Greetings From the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, on the Occasion of the 300th Anniversary of the Founding of Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin)

I send my heartfelt greetings to all the participants in the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Tsarskoe Selo.

For three hundred years, this city, which became home for my royal ancestors, and which was celebrated by the great Pushkin and has long been loved by all our countrymen, has enjoyed a unique spiritual and cultural status. Remembering all those who have worked to build and adorn the city of Tsarskoe Selo over these many centuries, I want especially to mention the achievements of those who labored to restore these monuments from the ruins of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, and also the construction workers and benefactors of the rebuilt St. Catherine’s Cathedral, the consecration of which by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will be the centerpiece of these celebrations.

I am glad that the anniversary of the founding of Tsarskoe Selo will be celebrated in such an official manner, and I thank Governor V. I. Matvienko of St. Petersburg for her invitation to participate in these events. Unfortunately, circumstances do not permit me to be in Russia at the time of these celebrations, but I will be with you all in spirit and in prayer. Through God’s mercy, when I was in St. Petersburg for the burial of my most august mother, Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna, I had the opportunity to visit Tsarskoe Selo, a place that was so dear to my mother’s heart, and with the help of friends of Our House and in commemoration of her soul, I donated two holy relics to churches in Tsarskoe Selo: a copy of the Fedorov Icon of the Mother of God, and a fragment of the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. I believe with conviction that the Lord, through the intercessions of His Most Pure Mother and St. Catherine, will send down to the residents of Tsarskoe Selo and to all the citizens of Russia mutual love, peace, and prosperity.

My son and Heir, H.I.H. Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, joins me in sending congratulations and greetings to you all.

[The original is signed in Her Imperial Highness’s own hand:]

Maria

Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna

Madrid, 13/26 June 2010

The Russian version was certified as identical with the original:
A.N. Zakatov
Director of the Chancellery of Her Imperial Highness