Paschal greeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent greetings with the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Church to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches: His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Irenej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Hyeronimos II of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. The text is given below.
CHRIST IS RISEN!
I wholeheartedly greet You with the Feast of feasts and Triumph of triumphs – the Holy Pascha.
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24) as our Saviour “is the beginning, the first born from the dead; and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross”(cf. 1 Col 1:18-20).
Today He is making us the participants of His Resurrection while opening the gates of paradise lost by our forefathers.
I pray to the Lord to make all His faithful to take after His sacrificial service so that we can manifest our unity with Him being likeminded and having love for one another (cf. Jn 13:35).
May “the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet 5:10) together with all Your flock and grant peace and the all-conquering Paschal joy from above.
With brotherly love in the Risen Lord,
+ KIRILL
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia