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Members of the ROC Holy Synod pray for victims of the crash of TU-154 plane of the Russian Defense Ministry
On 27 December 2016, a session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, opened at St. Daniel’s monastery in Moscow.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims of the Russian Defense Ministry’s TU-154 plane crash.
After welcoming all members of the Holy Synod, he said:
‘I would like to begin our session with the expression of profound condolences to the relatives, the near and dear ones and to all our nation. People died who had been a kind of symbol of the life of our country and pride of our nation. The Alexandrov Ensemble was not only a musical team, it was the face of the armed forces of the country and an expression of patriotism. Their performances have always brought spiritual uplifting to people and mobilized them for good deeds.
We cannot but recall Yelizaveta Glinka, a medical doctor, who had worked selflessly and helped children, especially in connection with the severe conflict in the east of Ukraine.
One can say a lot about all victims. Indeed, it is the tragedy that has deeply wounded the hearts of absolute majority of our citizens. God works in a mysterious way, and nobody knows his will. It is impossible to apply human criteria to God’s Providence; we always make mistakes, we may bring our narrow-mindedness, weakness and conventions of our life into our judgement. God is beyond our weaknesses and conventions, and therefore we do not know his ways and accept anything happening to us with humility.
It is important to us to keep prayerful memory in our hearts of all the victims of the tragedy and I propose to begin the session of the Holy Synod with requiem litiya.”
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and members of the Holy Synod celebrated a litiya for the victims of the crash.
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