Reply of H.I.H. the Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georg’ievna to His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia Concerning His Congratulations on Her Imperial Highness’s 90-th Birthday, 26 October 2004

Madrid, 26 October 2004 

To His Holiness,
Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia 

Your Holiness!

With all My heart, I thank You for Your greeting on My 90-th birthday. I likewise wish You health, long life, and God’s help in leading the Russian Orthodox Church.

From the very moment when Our Dynasty began to make visits to Russia, I have always sensed Your Holiness’s prayerful kindness toward Me, and I have always recognized Your unwavering compassion and support for Our service and have counted on Your wise counsel.

Having lived 90 years abroad and looking back on all that I have lived through, I thank God for the gift of being able to see the return of My Motherland to its historical, 1000-year long path, of which the Orthodox Church has so much been a part, and to participate in the rebirth of the Great Russian Nation. During the time that God will yet give me to continue this life, I will be strengthened by My faith in the unbroken link of the Orthodox people and the Russian Imperial house, faith in the fact that My August Daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, and Her Heir, My grandson, Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, shall not want for the care and prayers of the Fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is so abundantly nourished by Your Holiness.

I hope soon to meet with You on My native Russian soil, and I ask Your archpastoral blessing, Your Holiness. Ever affectionately and prayerfully yours, 

H.I.H. Grand Duchess Leonida Georg’ievna