September
22, 2009
Moscow:
An Address of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad in the
Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery
From
the editors: On September 21, the feast day of the Nativity of the
Most Holy Theotokos, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, accompanied
by a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia,
visited the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in Zvenigorod, where he
celebrated the festive Divine Liturgy. Taking part in the divine
service were members of the ROCOR delegation, Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk,
the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Savva, and monastery clergy.
Upon completion of the Divine Liturgy and a moloben with crucession,
Archimandrite Savva greeted Metropolitan Hilarion, presenting him with
an icon of the heavenly protector of the monastery. In his response,
the leader of the Russian Church Abroad said, in part, the following:
“Very
Reverend Father, dear Abbot! Beloved in the Lord brothers and sisters!
Please
accept from me and from all of the members of the ROCOR delegation our
heartfelt gratitude for your welcome and the love-filled words of your
well-wishing. I, in turn, greet you, Reverend Father and, through you,
the brethren and faithful of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery.
We
have been given a great comfort in serving the Divine Liturgy together
in the monastery of the Venerable St. Savva.
Today
we lifted up our prayers of thanksgiving to the Chief Shepherd, our
Lord Jesus Christ, for his generous blessing, by which the tree of
monasticism blossomed in the north of Russia, and thanks to which it
bore rich fruit, with the juice of which our Russian monasteries
continue to quench the spiritual thirst of many.
We
wholeheartedly thank His
Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill,
the great archimandrite
of this
holy monastery,
for his invitation
to visit
this holy
place. We rejoice also in our ability to share those glad feelings, which
fill our hearts, toward the Russian people, who suffered greatly
during the 20th Century from the persecutions of their own
people and the invasion of foreign enemies, and which now is being
spiritually restored and reborn. The ideals by which all Russians,
both in the homeland and in the Diaspora, live their lives, strengthen
the brotherhood and good collaboration between the Church in the
Fatherland and Her partner abroad. We, in turn, consider it our duty
to pray with zealously for this, and to put forward all possible
efforts toward realizing the successful development and strengthening
of the union, restored in May of 2007, within the Russian Orthodox
Church.
May
the Lord fortify You, Most Reverend Father, and bless your works, that
they may bring much great good to this holy monastery, to its
brethren, and its pilgrims!
May
the blessings and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the
Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all!
Amen.”
Afterward,
members of the delegation gave to the abbot a copy of the miraculous
Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God.
Photo-report
