Moscow, February 21, 2017
Photo: Orthodoxchurchquotes.com
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has called upon all Russians to build a good and just society as a means of repenting of the sins of the past. He broached the topic in connection with the centenary of the February Revolution after the Sunday Liturgy in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, reports Interfax-Religion.
“We must make a very important conclusion from the events of a century ago: we must atone for their sins and those of our ancestors by our good works; we must build a kind and just society, we must overcome sin in our personal and communal lives, seeing the sorrows of those who are weak, feeble, hungry, bare, thirsty, or in prison or in hospitals,” the patriarch emphasized.
He continued that if we place love, kindness, and longsuffering at the center of our lives it will become our personal participation in the atonement of the sins of our forefathers. The survival of human society is directly linked to good deeds which keep history from falling apart, the patriarch preached, calling on believers to build a “civilization of spirit, not a civilization of flesh.”
Just as is currently happening in Ukraine, so in the years after the Russian revolution, brother rose up against brother, shedding blood with terrible cruelty Patriarch Kirill noted. And those who participated in the revolution later fell victim to Soviet repressions, receiving payment for their wicked deeds. “God’s judgment on the bloody events of 1917 has already happened in the history of our nation, just as it occurs in the personal life of every person,” he added.
The Reigning Mother of God Icon, one of the holiest icons of Russia, was also brought to the Liturgy. It was found in the church in Kolomenskoye Park on March 15, 1917, the day that Tsar Nicholas II abdicated.
