Address of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ on the Occasion of the Celebration of Orthodox Youth Day

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ delivered an address on the occasion of the celebration of Orthodox Youth Day.

Dear brothers and sisters,

I warmly congratulate all of you on the great Twelve Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord and on the Orthodox Youth Day now being observed.

The Meeting is a feast of encounter. Yet it is not merely a historical meeting described in the Gospel and important only for a few individuals. The mysterious event commemorated today in fact extends into eternity. The Righteous Symeon, who received the Infant Jesus, became the image of every human soul that thirsts for God. The Child Whom the elder holds in his arms (“The Elder embraces in his arms the Child” – refrain of the Ninth Ode of the Canon) is the same Christ Who stands at the door of our heart and knocks (Rev. 3:20), awaiting that we receive and love Him with all our soul and with all our mind (Matt. 22:37).

Our life is at times oversaturated with various events, yet behind the fog of vanity and the abundance of concerns it is important not to miss the one thing needful. This one thing – that for which every person lives – is the encounter with God. It alone is capable of filling our being with genuine meaning and unfading value, of granting firm support and spiritual strength, which each of us seeks, but especially young people.

On this festive day I prayerfully wish you all that, having opened your hearts to the Lord, you may acquire unconquerable inner peace, true happiness, and life in abundance (John 10:10).

May the blessing of the Saviour of the world abide with you all.

+KIRILL Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Kirill