Examples of letters to the patriarchate and diocese. An open letter to Patriarch Kirill from a layman

This letter was sent by me to the press service of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' [email protected], however, without much hope that it will reach the addressee. Having some experience, for this purpose I publish it in Live Book.

Holy Master, bless!

An ineradicable pain in my soul forced me to write you this impartial letter... For the hitherto unprecedented general retreat (primarily due to the fault of the hierarchs) from the purity of the Orthodox faith, its reduction to the level of ideology, which creates the appearance of legitimacy for the current usurper regime, and, as a consequence of this , by all our enemies, its humiliation and desecration... For our Motherland, mercilessly robbed by the invaders and already destined for slaughter and division... For our once great Orthodox people, languishing under the Jewish yoke, literally now standing on the verge of disappearing from the face of the earth ...
Lord, help us!!!

I am fully aware that in our pragmatic age, when human relationships have lost all sacredness, and even in church life it is often replaced only by its imitation, this act of mine by many, alas, most likely by you, will be regarded as stupidity, whim, charm , manifestation of excessive pride... and the like. Indeed, recently among the Orthodox there has been a strong opinion that the Lord reveals His Holy will necessarily through some perspicacious elders, for Christ’s sake (which is often not a fact) holy fools and other blessed “kal” And to passers-by." (Thank God, on Athos “insight” is still not held in high esteem.) And this idea is unconditionally accepted by everyone and suits everyone, first of all, ... with the opportunity to interpret the “secret allegory” of the elders and blessed ones, as it is convenient and beneficial for everyone. But, as you know, God is in truth. But the truth is rarely convenient and beneficial for us, in the passions of the children of this evil age. And therefore, often, we are unable to accept the words of truth, and therefore the voice of God through them, and reject them, justifying ourselves by the fact that they came from the lips of someone unworthy and sinful.
I understand, and what temptations will follow this appeal to you. (On the spiritual plane, first of all...) But I must tell you what has accumulated in my heart. Since my conscience does not allow me to remain “prudently” and “humbly” silent, the Russian people have no time left to wait until someone else, more worthy, tells you these words.
Do not take this letter as a denunciation of yet another “zealot beyond reason.” Nowadays everyone and everyone is denouncing you; this will not surprise you and will not move you to anything, and I do not intend to join the ranks of your denouncers. On the contrary, being a great sinner myself, I understand you in many ways, I sympathize with you and wish you to repent (in the Greek meaning - to change) and come to the mind of the Truth. And I am addressing you through an open letter not with the goal of “revealing the nakedness of my father,” but only because I cannot find any other way to convey its contents to you.
As for the fact that, by calling a spade a spade, I can lead the church people into temptation, I will say that the times have already passed when this could confuse someone. In modern society, it is extremely difficult to hide information; it very quickly becomes public knowledge, and Orthodox Christians are tempted precisely by the fact that numerous recent scandals around the Church are hushed up or clumsily justified, and the most pressing internal church problems are not resolved.
Knowing full well that you - let's be honest - have long been one of the main conductors of globalist processes in Russia (your participation in the Congress of Leaders of World Religions currently taking place in Astana is eloquent confirmation of this) and, according to the plans of the creators of the existing system of Russian power, you are an integral part of it and built into it to create the illusion of legitimacy, I don’t have any special hopes for the success of my enterprise. However, I am deeply convinced that you, by the grace of your rank, are now the only person in this world , which by one expression of his will can turn the course of History, destroying all the plans of our adversaries, and thereby save Orthodoxy and the Russian people from the fate prepared for them by our enemies. That is why I consider it my duty to convey this conviction to you, no matter how minimal the chances of understanding on your part may be.
And hope for understanding, no matter what, remains. After all, “the royal heart is in the hand of God”... And even more so, the patriarchal heart.
Firstly , in my opinion, you are still a believer. Your past in this context does not bother me at all - Almighty God “turns evil into good.” The providence of God in its greatness and wisdom is indescribable, and if He had not allowed you to be drawn into the Masonic net, you would not have become the Patriarch of All Rus'. (This, as you yourself understand very well, is the reality of today’s reality.) ...And that means they would not have become the person who is now able to change the world. (!)
Secondly , if we are talking about personalities, then Metropolitan Kirill and His Holiness Patriarch of All Rus' Kirill are two hypostases of the same person, but with completely different life motivations, and therefore different spiritual dispensations. How Patriarch Kirill, in the earthly hierarchy you have reached the very top, therefore all kinds of career aspirations and all the associated everyday concerns that once occupied metropolitan Kirill, you are already deprived. It's time to think about Eternal Life and its mark in Russian History .
And that's why, Thirdly , Your speech at the World Russian People's Council, dedicated to the significance of the feat of the Patriarch-Martyr Hermogenes for our time, gives reason to believe that, thank God, similar thoughts are visiting you. http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/77467.html
I'll quote you:
“...In conditions when the government was in turmoil and had lost legitimacy in the eyes of the population, the Orthodox Church became the main integrating factor of Russian society. It was the Church, in the person of its High Hierarchs, that did not recognize the legitimacy of impostors and foreign pretenders to the Russian throne. It was the Church, through the letters of Patriarch Hermogenes, that called the people to the national liberation struggle.”
Surkov's trace is visible in this speech, but for whatever purpose and at whose order this word was spoken, I am sure that you drew analogies with today and in your thoughts experienced yourself in the place of St. Patriarch Hermogenes. And no matter what excuses you find for yourself, force yourself to believe your own words that “the majority of our people consciously, wisely and freely elected” Putin as President of the Russian Federation, and that he has the trust of the people http://www.patriarchia.ru/db /text/2206277.html , you never can. Your conscience will always convict you.
And this ominous video is a reproach to you and an eternal reminder that you blessed on the Russian throne a terrible tyrant and gravedigger of the Russian people, anathematized by us here on Mount Athos.

Therefore, His Holiness, we pray that the Lord will grant you the spiritual strength to disassociate yourself from the Pretender, follow the example of the Holy Martyr Hermogenes and gather together the Russian people to overcome the Troubles. After all, you yourself write that the soul that gives life to the Russian people’s body is our Orthodox Church. That is why the Russian people are now in an extremely oppressed, already dying state, because the strength of their soul - the Russian Orthodox Church - has dried up as a result of the general and widespread deviation from the canons, oblivion of traditions and groveling before the powerful of this world.
Can we restore the strength of our Church? first of all and only one is yours, Most Holy Master, volitional impulse. Point to the enemy who is entrenched in the Kremlin, and the entire Russian people and all Orthodox Christians will rise up behind you to save Russia from usurpers and uninvited guests.
And if you can find the strength in yourself to accomplish this feat, a Victory Crown in Heaven and a grateful people’s memory in Russian History await you. Amen!
And let the regrettable death of your predecessor, who in 1993 could have become the new Hermogenes, be a warning to you, Most Holy Master, and a bitter example. But the scouting attitudes he received from his time in the RSHD fettered his will. He could not overcome his fear of the one-fingered demon, and therefore he lost his Heavenly rewards and ended his earthly journey ingloriously.
May his fate not befall you, Most Holy Master!

Monk Afanasy,
Heron of the hesychastirion of St. Sava of Serbia on Karulia.
Holy Mount Athos, May 31, 2012.

P.S. (10.06.2012.) On your Facebook page, His Holiness, the letter hung for some time. I would like to believe that it was deleted by vile moderators who did not notify you about it. Let's wait and pray that you will know about this letter.

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OPEN LETTER

Patriarch of All Rus' His Holiness Kirill
from Russian families who traditionally vacation in the village of Divnomorskoye, Gelendzhik municipality.

Hello, Your Holiness.

Most of us are Orthodox Christians and parishioners of churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. We come to churches with our joys and sorrows and invariably receive love, support and consolation here.

However, life sometimes tests us and poses questions to us that are difficult to solve only on our own. This is precisely what prompted our families to turn to you personally, Your Holiness, and ask for your personal, caring participation in an issue that directly affects our safety and the safety of our children.

The history of the village of Divnomorskoye, where we have been vacationing for many decades, has always been and remains connected with the resort business, with the recreation and recovery of millions of our compatriots. Over more than a century and a half of its existence, the village has acquired well-deserved fame and reputation as a national resort with unique recreational, historical and cultural facilities.

The most famous of them are the world's largest Dzhankhotsky forest of relict Pitsunda pine and the Old Dzhankhotsky (Shcherbinovskaya) road passing through its territory, laid by Fyodor Andreevich Shcherbina, who came from a priest's family and an outstanding public figure of pre-revolutionary Russia - the founder of domestic statistical science, corresponding member of St. -Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences, founder of the Kuban Polytechnic Institute, deputy of the 2nd State Duma from the Kuban region, political and spiritual leader of the Kuban Cossacks, author of the fundamental works “History of the Kuban Cossack Army”, “Kuban Cossacks and their Atamans” and many others.

This road, which connected Divnomorskoye with the village of Dzhanhot and was built entirely with the money of Fyodor Andreevich, was originally conceived by him as publicly accessible and remained so for over one hundred and thirty years. Its dual purpose - both as a transport artery and as a unique excursion and tourist route - remained until the 70s of the last century, when the parallel Gelendzhik-Praskoveevka highway was built. Since then, the Shcherbinovskaya road has been used as a path, and its fame as a truly paradise for tourists and vacationers has only increased.

Thus, according to the Gelendzhik Bureau of Tourism and Excursions, from the mid-70s until the collapse of the USSR, at least 100 thousand official tourists passed through it annually, while the number of “unofficial” ones, according to local historians, exceeded a million. Similar data, in particular, is given in her book “Gelendzhik - with Love” by the famous local architect and historian Maya Makarovna Osicheva, who worked as a guide on this route for many years. For entire generations of our citizens, holidays in Greater Gelendzhik have long been firmly associated with the opportunity to visit the Old Dzhankhot (Shcherbinovskaya) road and once again admire its unique beauty.

Understanding its role as the most important recreational area of ​​the resort city, the authorities of Gelendzhik and the administration of the Golubaya Dal sanatorium built a stone staircase and alley back in the 60s, which allowed vacationers and the local population to freely access the Old Dzhankhot road directly from the embankment of the village of Divnomorskoye. And people, of course, took advantage of this opportunity: vacationers, especially families, happily alternated visiting beaches and noisy embankments with calm walks along shady serpentines filled with the air of a pine forest. As for the population of Divnomorskoye, for them the road was also the shortest route to the village cemetery, where relatives and friends are buried.

The events of the 90s, which led to the collapse of the previous system of mass tourism and recreation, also affected Divnomorskoe. But even in the most difficult times for the village, there were enough Russian families for whom its unique nature was still beyond competition. They put up with the problems they encountered at every step, but at the same time they returned again and again to their favorite bays, forests and hiking trails that had been well-trodden since childhood. It was thanks to them that the village survived in the 90s and developed in the 2000s; it was they who, annually leaving a significant part of their family budgets here, sincerely hoped for its cultural and competitive future.

Unfortunately, these hopes have not yet been realized. Moreover: everyone who loves Divnomorskoye is now experiencing the deepest shock, the main reason for which was the deprivation of vacationers of traditional access to historically established recreational facilities - and above all to the Dzhankhotsky forest of relict Pitsunda pine and the Old Dzhankhotsky (Shcherbinovskaya) road. Its key plot, directly adjacent to the village, was arbitrarily appropriated and blocked by the owner of a private mansion built on Golubodalskaya Street, 14.

The indigenous residents of Divnomorskoe are experiencing no less shock in this regard. After all, this section of the road served as their only convenient and safe access to the forest and to the village cemetery (the bypass road, along the narrow and oversaturated Praskovey highway, is many times longer and is associated with a significant risk to life).

Both we and the residents of the village are non-conflict people. Knowing that the Law is on our side, we, nevertheless, were in no hurry to get involved in litigation and relied entirely on the conscience of this homeowner and his (albeit belated) understanding that it was impossible to base our own on the lawless violation of the interests of compatriots and putting their lives in danger well-being and comfort.

Our even greater hopes were connected with the speedy completion of the construction of the Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church, adjacent to the mansion on Golubodalskaya, 14. We were convinced that the Church, being aware of the cultural and historical significance of the Old Dzhankhotskaya (Shcherbinovskaya) road and its extreme importance for the local population and vacationers, will act as a reliable guarantor of its traditional integrity and accessibility to the public.

However, lately we are increasingly faced with facts that fill our hearts with bewilderment and anxiety. So, this fall, in the vicinity of the Spiritual and Cultural Center, a three-meter concrete fence was erected, which, following the same concrete fence of the mansion on Golubodalskaya, 14 (and, in fact, being its continuation), tightly blocked the area of ​​​​Old Dzhankhotskaya (Shcherbinovskaya) on both sides ) roads up to the village cemetery.

We, Your Holiness, consider such blocking completely unacceptable. And there are a number of reasons for this: legal, economic, spiritual and moral.

1.
This section of the road is located within the administrative boundaries of the village of Divnomorskoye and since the century before last it has served its population as the only convenient and safe access to the forest and to the village cemetery, that is, according to the Law (clauses 9,10,12 of Article 85 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), it is land of public use of the municipality and is not subject to any alienation or partitioning in principle. At the same time, passing along the upper border of coastal gorges, it actually represents that part of the sea coastline, which the Law (clauses 1,2,6,8 of Article 6 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation) considers exclusively as a territory for the common use of all citizens of the Russian Federation and intends for their free and safe stay and movement.

2.
Installing a fence in this place not only grossly violates the Law, but also forces the population of the village and vacationers to get to the forest and cemetery bypassing, covering a two-kilometer section of the busy Praskoveevsky highway on foot and every second risking being under the wheels of oncoming vehicles. Considering that next summer the entire flow of thousands of tourists and vacationers, traditionally flowing from Divnomorskoye towards Dzhankhotsky Bor, will move through the highway, the likelihood of accidents (especially with children!) here will increase many times over. It is also obvious that each such case will receive the widest publicity and public outcry, and a significant share of the moral responsibility for what happened will be assigned to the Church and its representatives. Since caring for children, their well-being and safety in the recent message of the President was declared to be the priority goals of the entire Russian society, you must agree, Your Holiness, that we have no right to allow this to happen.

3.
Without extensive and easily accessible recreational areas, a modern resort does not exist. This is a well-known truth. It has long been adopted by our neighbors and competitors: Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania. They develop their resorts, carefully preserving old ones and developing new public forest and park areas. They fight for every tourist (including Russian ones), attracting them with the opportunity to fully communicate with the rich nature of the Black Sea coast. The Dzhankhotsky forest of relict Pitsunda pine and the village of Divnomorskoye are parts of a single resort organism that has evolved over centuries. To cut the artery that naturally connects them means, in essence, to destroy this single living organism, to deal a fatal blow to the resort and its well-deserved reputation. After all, people come here from all over the country not at all to look at someone’s fences and put their own lives at risk. They need clean sea, air and a uniquely beautiful pine forest - a true calling card of the entire Gelendzhik region. To deprive them of convenient and safe access to these natural benefits means to deprive them of the good rest they are accustomed to in Divnomorskoye. We are already observing the attitude towards what is happening on the part of our friends from St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, and many other cities of Russia - and, believe me, it is extremely, extremely negative. Agree, Your Holiness, that people’s reaction to the appearance of the Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church here should and can be completely different.

4.
You, Your Holiness, constantly urge Russians “not to be Ivans who do not remember kinship”, you talk about the importance for the people of their historical memory and the examples of moral behavior stored in it. The clearest example of such behavior, of course, is the life of Fyodor Andreevich Shcherbina, a true patriot of Russia and the Kuban land. Right now, in our days, his long-awaited return to his homeland is taking place: on the initiative and with the participation of the governor of the Krasnodar region, the active support of the Cossacks, the Church and the entire population of Kuban, the ashes of Fyodor Andreevich were delivered from Prague and reburied in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Krasnodar, in mass editions His books are published, conferences dedicated to his scientific and spiritual heritage are held, a resolution was adopted by the Head of the Territory Administration to perpetuate his memory. In the coming years, the reconstruction and museumification of his estate in Dzhankhot will begin - the place where from 1910 to 1913 the main work of his life, the two-volume “History of the Kuban Cossack Army,” was created. It is obvious that the Old Dzhankhotskaya (Shcherbinovskaya) road, built by Fyodor Andreevich Shcherbina and faithfully serving people for over 130 years, will become the most important part of the future memorial complex. She is as much a monument to the great son and patriot of Russia as his books and journalism, a living symbol of the continuity of our spiritual traditions.

Believe me, Your Holiness: the fate of the Shcherbinovo road, its appearance and integrity will become evidence for many of our fellow citizens of how sincere the Church is in its calls and sermons. Agree that a blank fence blocking it is not the best remedy for historical unconsciousness. And not the most successful way to establish truly good and trusting relationships between the Church and society.

We, Your Holiness, are convinced that the current situation around the Shcherbinovo road is just a misunderstanding that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. The Church has all the possibilities for this. All that is required is good will and the strength of a moral example.

We are also very much looking forward to the fact that the Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church, justifying its high mission, will come up with a noble initiative to preserve and restore the Shcherbinovskaya road in its historical form, as well as giving it the official status of a historical and cultural monument of regional significance. And then, perhaps, our children and grandchildren will call her not only “Shcherbinovskaya”, but also “patriarchal”.

Thank you, Your Holiness, for reading our Appeal. May God give you health and strength in your tireless service for the good of the Fatherland.

(This letter was sent to the Patriarch 2 months ago. There is still no answer.)

"An open letter to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Your Holiness,
My name is Konstantin Yurievich Kirichenko, I live in St. Petersburg, baptized in 1994.
and the Russian Orthodox Church MP, since 2000 I regularly participate in the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, as well as in the life of the community. I serve voluntarily and without pay on weekends as an altar boy at one of the parishes in St. Petersburg. I know firsthand how important the Eucharistic practice is and how without it the life of the church community comes to a standstill. Not long ago I learned about the fate of my Orthodox brothers in India.
Former Anglican Bishop Rohan NehamaiYah https://vk.com/id243831527
and now a layman Polycarp, in 2012 he converted to Orthodoxy. Together with him, 50 more Anglican parishes expressed a desire to join Orthodoxy. According to him, he turned to the ROCOR and underwent liturgical practice in Taiwan with Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin)
and in January 2013, by invitation, arrived in Mumbai for priestly ordination. Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), priest Adrian Augustov (ROCOR) and Deacon Georgy Maximov (MP) gathered there, who refused to consecrate him due to the fact that, according to the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church, a candidate for holy orders must be at least 30 years old, and he was only only 28.
But we know for sure that in the Russian Orthodox Church they ordain priests at a much earlier age, we have 23-year-old deans in Karelia, and if you look at the Komi Republic, you get the feeling that young men there are ordained immediately after high school . Four years have passed since 2013, Polycarp is now 32 years old, but the Hindu community in the state of Maharashtra still does not have a permanent shepherd and cannot participate in the Eucharist.
Of the 50 parishes ready to convert to Orthodoxy, only 6 remain!!!
About 170 people. Here is what the layman Polycarp writes about this:
"I am still a layman and as such I am caring for this thriving mission. Why the ROC MP does not officially recognize us, I cannot say for sure. I was told that we belong to the ROC MP because we were called clergy of the ROC MP. Previously our process recognition took place under His Eminence, Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, head of foreign institutions (now Metropolitan). For 3 years, nothing happened. His Eminence, Archbishop Ambrose of Peterhof and rector of SPBDA took care of us and, out of concern, asked the interested bishops for us, but nothing happened. . His Eminence, Ambrose still wants us to be recognized, but he also says that he also does not know why the Church does not do this. Recently, His Excellency, the head of foreign institutions, Bishop Anthony of Bogorodsk, told my brother that the priests who previously worked. with us, they worked poorly, and he did not like their work. They did not provide any documents and any official information about us, so he cannot ask His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to recognize us at the moment. At the request of His Eminence, Ambrose, His Excellency, Anthony agreed to begin the process of our recognition. And he did as he said, he asked the priest who serves in the Russian embassy in New Delhi to visit our mission and document everything about us and give it to him. He will then ask His Holiness to decide our fate. But in the meantime, the priest who had previously agreed to visit us now refused it, citing the reason that he was afraid of the law. So we are back to the same situation. We have been waiting for 4 years already, this is the fifth year. We live in Orthodoxy without the Holy Mysteries, 3 members of the community have already died, but they could not accept the death sentence and could not receive a Christian funeral. They told me that they would make me a priest, but since then every time they say that they are thinking about it. We hope and believe in God, He will not leave us orphans. Sooner or later, even after my death, I believe that the Church will recognize us.
We have six communities in different villages. Communities - Blessed Holy Trinity, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Peter the Apostle, St. John the Apostle, St. Simon the Apostle and Holy Cross. Each congregation is led by a missionary who evangelizes and also leads the congregation in worship. All of our congregations worship in the huts where our missionaries live. Without real church life we ​​are half dead. We need a sacramental church life that can be experienced not only spiritually, but also through sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. What can I give in return for such a life, I don’t know; Even my life does not count as anything if I want to exchange. We are trying to do our best for this mission, but our efforts and attempts are not enough. We need help. We need the help of our Mother - the Holy Church - to live the life for which we die. We need the help of prayers and intercessions from our Orthodox brothers in Russia and elsewhere. We need financial assistance to help missionaries continue their work. We need financial assistance to meet mission needs. We need help with moral support so that we can be encouraged and persistent in doing what we do."
Your Holiness, I and those who will sign this open letter know how much you do for the Orthodox mission in Russia and abroad. We ask you to consider this issue and not to deprive our brothers of the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ.
Polycarp did not ask me to write this letter, I do it at my own discretion.
If you would like to respond to me, my email address is [email protected]
I ask for your archpastoral prayers for me, unworthy

Konstantin Yurievich Kirichenko.

The Patriarch is the highest rank of the church hierarchy, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, when addressing him, both orally and in writing, generally accepted dogmatic rules should be observed.

Instructions

Before you start writing a letter To the Patriarch, you need to clearly imagine the subject of your appeal to him. You must understand that the church first hierarch daily has many worries about the fate of the church, so the topic of your letter should be really important. Make sure that you cannot address your question to members of the lower ranks of the clergy, for example, to the local bishop or metropolitan.

Begin letter follows from the next appeal to To the Patriarch(indicated above the text of the letter in the upper right corner):
His Holiness
To the Patriarch Moscow
and All Rus' [name of the Patriarch]
from [your submission].
For every believing Orthodox Christian, it is important to receive a pastoral blessing, so you can directly begin the story with the words: “Master, bless.” Or: “Your Eminence, bless.” The following appeal will also be correct: “Your Holiness, His Holiness the Patriarch, Gracious Archpastor and Father!”

The text of your message must be correct and grammatically correct; it must not contain threats, insults or profanity. During the story, refer to To the Patriarch followed by “Your Holiness” or “Most Holy Master”. Express your thoughts consistently, in simple and understandable language, without using jargon or dialects. Be respectful.
Be sincere and open, don't write anything you can't be sure of. It is not appropriate to approach His Holiness with conjectures and doubts.
The titles and ranks of His Holiness the Patriarch should be written with a capital letter.

Address your letter to the press service of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', located at the address: 119034, Moscow, Chisty Lane, 5. Vashe letter will not reach the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church right away - first it will be studied by responsible employees of the Patriarchate.

Helpful advice

Example of an appeal to the Patriarch:

His Holiness,
To His Holiness the Patriarch
Moscow and all Rus'
Kirill

YOUR HOLINESS,
HOLY LORD PATRIARCH,
GRACEFUL ARCHIPASTER AND FATHER!

His Holiness, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill

Your Holiness!

We, Orthodox Christians in Russia and abroad, ask you to pay attention to the campaign to deliberately denigrate the reputation of the famous preacher Archpriest Vladimir Golovin, as well as tens of thousands of Christians who listen to his sermons and pray by agreement with Orthodox akathists. At the XXVI International Christmas Readings, the clergyman of the Novosibirsk diocese, Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, delivered a report unannounced on the official agenda on the topic “The commercial-religious project of priest Vladimir Golovin,” which almost entirely consisted of rumors contrary to the truth, borrowed from the schismatic website vseeresi.com (vseeresi.com). ). A few days after his speech, a full-fledged persecution of Archpriest Vladimir Golovin was organized on the Internet. That every accusation in the report, from the commercial motives of prayer by agreement and its non-canonical nature to the desire of Fr. Vladimir’s attitude towards guruism and false eldership is not true, both ministers of the Russian Orthodox Church and tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians throughout Russia and beyond have already spoken out. Having ignored the 9th commandment and the gospel covenant, “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone; If he listens to you, then you have gained your brother; But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established; if he does not listen to them, tell the church; and if he does not listen to the church, then let him be to you as a pagan and a publican” (Matthew 18:15-17), Fr. Alexander cast a shadow on the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church, the image of the Orthodox priest and the reputation of tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians who, in addition to the liturgy, morning and evening rules, decided to carry out prayer work in the form of cell prayer by agreement with an akathist to the Lord God, the Mother of God or Orthodox saints. We live in different cities and countries, go to Orthodox churches of different dioceses, are ministered to by different spiritual fathers, teach in Sunday schools, sing in the choir, participate in parish meetings, head the audit commissions of churches and do not see our life outside the Russian Orthodox Church, but about . Alexander and his supporters call us sectarians. We approach the same Chalice, participate together in church sacraments, pray for the hierarchy and the Russian Orthodox Church, but we are called schismatics. We stand up for worldwide prayer for Russia on the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and we are told that our understanding of prayer is utilitarian and does not correspond to the centuries-old experience of Orthodoxy. WE ARE ORTHODOX BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST, and they are trying to separate us from the general mass of Orthodox Christians because we decide to pray a little more, to stand up for prayer no matter what with tens and hundreds of thousands of other Orthodox Christians at a certain time every week, regardless from desire, well-being and life circumstances. Many of us came to the churches of our dioceses and became church members after the sermons of Fr. Vladimir Golovin, but can you really call him a Golovin for this? Is this what Christ teaches in the parable of the Prodigal Son? Archpriest Vladimir Golovin led many people to liturgical life with his words. Thousands of Orthodox Christians after the sermons of Fr. Vladimir reconsidered their views regarding chastity, civil marriage, abortion, and as a result of conciliar prayer they created families in the Lord. For their prayerful work, many have received from God the gift of parenthood and, importantly, from birth they raise their children in the spirit of Orthodoxy, giving them communion and teaching them to live with Christ. Sermons by Fr. Vladimir, already churchgoers, heartily experiencing the unbelief of their loved ones, were able to light the flame of faith in their hearts, lead them to the threshold of the temple, to the first confession, to Communion, and some even accepted the Orthodox faith. You once said: “People don’t come with buckets to a well where there is no water. No one would turn to Heaven if Heaven did not answer.” This is true! If the Lord had not blessed prayer by agreement, then what is described above would not have happened. Orthodox churches would not be filled with people who have experienced how close the Lord is and how much he loves us sinners. After all, this is precisely what Fr. calls for. Vladimir. And how many people did he return to the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church from schismatic communities! Can't count. In the words of Fr. Alexandra Novopashin, completely different things are happening now: believers leave prayer, become disillusioned with priests who condemn their brothers in an inappropriate rhetorical manner, people change their attitude towards fasting, seeing how the Novosibirsk cleric and his supporters write obscene texts during the first week of Lent and Good Friday to your brother in Christ. Truly, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit... Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:18, 20). It is said: “Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6), so we ask for your fatherly protection and intercession! We cordially ask you to familiarize yourself with the attached materials and understand what is happening with your characteristic concern for your flock. We completely trust you and rely on your objective opinion.