NEW YORK: October 16, 2017
Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York Sends a Message to the Round-Table Discussion of the 100th Anniversary of the Tragic Events in Russia

From the Editors: On Sunday, October 15, 2017, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, a group of Church-centered Russians from the greater New York area hosted a round-table discussion at the Synodal Residence at 75 East 93rd Street, NY, NY, on the topic of the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution and the origins of the Russian diaspora. Participating were clergymen and laity of the local Russian community

Dear in the Lord Fathers, Brothers and Sisters:

I express my heartfelt greetings wo the participants in the round tabled devoted to the 100th anniversary of the tragic events connected with the Revolution, when many Russians were forced to flee their Homeland and found themselves in foreign lands. Far from their much-suffering Fatherland, they tried in every way not only to preserve but to increase the great legacy they received from their ancestors. This reminds me of the words of an elder spiritual father, an eminent hierarch of the Russian Church. After performing the monastic tonsure of a disciple, a future archpastor who had just graduated from Moscow State University and enrolled in Moscow Theological Academy, this elder said: “Today you received in your hands a crystal vessel filled to the top with water. Lead your life in such a way as to avoid spilling its contents.”

Our predecessors were given a rich, spiritual and cultural vessel which even now is being handed from generation to generation. Moreover, the aroma of this spiritual bouquet was also inhaled by the local populations of the many countries where Russian have come to live, as a result of which our Orthodox faith now shines throughout the entire world.

I invoke Divine blessings upon all the participants of this round table and prayerfully wish you an interesting, edifying and beneficial discussion. May it bring forth fruit not only in the hearts of the participants but throughout our church life!

With love in the Lord,

+HILARION,
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

October 15, 2017.