2015-04-21 The Head of the House of Romanoff Congratulates Abbot Jeremiah of the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos on his approaching 100th birthday. An Imperial Rescript was personally presented to the Schema-Archimandrite by Tsesarevich George of Russia on Mount Athos

From the Head of the Russian Imperial House

To Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah
Abbot of St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos

Dear Reverend Father!

I would like to extend to you my heartfelt congratulations on your approaching 100th birthday.

The Lord ordained that you should endure all the trials and tribulations that were sent down upon our people in the 20th century.

You were born during the reign of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II, when Russia had already plunged into the First World War. Your childhood coincided with the Revolution and the Civil War. The brutal repression of the atheistic totalitarian regime took the lives of your entire family. When you finally managed to escape from the prison camp to which you had been confined, your life remained under constant threat because of your confession of the Orthodox Faith. During World War II, you, like millions of others, were tortured and tormented in a Nazi concentration camp. After your liberation and return to Russia, you were again persecuted for your religious beliefs. But all the many sufferings you bore only served to strengthen in your heart your abiding faith, love, and hope.

In 1957, you embarked on the path of monasticism and devoted yourself wholeheartedly to service to the Church of God. The Holy and Venerable St. Kuksha of Odessa and the Holy Confessor and Schema-Archimandrite Pimen became your spiritual mentors. After many years of waiting, you finally were granted permission to go to the Holy Mountain and to enter the community of monastics at the St. Panteleimon Monastery, of which you were elected abbot in 1979. Over the course of more than 35 years, you have led this holy community, providing for all an example of selfless devotion, kindness, and wisdom.

I pray for your health, length of days, and God’s blessing in all your endeavors.

This letter will be presented to you by my son and heir, Grand Duke George of Russia, who is departing tomorrow on a pilgrimage to Mount Athos. He will also be presenting as a gift from our House to St. Panteleimon Monastery an icon of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco with a fragment of his holy relics, which was given to me by Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western American.

St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco was a loyal friend and spiritual mentor of my grandfather and father. Through the prayers of this great miracle-worker, my mother was once healed of a serious illness. I was only 12 years old when St. John departed this life, but I remember how my parents loved him and I continue to feel his intercessions on our behalf every day.

Asking your holy prayers and blessing, be assured of our sincere affection and deepest respect.

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

Madrid, April 8/21, 2015