The Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, congratulated His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia, on the 15-th Anniversary of his Enthronement

Madrid, 10 June 2005

To His Holiness
Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia 

Your Holiness!

I send my heartfelt congratulations to you on the 15-th anniversary of your patriarchal enthronement. I prayerfully wish you health and strength, so that your service to the Russian Church and to global Orthodoxy will continue for many, many years to come.

As was once the case with our ancestor, Patriarch Filaret, your Holiness was called by God to the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church at a time of historic transition—a complex time, contradictory, but one offering hope. During the years of Your Patriarchate, our people have freed themselves from the godless yoke and have begun to renew their traditional ways of life. At the same time, we have struggled with new temptations and seductions, which only strong faith and boundless love for the Motherland can enable us to avoid. All of your life, you have provided an example of Christian service, and from the very heights of the Patriarchal Throne, you have blessed the labors of the true sons and daughters of the Fatherland.

My Most August Mother, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, and My Son and Heir, Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, also ask that you accept their warm congratulations.

Asking Your archpastoral prayers and blessing, I remain your Holiness’s most devoted and affectionate, 

H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna
Head of the Russian Imperial House