Moscow, February 7, 2017
Photo: money.cnn.com
Addressing a delegation of the Parliamentary Group of Friendship Between Russia and Syria visiting the Saidnaya Mother of God Orthodox Monastery, Abbess Fevronia thanked Russia for its assistance in resolving the Syrian conflict. She also noted that the sisterhood prays for Russia and for the health of Russian president Vladimir Putin, reports Interfax-Religion.
Around 450,000 Christians from various denominations have fled Syria to date, Patriarch Gregory III of the Syrian Melkite Catholic Church told the parliamentarians.
Answering the abbess’ invitation extended to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, Igumen Arseny (Sokolov), the Russian Church’s representative to the Antiochian Patriarchate, said, “Patriarch Kirill has been in these places as a pilgrim and is now anticipating the opportunity to again visit these places.”
Fr. Arseny also passed the patriarch’s greetings to Abbess Fevronia and presented gifts.
The monastery in Saidnaya is one of the oldest in the world, attracting large numbers of pilgrims. The habitation was repeatedly bombed during armed conflict, but “by the grace of God there were no causalities,” as the abbess noted. She also mentioned some occasions where missiles even hit the buildings of the monastery but did not explode.
“The monastery is under the patronage of the Mother of God. We even have testimonies from soldiers who were posted in the mountains around the monastery who saw the holy Virgin Mary, and saw how she protects our city and our monastery,” Mother said.
