Metropolitan Jonah sends letter of condolence to Patriarchal Locum tenens of the Church of Russia

On December 6, 2008, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah sent a letter of condolence to His Eminence, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Patriarchal Locum tenens of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Jonah’s letter reads as follows.

“It is with a heavy heart that I convey to you, and through you to the Holy Synod and all the hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate, to the clergy, monastics and faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church, the sympathy and love of the Orthodox Church in America. Together with you we grieve at the death of His Holiness Patriarch Aleksy II, praying that the Lord will give him rest ‘where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.’

“The hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America saw in Patriarch Aleksy a strong and steady spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. In his life of nearly eighty years he labored as a priest and a bishop during long decades of the rule of state atheism. During these years the life of the Holy Orthodox Church of Russia was rich inwardly, in liturgy and prayer and the confession of the Holy Orthodox Faith, but constrained and confined and persecuted outwardly. To navigate the ship of the Church in these circumstances required the gentleness of doves and the wisdom of serpents.

“When His Holiness Aleksy was elected Patriarch of Moscow, the system of state atheism was collapsing. Russia and the other newly independent states entered into a period of complicated change. In this period the Orthodox Church acquired the freedom to perform its mission in society openly. Liberty came through processes which brought change to society by dismantling the old patterns. These processes also brought new trials and dangers.

“In the midst of this time of opportunity and danger, the late Patriarch Aleksy gave himself to the task of building the Church from the rubble of the decades of destruction. As he often said, the challenge of restoring and healing the souls of people is a more urgent and more difficult task than rebuilding churches. Carrying on his shoulders the immense burden of governing the Church of Russia, Patriarch Aleksy was a constant celebrant of the liturgical services, both gaining strength for his service as Patriarch, and giving strength and encouragement to all.

“In his last message to the Orthodox Church in America, Patriarch Aleksy wrote a wise, moving, and heart-felt letter to the 15th All American Council at which I was elected as Primate of our Church. As a young bishop and young primate, I looked forward to Patriarch Aleksy’s wise counsel. It is a matter of personal grief and regret for me that I will not have access to this counsel. Yet I will reflect on his service as Patriarch, seeking wisdom for my own service in his example of steadfast adherence to prayer, to liturgical celebration, and to spiritual intercession for the people of God.

“Your Eminence! Be assured that the Holy Orthodox Church in America accompanies your Church in its time of mourning with love and affection.

His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia fell asleep in the Lord at 79 years of age on Friday, December 5, 2008. Funeral services for Patriarch Aleksy will take place on Tuesday, December 9, 2008, at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Moscow. Representing the Orthodox Church in America at the services will be His Eminence, Archbishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada, chair of the OCA’s Office of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations.

May the memory of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia be eternal!