Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman for Sanctity of Life Sunday

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman Sanctity of Life Sunday January 20, 2008

To the Venerable Hierarch, Clergy, Monastics and Faithful

of the Orthodox Church in America

Dearly Beloved in Christ:

A most moving example of praise to God for the great gift of life comes from the words of the Akathist “Glory to God for all things.” This hymn was the work of Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestanov)—Prince Boris Petrovich, although it has also been attributed to Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov. Among the verses we read the following.

O Lord, how lovely it is to be Thy guest. Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching to the skies; waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun’s golden rays and the scudding clouds. All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the depth of tenderness. Birds and beasts of the forest bear the imprint of Thy love. Blessed are you, mother earth, in your fleeting loveliness, which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last forever, in the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, the cry rings out: Alleluia!

Through the centuries mankind has beheld the beauty of the world, the sights and sounds and all that the senses take in, with a deep joy and gratitude to be alive. The above words reflect this sentiment in picturesque and poetic language. However, they also remind us that all that we perceive in the world is a reflection of the beauty of the heavenly realm. The beauty in the life that we live today is but a foretaste of the beauty that we will experience in the age to come.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, said that He has come to His sheep: “that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). What a blessed gift! But with each gift comes responsibility. As human beings, given the gift of life by God—life in His very image and likeness—we must strive to honor and preserve human life at all times. This is nowhere more crucial than with the lives of those who have little or no voice in our society. We have seen how millions of unborn children, with no possibility to speak out for themselves, have been lost. We fear for the chronically ill, the elderly, and others whose lives are deemed to be without “quality”. We must speak out for these people whose lives are no less precious and bear no less ontological “quality” than our own, because all humanity is created for life, by Him who is the Giver-of-Life.

Let us involve ourselves in acts that honor the fundamental sanctity of life. “With one heart and one mind”, on this Sanctity of Life Sunday, and every day, we will pray that those who hold the lives of others in their hands might be moved to cherish and protect them rather than take them away. Let us reach out to comfort those who have fallen victim to a culture that regards human life as disposable, offering them a sign of God’s mercy and the hope of reconciliation. In this manner let us strive always to be living examples of that joyful life so abundantly given to us—life that, although originating in this world, has as its fulfillment the radiance of God’s Kingdom.

With love in Christ,

+ HERMAN

Archbishop of Washington and New York

Metropolitan of All America and Canada

The Petitions and Prayer for Sanctity of Life Sunday can be viewed online or downloaded in PDF format.