CHINESE NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS

A Chinese Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and Child in the Ming Dynasty Style 

A FESTIVE PROCLAMATION

For the Chinese New Year, Year of the Horse, 

in the Year of Our Lord 2026,

From the Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia 

Dearly Beloved Faithful,

As the cycle of the year is renewed and the light of heaven shines again upon the earth, the Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia lifts its voice in thanksgiving to Almighty God, who makes all things new and Who, in His Son Jesus Christ, has reconciled heaven and earth to Himself.

In this sacred turning of the year, we commend all families, parishes, and households to the gracious keeping of our Lord. May Christ Jesus dwell richly within your homes; may righteousness, joy, peace, and grace abound; and may your days be ordered in purity, steadfast hope, and the fellowship of all the saints.

Let this season of festal joy and pre-Lenten celebration not merely be an outward celebration, but an inward renewal. We pray for an inward returning of the heart to the love of God, a strengthening of family bonds in holiness, and a remembering that our true prosperity is found in communion with Christ and His Church.

As the New Year dawns and the earth is made fresh again, and may you walk this year in hope, purity, and the fellowship of all the saints. May you and yours be eternally blessed, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and we pray that throughout the coming year you may walk in the light of His countenance, be preserved in His peace, and at the last be gathered with all the saints in His everlasting kingdom.

歲序更新，萬象昭明。願主耶穌基督之恩常臨於府第，使闔家滿有公義、喜樂、和平安，同蒙聖靈保守，與眾聖徒相交於光明之中。

全能永生之上主，祢藉聖子耶穌基督更新萬有，

使天地在祢旨意中得以和好。當此歲首之時，求祢潔淨我等之心，保守我等之家室於公義與平安之中，使我等常存盼望，行於光明，與歷代聖徒同得基業；藉我主耶穌基督而求，阿們。

Let us pray…

Almighty and Everlasting God, who by thy Son Jesus Christ dost make all things new and dost reconcile heaven and earth in thy holy will; Grant, we beseech thee, that in this beginning of the year our hearts may be cleansed, our homes established in righteousness and peace, and our lives directed in hope and purity; that we, walking in the light of thy countenance, may have fellowship with all thy saints, and at the last attain unto thine everlasting kingdom;

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Given under our episcopal care for the joy and encouragement of the faithful in East Asia, celebrating the Lunar New Year! 

In Christ our Lord.

Bp. Joseph

Ordinary

Missionary Diocese of East and Southeast Asia

A Beautiful Chinese Orthodox House Blessing Invoking the Holy Trinity, Christ Pantocrator, the Blessed and Holy Theotokos, and St. John Baptist and All Saints for a Righteous, Happy, Peaceful and Grace-Filled 2026!