Peace be with you! (Luke 24:36)

With all the use of this holy greeting on occasions like the present, and with all my desire that the peace of God always dwell in your hearts and souls, I would not dare to use these words of the Gospel in greeting now, if I were to pronounce them to you in my own person.

And yet I come to you, brethren, from those holy mountains from which the light of faith shone forth for the whole land of the Fatherland, from the bosom of that Church which is worthily and righteously called the mother of all the Churches of Russia. Coming from such a place, from such a Church, how can you not bring with you a certain spiritual gift? - And I, leaving the holy city, diligently prayed for this to all the saints of God, who rest there incorruptibly. Daring for their intercession at the throne of God, for their spiritual riches, I now open my mouth, so that on behalf of the Church of Kiev I may pronounce peace and blessing to the Church of Vologda. Peace and grace to you from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the One-in-Essence and Indivisible Trinity, Who is equally confessed and glorified in the south and the north, the east and the west, enlightens everywhere, gives life to everyone and everything and saves. Peace and blessing to you from the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Whose image I reverently contemplated and kissed in Her self-chosen home on earth – the holy and wonderworking Lavra of the Caves! Peace and blessing to you from the Synaxis of the Archangels and Angels, to whose name the monastery is dedicated, where I have lived until now! Peace and blessing to you from the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, to whose incorrupt relics I have reverently stood for several years! Peace and blessing to you from the venerable and God-bearing Fathers Anthony and Theodosius and other wonderworkers of the Caves, at the foot of which I performed my last service before traveling to you! In the prayers of many and such intercessors at the throne of grace, I dare to hope that my desire for peace and blessing for you will not be just an idle greeting, that the grace of God will truly overshadow your souls and hearts.

And is it only what has passed and what I have left that encourages me? When I look around the flock of Vologda in my mind, it seems to me that I have moved from one spiritual paradise to another, similar one. Wherever I look, I see whole faces of saints. Shall I look to the east? - There, St. Procopius of Ustiug diverts with his prayers a stone cloud hanging over Ustyug; there St. Theodosius of Totema discovers a new inexhaustible storehouse of spiritual salt, among the sweet springs, and he himself becomes in the earth the salt of Totema, which saves from decay of soul and heart. Will I turn to the west? - Here the monasteries of St. Paul of Obnorsk, Saints Cornelius and Arsenius of Komelsk rise, like spiritual strongholds, in the refuge and stronghold of the soldiers of Christ, in repelling enemies, visible and invisible. Will I look to the north? "Here, among the waves on a stone rock, I see the indestructible reliquary of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Joasaph, the Monks Peter and Basil. Will I lean to the south? - There rest, or rather, stand on guard of the spiritual the holy founders of the Church of Vologda - the hieromartyrs Gerasim, Jonah and Pitirim. Will I look around me? - Behold, the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsk! Behold, the Monk Galaktion of the Saviour! Behold, St. Gerasim of Kiev! Behold, in this very church, Anthony of Vologda!

Thus guarded on all sides by holy intercessors and intercessors, possessing, let us say in the words of the Apostle, a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) of faith and hope, can we not complacently go out to the podvig of salvation that is set before us and you? - It is impossible that the holy saints will abandon us with their help, if we turn to them for it with fervent prayer, and walk unswervingly in their holy footsteps. And we will do this, we will go ourselves, and we will lead you to the same place where they went and reached.

What exactly should we do for this? What should our ministry among you consist of? What do you have the right to expect and demand from us? What should we want from you? - When I asked myself these questions, I always heard these words of the Apostle in response: And He (the Lord Jesus) gave sheep to eat, because the Apostles... and the sheep are evangelizers, and the sheep are pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edification of the body of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12).

That is, my brethren, the pastors of the Church, according to the testimony of the Apostle, are given in order to guide us on the path to eternal salvation, to serve us in our spiritual regeneration into eternal life, to edify us in faith, love and Christian hope, to protect us from the temptations of the world and the slanders of the spirit of malice, to heal the infirmities of the soul and the wounds of our conscience, in order to make us by the grace of Christ living temples of the Holy Spirit, in order to prepare us in the (earthly - ed.) world for the transition to a higher and better world.

And so, this is the object of our activity and the purpose of our ministry among you: we must be your spiritual fathers and pastors, your spiritual judges and mediators, your spiritual guides and guides, your spiritual physicians and comforters; you must take the place of the Apostles of Christ and the Great Hierarch Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ.

If on this occasion we were to look at the poverty of our own strength, at the lack of all human means, then on this occasion we would have to exclaim a hundred times with the Apostle: Who is pleased with this? (2 Corinthians 2:16). A hundred times it would have been necessary to say with Moses to the Lord: "Choose another who is mighty, whom thou hastenest" (Exodus 4:13).

But He Who gave His Church pastors and teachers, foresaw our weakness and did everything in advance to make up for our shortcomings. In the books of the prophets and the apostles there is so much light that it will be for the illumination of all those who err, for the driving away of all darkness; in the Christian Sacraments there is so much power and efficacy that they are sufficient to strengthen all those who are weak in spirit, to heal every ulcer of conscience. Besides this, our almighty Saviour is always Himself in the midst of His Church, and invisibly by His power and grace, and visibly by His Body and Blood. Here, among us, there is always the Spirit of truth, Whom He, having ascended into heaven, sent to us from the Father, that He may be with us forever, that He may instruct us in all truth, that He may endow us with power from on high, that He may comfort us in every sorrow and circumstance. After this, it remains for us only to make use of what has long been prepared in such abundance, it remains to be servants and builders of the Mysteries of God, showing faithfulness and diligence in the economy of our salvation.

And we solemnly, before the face of this throne of grace, on which the King of glory Himself invisibly sits, promise Him and you this faithfulness and this diligence. You will hear nothing from us except what is contained in the word of God, what was prophesied for our salvation by the prophets and apostles. Let us teach the truths of salvation in all their simplicity and purity, not flattering our ears and habits, not imitating the word of God to suit the taste of this world, not seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from frost (1 Thess. 2:6). Let us spare neither time, nor effort, nor labor, if only to accomplish our work and achieve the goal. Will it be necessary to proclaim grief to the senseless and unrepentant? - We will lift up our voice with the prophet like a trumpet, we will surround ourselves with the thunderstorm of Sinai and Horeb. Will it be necessary to encourage and comfort the desperate? - we will become, like the Apostle, as quiet as a nurse at the cradle of a child. Let us try, following the example of St. Paul, to be all things... all things, that we may acquire all things (1 Corinthians 9:22).

This is our intention and vows! The knower of the heart sees that they come from the depths of the soul devoted to Him, from the heart thirsting for your salvation. Nothing will deviate us from our path, nor will it obscure the sacred goal we are striving for. Once and for all we have given ourselves over to the will of Him, the Almighty, we have devoted ourselves entirely to the Service of Him and to the cause of your salvation; for this they are ready to lay down their very souls.

Thus opening our souls and hearts before you, we hope that you, too, will be inspired by a new zeal for the cause of your salvation, a new zeal for the Church of God; that you will pay full attention to what will be proclaimed to you, that you will accept with good humor everything that you deem necessary to do to strengthen faith and love in Christ among you. We hope that you will seek in our instructions not beautiful words, but the spirit and power of the Gospel; that you will hear the very rebukes without grief, when they are needed. Finally, we hope that you will help us with your prayers, for if pastors are to be lamps for the flock, then the prayers of the flock for them should be oil for these lamps.

These are our desires and our hopes for you! We do not wish for anything else, and we do not seek anything else.