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Your Excellency, Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear friends,

We ascribe all glory, honor, and worship to the Father of Lights, and to His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the All Holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit, Who has vouchsafed us to arrive in safety and serenity, after sailing the waters of the Baltic Sea from your dear friend, Finland, to this wondrous land of Estonia.

We come replete with blessings from the Mother Church of Constantinople, to partake in the celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the granting of the status of autonomy to the Orthodox Church of Estonia by the Mother Church of Constantinople. 

And we come in the sure and certain knowledge of the strength, vibrancy, and faithfulness of the Estonian Orthodox People, who have embraced their identity and their autonomy with Christ-like love.

One hundred years ago, our Ecumenical Patriarchate, which serves the whole of Orthodox Christianity in peace and wisdom, recognized the aspirations for independence and self-actualization of the Orthodox faithful in Estonia. In the midst of the political, economic, social, and indeed – spiritual – convulsions of the aftermath of the First World War of the early Twentieth Century, the Mother Church made special provision for the ecclesial continuity of the Orthodox People of Estonia.

Now, a century later, we see in your shining faces the magnificent increase and harvest that God has wrought in your midst. We behold the miracle that God has accomplished in you, knowing, as the Psalmist sings:

God is wondrous in his Saints! The God of Israel; He will giver power and strength unto His People. [1]

We rejoice to be with you during these sacred and extraordinary days, praying that the Lord will grant unto all of you, and unto the righteous Government of Estonia, tranquility, prosperity, and above all, the grace to live your lives in accordance with the greatest commandment to “love one another.” [2]

Mr. President, we wholeheartedly thank you for your gracious invitation and for this great honor to officially receive us and our honorable entourage upon our arrival to this blessed land of Estonia.

May God’s infinite mercy always cover this land, and bless all of you – now and always, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen!

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[1]  Psalm 67:35 (LXX)

[2]  John 13:34.