Diocesan bishops received a letter of blessing for prayers for the president's health, RBC reports, citing data from the patriarchate. The message states that on October 7, Putin celebrates his 70th birthday.
“His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia calls on all archpastors, pastors, monastics and laity to offer fervent home prayer on this day for the health of the Head of State of Russia”, - RBC quotes the text of the message.
Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church are ordered to offer prayers for the president for two days - October 7 and 8, when Sergius of Radonezh is celebrated.
Especially for these events, the Russian Orthodox Church approved the texts of two prayers. They contain words with the wishes of "health and salvation in everything" to Vladimir Putin as "the now honored Head of State of the Russian Vladimir Vladimirovich", as well as "the power, army and people of our God-protected Fatherland".
In prayers, in particular, it is proposed to make requests "to grant him health and longevity, and deliver him from all resistance of visible and invisible enemies, in wisdom and spiritual strength to affirm".
A month earlier, Patriarch Kirill also urged Russians to pray for President Vladimir Putin, for all military leaders and all those in power.
“We live in a very difficult time, and therefore our prayers, especially for the head of our state, for the supreme commander in chief, for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who bears special responsibility, as well as for all military leaders and those in power, so that the Lord will be wise, strengthened, enlightened, protected from sins and mistakes, and at the same time inspired us to take actions that would bring protection to our Fatherland from all external most dangerous and terrible threats”, - the patriarch said.
Vladimir Putin, who was born in Leningrad in 1952, was first elected President of Russia on March 26, 2000.