June 28, 2016
Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York on
Russian Church Abroad’s Day of Orthodox Youth, Celebrated on Sunday
of All Saints
Since 2009, the Russian Church Abroad traditionally celebrates the
Day of Orthodox Youth on the Sunday of All Saints. On Sunday, June
26, the youth choir sang Divine Liturgy in
the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City. Upon
completion of Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America &
New York addressed the Orthodox youth, clergy, and faithful with an
epistle:
Beloved in the Lord Brothers and Sisters!
I
send my heartfelt greetings on the feast of All Saints, and the Day
of Orthodox Youth celebrated on this day, which was established by
the Russian Church Abroad seven years ago.
There is not one day of the year when we do not celebrate the memory
of one saint or another. On most days, we commemorate several
saints. There are as many saints as there are stars in the heavens.
Some are known to us by name and by their spiritual feats, some are
known only to God. If we read the lives of the saints and think
about them, we will see that, although their lives were very
different, some of them lived very much like we do, but they came to
love Christ, heard His call, dedicated themselves to God, and
devoted their lives to fulfill His commandments.
This is what sainthood means.
And so Christ the Savior summons us to sainthood: He calls upon us
to completely change our attitude toward life, to repent of our
sins, to correct our errant ways, and to follow the saints into the
Kingdom of Heaven. As the Apostle Peter said, "But as He which hath
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" (I
Peter 1:15). And we must learn to repent and fulfill Christ’s
commandments from no one but the saints themselves, for by learning
about their lives and through conversation with them in prayer,
saintliness is communicated to us.
How are we to emulate the saints on earth? We should hold the Living
God in our hearts, not abandon our interpersonal relationships,
share heartfelt warmth and attention with our neighbors, help those
who are in need, strengthen your parish families, and not
distinguish between those born here and those who came from afar.
All of you young people must become the most dynamic, most
blossoming foundation of your parishes. This is especially important
for us who live far from our historic homeland, where it is so
important to bear witness to Christ before the world, to preserve
our Russian legacy – Russian culture, language, and the wonderful
tradition developed over decades within our Russian Church Abroad of
youthful volunteer service.
Remembering the wishes of Metropolitan Laurus of blessed memory,
that "youth is not only our future, it is our present, which
deserves special attention" as well as pastoral care, I call upon
our clergy and faithful to [augment] your prayers for our young
generation, that the Lord strengthen in their young hearts faith and
love for God, that He grant them the strength to follow the path of
the Gospel. I call upon you to support the missionary youth programs
and all good efforts.
I call upon you young people to be worthy of the lofty call of
Christianity, to maintain a fervent heart, genuine love for God and
neighbor, I wish you success in your studies, in prayers and good
deeds, to learn to discern good from evil in these wicked times,
truth from deceit, to try to make this world better and kinder, in
other words, to emulate the saints. I invoke the abundant aid of God
in all your good deeds and efforts.
+HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York
First Hierarch of
the Russian Church Abroad
Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese
