Reply of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia to the Congratulatory Letter send by the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna

15 September 2006
No. 6316

To Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna 

Your Imperial Highness!

I send you my heartfelt thanks for your congratulations and your kind words on the occasion of the 45-th anniversary of my consecration as a bishop.

Looking back over these years, I can say that these have been years of fulfillment of hopes, years of creation and fruitful years for the good of the Mother Church.

In Russia one clearly senses that now is a spiritual springtime, which the people of Russia are experiencing as they make their way on the path of rebirth to the ancestral faith of their fathers.

This rebirth is the chief occupation of the entire Russian Orthodox Church.

I wish you and all the members of the Russian Imperial House good health, peace, joy, and blessings. May the Lord be a help to you in all your affairs.

With respect, 

Aleksei
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia