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Dear Brothers and Sisters, beloved in the Lord,
Esteemed Benefactors of the Russian Orthodox Youth Committee!
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By His ineffable mercy, the Almighty Lord preserves His Church and us, Her children, in these difficult times. As always, we prayerfully wish everyone strength and health of soul and body from the Lord, peace, tranquility and prosperity to our Fatherland and to every Orthodox Christian, wherever he may be in this new “favorable year of the Lord” (Is. 61; 1-2, Luke 4:19).
This year our calendar is dedicated to a great historical, or better to say, providential event: 45 years ago, on November 1, 1981, our Russian Orthodox Church Abroad glorified the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. A preliminary decision on the canonization of the martyrs of the 20th century was made at the Bishops’ Council in 1971, when the bishops of the ROCOR, responding to numerous appeals from the clergy and believers in the diaspora and in the Fatherland, approved a resolution that stated: “The Bishops’ Council bows with reverence before the sacred feat of the Russian New Martyrs and sympathizes with their glorification.” Already back in 1926, and a century has passed since then! - "A eulogy to the new Holy Martyrs of the Russian Church" was published in the "Church News" by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky) - the second First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad: "Your wounds, like many open mouths, themselves speak of your patience; your blood speaks better than the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:24). .... We were destined to be witnesses of your wondrous deeds, and love, and service, and faith, and patience (Rev. 2:18), and upon us lies the sacred duty to proclaim them to the world. ... Further, speaking about the one who, by the will of God, was the first to enter the path of the cross of the host of our New Martyrs of Russia, that is, about Saint Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia, Bishop Anastasy continues: “You, the primate of the ancient Kievan Church, the namesake of the holy Enlightener of Rus', were to begin the glorious service of struggle and suffering; you became the leader of the God-crowned regiment, and may the first crown of praise be given to you by us. Divine Wisdom itself foretold that on the Kiev mountains, where the sign of the Holy Cross was once established by the Apostolic hand, the successor of the apostles would be raised to the cross as one of the first holy martyrs of our days. The baptism of the Russian Church by fire and blood was to begin from there, where the first stone was laid in its foundation and where the Russian people initially received baptism by water.” And it inevitably comes to mind that perhaps it is no coincidence that the current persecution of the Orthodox Church in the lands of Kievan Rus continues there, in the holy monasteries of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
The Calendar for 2026 contains brief information on the history of the feat of the New Martyrs of Russia, their glorification, as well as numerous photographs.
+Gabriel,
Archbishop of Montréal & Canada,
President of the Russian Orthodox Youth Committee |
