NEW YORK: April 22, 2022
The First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad sends Paschal greetings to the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

To His Beatitude
ONOUPHRY,
Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine

Your Beatitude, Dear Vladyka, CHRIST IS RISEN!

It is with profound joy that I greet Your Beatitude on the advent of the Feast of Feasts-the Bright Resurrection of Christ! Great and most-blessed is this sacred and salvific night, declaring to all of humankind the beginning of a new Kingdom-a reign of light, of truth and love, which “neither wilts… nor sees corruption” (Psalms 16:10), as the Psalm-singer declared.

We all live in a world where the consequences of the freedom of human will leads to sufferings, illness and death. Only the Innocent Sufferer, God-Man, could destroy this shameful cycle of servitude to sin, bringing forth Himself in Sacrifice, “for us men and for our salvation.” Therefore, following Him “in the Lord’s wandering,” enduring His abandonment on the Cross as a mortal, we hope and believe that the present tribulations and calamities will lead us Orthodox Christians to “the unwaning day of the Kingdom of Christ.”

Now, prayerfully standing before Christ the Life-Giver, we humbly beseech on Your behalf, for Your brother archpastors, pastors, monastics and the multitude of children of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the beleaguered hearts of all those who have suffered from this war, that which is sung during Paschal night: “O Pascha, deliverer from sorrow!” May “this chosen and holy day” bring consolation and joy, a torrent of mercy, help and Divine aid for you all!

May this life-affirming bliss, the Divine Light, shining forth from the Life-Bearing Tomb of the Lord, become a bottomless source of spiritual strength bolstering You and all those who are with You, and moreover the entire God-loving and faithful flock of the Holy Church!

Asking You holy prayers for the archpastors, pastors and flock of the Russian Church Abroad and for my unworthiness, I remain with love in the Lord,

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

Pascha of Christ 2022