On March 25, 2025, awards were presented in the White Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to the winners of the XI season of the International Children's and Youth Literary Competition named after I.S. Shmelev "Summer of the Lord", held with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church and the ANO "Center for Cultural and Educational Programs named after St. Peter the Great. Filaret of Moscow" with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.
"This season has made me very happy with the depth of the topics you have raised," said Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, Chairman of the Publishing Council. — Your life experience is still small, but it already exists. The Lord calls each of us to a certain field. I remember how two great physicists Niels Bohr and Max Planck argued on the Amsterdam embankment about why the ship was sailing. Bohr insisted that the ship was driven by the human mind, and Planck by the will. It's up to you to decide which of them was more right. The benefit or benefit of electronic gadgets? Everything determines a person's desire to extract good or evil from them."
Metropolitan Kliment said that the works of young authors written in the final of the "Summer of the Lord" competition are the beginning of a creative journey.
"Never stop, do not consider that you have reached the top, and in no case do not turn back for something other than analyzing your mistakes. Look ahead. We are not destined to achieve perfection on Earth, but we all owe it to knowledge to move towards perfection. Read the Gospel, get into its depth, nourish your soul with it. Read the classics. Try to choose the latter between a smartphone and a paper book... God bless you," concluded Bishop Clement.
The finalists were welcomed by Igor Vityuk, Secretary of the Union of Writers of Russia, Colonel of the reserve, poet, who worked with the age group of grades 6-7, as well as in the framework of the literary workshop "Martovskaya Kapel" and at the full-time stage of the competition as an expert. "I was delighted with the level of your work. You already have the skill. Russian Russian Orthodox Church is very happy that it is engaged in modern Russian literature in all age categories. I wish you all good luck — it's from God. I wish you hard work!" said Igor Vityuk.
The young authors of the "Summer of the Lord" contest were also congratulated by Victor Kiryushin, winner of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.
"Recently, I found in my papers a certificate issued to me in the fifth grade, it confirmed that I graduated from the school of a young correspondent. A few years later, I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, and then traveled all over the country. Everything is providential in our lives, and you will remember this bright day more than once later. Congratulations on your victory in the contest," said Viktor Kiryushin.
"They say that the main asset of our country is people, but I would say that it is children. Having often been in the zone of a special military operation, I can say that in Skadovsk schools, when the alarms sound, they are not calls from class or to class: they say that you need to leave school quietly and calmly, because these are air alarms, and there are seven such alarms a day. Russian Russian words are expected there, Russian books are expected there, and we always talk about the "Summer of the Lord" contest there, about how pleased we are to meet you and work with you. I would like to read a poem dedicated to Sergey Lobanov, an employee of the Publishing Council, with whom we traveled 4,000 kilometers along front-line roads in just ten days. I wish you a peaceful sky over your head and creativity, because God is in every real creation," writer Alexander Orlov, director of the Slavic Art Forum Golden Knight, greeted the finalists of the Summer of the Lord contest.
"The competition allows us to be little theologians, but if someone wants to write about Christ, they must be like Christ themselves," said Timofey Vovna, the winner of the XI season in the senior age group.
"What is a theologian? Timofey delved into the essence of the issue in his work. And you are obligated to delve into the essence of each issue you study. How a tree feeds on moisture, what language birds and fish speak, how and where life on Earth began, all these are questions to which science sometimes gives mutually exclusive answers, but it is clear to a believer that this is God's will. I wish you God's help, His blessings, and in the name of His good works," Metropolitan Clement concluded the solemn ceremony.
The full list of winners will be published on the website of the "Summer of the Lord" contest.