Moscow, July 2, 2013
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To the Very Reverend Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov, Superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, Executive Secretary of the Patriarchal Cultural Council)
Very Reverend Father!
I congratulate you with a remarkable date in your life: the 55th anniversary of your birth.
The Lord's providence led you to the Pskov Caves Monastery, where as a novice you penetrated the rudiments of monastic work. The Lord also vouchsafed you to work in the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church duringt the important period of preparation for celebrations of 1000th anniversary of Baptism of Russia.
You became a Monk in the Donskoy Monastery of our capital. Here you were ordained a deacon and then a priest. You stood at the beginnings of the restoration of monastic life in the Sretensky Monastery, which you head to this day, striving with zeal to fulfill all the diverse obediences entrusted to you.
Besides your important service as the Executive Secretary of the Patriarchal Cultural Council, you constructively interact with the world of art, creative unions and associations.
I would like to mention especially your fruitful efforts on preparation of future pastors of flock of Christ. It is good that the Sretensky Theological Seminary is developing successfully under your leadership, making a weighty contribution to the Church's mission.
On this remarkable day for you, I wish you in my prayers a good health, an inexhaustible joy in God and every success in your labors in all fields of your service.
I call the blessing of the Lord upon you.
+Kirill, patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
