Archpastoral Message of the Most Reverend DANIEL Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest at the Beginning of the Nativity Fast 2026

Archpastoral Message of the Most Reverend DANIEL

Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest

at the Beginning of the Nativity Fast 2026

To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics, and Devoted Faithful

of the Diocese of the Midwest

Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

The Church once again invites us to enter into the holy season of the Nativity Fast. In these blessed forty days, we are invited to walk the road to Bethlehem and to prepare ourselves, as individuals and as communities of faith, to celebrate the great and awesome mystery of the Incarnation. As the Gospels attest, the Word “begotten of the Father before all ages” took upon Himself our human flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Although a great mystery, the Incarnation of the Son of God is not some abstract theological concept or unapproachable truth.  Rather, it touches upon our human life and experience. Christ was born at a particular time, in a particular place, during the reign of a specific ruler, and was laid in a real manger in the town of David. The Creator of time took on human flesh and was born in time. God did not remain distant from His creation. He entered into our life, experienced our…