illuminates human life.
O Epitome of Truth,
Your Mother’s Annunciation, Your Incarnation, and Your Birth
were preludes to betrayal, followed by the Crucifixion and then the Resurrection, the act of redemption,
so that all things might be fulfilled…

Health, peace and security... This is what our colleagues in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Office in Syria wished for, raising their prayers to God, the God of justice and peace, and looking forward to blessed seasons of hope.

From the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Dr. Michel Abs and the MECC team, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Dr. Michel Abs was a guest in an exclusive media interview on the Russian Sputnik Radio Channel, on Sunday, December 22, 2024. The episode included many topics related to the existential circumstances, as well as his message in the Christmas season, in addition to the calendar of work of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).

You may find some excerpts from the episode in the video, and you may click here to watch the full episode.

A Meditation Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches

Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches

Professor Dr. Michel Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Before the doorway of the altar of the King of Glory stood His Beatitude John X, Thirteenth among the holy apostles, to speak words suited to both the place and the time, at this era of great transformations through which the Antiochian Levant is passing.

The Patriarch addresses history, and the first people he speaks to are his own: the people of the Levant, all the people of Syria, whose population is experiencing some of the most dangerous changes in its modern history.

He recalls the roots; he says to near and far alike: “We Christians are from the soil of Syria and from the cedars of Lebanon; from the majesty of Qasioun Mountain, the expansiveness of Homs, the legacy of Aleppo, the waterwheels of Hama, and the gushing springs of Idlib, from the sea of Latakia and the Euphrates of Deir ez-Zor.” His Beatitude affirms that we hail from the very essence of this land and its foundational civilizations, adding, “We are not guests in this land, nor did we come to this land today or yesterday. We are from the ancient roots of Syria and as old as the jasmine of Damascus.” He also emphasizes the universality of our mission by saying, “We are from Apostolic Antioch, from this land that has adorned the world with the name of Jesus Christ.”, for the holy apostles fulfilled the Lord’s command: “Go forth, preach to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity,” starting from the hills of al-Sham and the coasts of Phoenicia-Canaan to all the world.