MOSCOW: 5 November 2021
Patriarchal congratulations to the participants of the memorial to the 50th anniversary of the repose of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy

To His Eminence
HILARION,
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad

To the Relatives and Friends of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy

To the Organizers, Participants and Guests of the Memorial Services on the
50th Anniversary of the Repose of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy

Your Eminence,
Honorable Fathers, Dear Brothers and Sisters:

I extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you who have gathered to participate in the memorial events on the 50th anniversary of the day of the repose of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy of blessed memory.

Over the course of his entire difficult life, which was filled with tribulations and deprivations, the late pastor strove to serve as an example of firm hope in Divine Providence and utter trust in the Creator. He belonged to a generation which preserved the true faith and devotion to the Church in the difficult years of the 20th century both in the Homeland and beyond her borders.

Fr Seraphim especially tended to the Orthodox education of young people, to which his efforts in the Association of Russian Explorers Outside of Russia summer camp bore witness, and the parish school he established, and of course the renowned textbook The Law of God for Family and School, which revealed the fundamentals of the faith to young people.

In 1971, at the funeral of Fr Seraphim, Archbishop Averky (Taushev) noted that “his most pronounced character trait… was pastoral empathetic love for his flock.” May this crucial Gospel virtue guide our own actions, strengthen us in faith and inspire in us works of mercy.

Invoking upon you all the blessings of the Lord,

+ KIRILL,
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.