Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov congratulates Orthodox citizens on Christmas

On January 6, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov congratulated Orthodox citizens on Christmas.

Dear Orthodox citizens!

From the bottom of my heart I congratulate you on a wonderful, bright holiday of Christmas.

The forty-day Christmas fast has ended, and believers solemnly glorify the Newborn Christ in numerous Orthodox churches around the world. This holiday relates to the best aspirations and good hopes, and has no social, national and age boundaries.

For more than two millennia, Christians have been waiting for the coming Christmas with joy and spiritual awe. Today, after many centuries, millions of people sincerely and disinterestedly believe in sacred truths that open them the way to spiritual perfection, repentance and forgiveness. This holiday carries an inexhaustible charge of goodness, love and optimism of life, which believers generously share with their neighbors, helping the weak and suffering people.

In Tatarstan, Orthodoxy along with Islam and other traditional religions is one of the fundamental factors of spiritual and moral development and the celebration of Christmas always takes place in an atmosphere of good neighborliness and mutual understanding.

The past year was marked by many significant events in Orthodox life in the republic, namely the 4th Forum of the Orthodox public of Tatarstan, dedicated to the 440th anniversary of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The regional stage of the 28th International Christmas Educational Readings “The Great Victory: Heritage and Heirs”, dedicated to the upcoming 75th anniversary of the nationwide Victory in the World War II, was successfully held. The reconstruction of the All-Russian shrine, the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the Virgin Monastery, is underway.

I am sure that all this will further contribute to the spiritual revival of society, as well as strengthen spiritual ties between representatives of different nationalities and religions.

I sincerely wish you all a joyful Christmas mood, peace, happiness, kindness and prosperity!

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov