Epistle of the Synod of Bishops, 2

How we wish that we too would all emulate her love for the church, especially the children, our youth.  How we wish that beyond the worldly cares, worries, irritations, anger and accusations, our souls would be imprinted with the holiness of the Divine House and with the inner peace obtained through real churchliness.  Our souls have hardened from sin, from the absence of churchliness and from internal divisions.  Those who take one point of view of the recent events in our Church accuse the other side of betrayal and apostasy, and through this they destroy the unity of the Church.  What will warm us and grant us life?  The church, the temple.  Its very form speaks of something else: of God, of peace, of unity of the faithful, of love, of spiritual joy.  In the church our hearts will be warmed and our tortured souls will be released.

That is why, dear brothers, sisters and children in the Lord, we call upon everyone at this time of preparation for the IVth All-Diaspora Council, to piously take advantage of all the means offered by the Holy Church to obtain this inner peace, that is, through Divine services, by fasting, in the Mysteries, and especially through Holy Communion, in which we come into the closest contact with God.  We call upon all to fervently pray that the Lord bless the forthcoming IVth All-Diaspora Council, so that in our Church, it is not the will of one “side” or another that prevails, but the all-holy and all-salvific Will of God that is done, which always leads us in wisdom towards good.

In connection with this, from this day forward, until the actual IVth All-Diaspora Council, all the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad are to read the following petitions during the augmented litany at Divine Liturgy:

“O Master all-good, watch over Thy flock and all the children of the Russian Church Abroad, that we may bring about the structuring of our Church in a manner well-pleasing [to Thee].  Grant us the spirit of wisdom and understanding; instill in our hearts the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of piety and zeal for the glory of Thy holy name.  Guard us against all temptations, stumbling-blocks and divisions, that, bound together, one to another, by the bond of love for Thee, our Master, we may without hindrance perform the work of our ministry for the edification of the Holy Church as the one Body of Christ.  We pray Thee, O greatly Merciful One: Hearken and have mercy!” 

“O good Shepherd, Who hast promised to gather Thy scattered sheep into a single flock, put down scandal and division within the Church; all who have strayed from Thy path do Thou lead to repentance and a knowledge of the Truth, and return them to Thy fold; and confirm us all in the Orthodox Faith and the doing of Thy commandments. We pray Thee: Hearken and have mercy!”