The Head of the House of Romanoff expresses her deepest condolences on the death of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine.

From the Head of the Russian Imperial House

to the Locum Tenens of the Metropolitan See of Kiev,

His Eminence Metropolitan Onufrii of Chernovtsi and Bukovyna

Your Eminence,

It was with profound sorrow that I learned of the death of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine.

The reposed archpastor made an enormous contribution to the history of Russian Orthodoxy, and to Orthodoxy the world over. Thanks to his love and wisdom, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which enjoys broad powers of self-government, was able to preserve unbroken its canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Vladimir possessed great strength of spirit; and even while enduring serious illness, he remained the steady Pilot for his flock and a prayerful intercessor and spiritual father of Orthodox Ukraine.

I will forever in my heart remember with gratitude His Beatitude’s invitation to come in 2011 to visit Ukraine and venerate the holy places in Kiev, the cradle of Russian Christianity.

I and my son and heir, Grand Duke George of Russia, offer you, and all the archpastors, pastors, and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, our deepest condolences on their sad loss, and we pray that God will grant repose to the newly-departed Metropolitan Vladimir in the abode of the righteous, and will grant him the gift of intercession with God for the suffering people of Ukraine and for us all.

I believe that the legacy of this unforgettable hierarch will be embraced, nurtured, preserved, and built upon by the fullness of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Asking Your Eminence’s holy prayers and blessing, I remain ever yours respectfully,

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

Maria

H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia

Madrid

July 5, 2014