His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia arrived at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Stavropol Monastery on July 10, 2026.
At the holy gates of the monastery, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was met by Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, Metropolitan Gregory of Voskresensk, administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Konstantin of Petrozavodsk and Karelia, Bishop Pankraty of the Valaam Monastery, Bishop Alexy of Ramenskoye, personal secretary of His Holiness, and the monastery's brethren.
In the lower church of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Valaam Monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill worshiped the relics of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam, the venerated list of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God and the relics of St. Antipas of Valaam.
Then the Primate addressed the audience with a Primatial address.:
"Every time I visit Valaam, the images that I had when I first visited this holy land come back to my mind and memory. Those were the years of oppression of the Church. There was no church life on Valaam. Many of you know what was here at that time, what institutions. Everything that happened here at that time was aimed at creating the most difficult and unattractive image of this place — so that pilgrims and tourists would not identify with this place anything bright, spiritually heroic, that Valaam was glorified for. We thought that everything would stay that way, but it happened differently.
Everything that has happened in the life of our country and with this monastery testifies to the presence of the Lord in human history, in our lives. And there is no power greater than the power of God. No superpowers, no superhuman forces are capable of resisting the power of God. Therefore, when you come into contact with the reborn Valaam, remembering everything that happened in this place, and realizing what important historical events took place and restored Valaam to its former beauty and spiritual strength, you realize that the power of God is stronger than any human power.
And if so, then there is nothing more joyful and right than to serve the Lord. First of all, I refer these words to the clergy and monastics. I would like to emphasize once again that there can be nothing more joyful and correct, more spiritually mature and strong than serving the Lord.
The rebirth of Balaam is a miracle of God in our history. In a sense, the image of the reborn monastery has also become the image of a reborn Russia. Who in the old days could have imagined that there would be an Orthodox President at the head of our state? Who could have imagined that divine services would be held in the temples of the Kremlin? Who could have imagined that the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow would be revived? No one could have imagined it. Because the diabolical force that took over our country at that time fought against any manifestations of religiosity, especially those that returned people's consciousness to the former glory of our country.
Today we live in a really special time. One of the wise people in a conversation with me said: it seems that we have been given some kind of respite. Quite possibly. No one knows what awaits us. We pray that good times await both our people and our country, but anything has happened in history. And therefore, the time in which we live is a time of building up the spiritual forces of each of us and all of us together. I would especially like to address these words to the monastics. We must be a Church for our people, be with our people.; A church that bears a huge responsibility before God and before history for everything that can and does happen in our country.
That is why I call on all of you, my dear ones, first of all the brethren, to pray tirelessly for our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, an Orthodox man, for the authorities, for the army and for our Fatherland, so that the Lord will preserve Russia from enemies both external and internal, so that nothing will ever shake our desire to preserve the Orthodox faith, build churches and monasteries, and strengthen piety among our people.
We believe that through the prayers of saints, first of all, the Lord grants our Fatherland and all those who are responsible for church life (be they hierarchs, clergymen or monastics) strength, wisdom and strength in carrying out their ministry aimed at developing the spiritual life of our people, strengthening those spiritual forces that our country the country was not just famous, but thanks to which it survived, despite the most terrible historical vicissitudes.
I am very glad to have the opportunity to visit Valaam, a very special place for me, connected with my youth and those difficult years of persecution of the Church, when Valaam, being closed and, as it were, desecrated, nevertheless remained a great shrine for our people.
May God grant that this shrine, which has flourished today, bears abundant spiritual fruits: it strengthens faith in those who do not yet have strong faith, and opens the joy of communion with the Lord through faith to those who have not yet felt and known it. And that the Lord, through His grace and mercy, may descend upon all of us, strengthening us in faith, piety, purity, and the ability and opportunity to glorify the glorious name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen to that!"

Photo: Priest Igor Palkin, Oleg Varov