September 15, 2009
Moscow: An Address of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

From the editors: On September 13, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, co-served by Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations, archpastors of the Russian Orthodox Church, clergy of the city of Moscow, and members of the ROCOR delegation. At the end of the divine services, in response to the greeting of Archbishop Hilarion, the head of the Russian Church Abroad issued an address, which follows below. That same day, His Eminence, accompanied by the ROCOR delegation, visited the Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery, where he viewed the monastery’s churches. Here, in honor of His Eminence, a very warm and joyous welcome was organized by representatives of Kursk in Moscow.

AN ADDRESS OF THE FIRST HIERARCH OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH ABROAD
upon completion of the Divine Liturgy in the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior
September 13, 2009

Your Eminence! Beloved Archpastors, Pastors, and children of the Russian Orthodox Church!

By God’s will, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and also following the call of a Christian heart and the invitation of His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill, I find myself once more within the blessed borders of Russia, able to venerate Her great holy places. This time, a delegation of the Russian Church Abroad is accompanying the great holy Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God.

Spanning the ages, both in good times and in years of strife, millions of people turned in faith to the Heavenly Queen, in Her most pure icon. The Kursk Root Icon has survived two Times of Troubles – one during the time of the First False Dmitri, when in 1605 he entered Moscow with this icon at the head of a heathen army, attempting to appear Orthodox for the sake of the coming attempted eradication of Orthodoxy, and one in 1917, when the Russian Orthodox Church and faithful were subjected to terrible persecutions.

The modern world is suffering a great crisis of faith. We, in turn, believe that the arrival of the holy icon of the Most Pure Mother of God will awaken the souls of many, helping them to make a choice, to take on themselves the most important and the holy. May it also help them to accept Truth with all their hearts, whose call summons our whole being to action.

Faith shows man the correct path in life, determines one’s relationship with oneself, helps weather the storms of life and, at the end of life’s path, poses the question lying at the root of our earthly existence: in what did we believe?

Blessed is he, whose soul has known the road of faith from an early age. In live union with God, the human soul, in the words of the Venerable St. Macarius, becomes “all light, all vision, all rapture, all love, all mercy, all charity, and all kindness,” and in the rebirth of the soul, even the external appearance of man is transformed.

May this icon of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos, sanctified by the many prayers offered through it and its long history, be a conduit for Her blessings into our souls and a rock of our faith, no matter where in the world we may find ourselves. Indeed, the Most Blessed Virgin has, by Her presence in Her icon, established in almost every corner of the globe expanded her appanage, in the whole Orthodox Russian world and beyond the borders of Holy Russia.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill, who gave us his blessing to serve the Divine Liturgy here today, and to Your Eminence, for the touching words with which you addressed me and my fellow travelers. With much gratitude I address also all those archpastors, pastors, and all the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church, who by gathering here under the domes of this magnificent church and with their heartfelt and warm prayers, created a triumphant and festive welcome, and I wish you all spiritual peace and joy in the current visit of Our Lady Theotokos in Her Kursk Root Icon. Amen.

Translated by the
Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese
from the Official Website of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws