They are trying to deprive Russian citizens of their national identity, faith and sense of patriotism, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during a sermon after the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra on July 18.
"Today Russia is a powerful state, and it is unlikely that anyone will try to deprive us of our freedom and independence by force of arms. But in our wicked age there are many other ways to crush people, to deprive them of their national consciousness, to deprive them of their faith, to deprive them of their sense of patriotism. We know that today many forces are working to influence our people and our country in this way. And why is that? Because we continue to be different," said the patriarch.
Patriarch Kirill also noted that in "enlightened Europe, faith in God is being banished," while "in our country, which has gone through years of godlessness, through persecution, the faith of Christ is strengthened in people".
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia previously stated the metaphysical significance of the Russian Armed Forces' special operation to demilitarize and denationalize Ukraine.
According to the Patriarch, in Ukraine "we have entered a struggle that has not physical but metaphysical significance". He expressed regret that some members of the Orthodox world took the path of least resistance and "obediently go where the powerful tell them to go".
Patriarch Kyrill, during his visit to the Vishnevsky Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Defense Ministry, where he spoke with military personnel who had suffered during the military special operation in Ukraine, compared the participants of the special operation to saintly devotees.
Donating an icon of St. George the Victorious to the hospital, the patriarch said that "when a man moves, goes forward, he becomes an ascetic, he acquires great spiritual power."
"And God goes towards such people. In a sense you are all ascetics. You were not afraid of fear, did not run away, did not hide, moved forward ... Where there is movement forward, there is a feat, there is victory," he stressed.
Source: rossaprimavera.ru (Russian)