24/03/2012 "I think that all of you know about what happened recently at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. So let us bring to mind the fact that in this very place where we are standing, our devout ancestors, who had assumed the basis Russia’s prosperity as a great state, laid the foundation of this cathedral only for the sake of encountering the sacred. Whereas their distant progeny, in the XXI century, desecrated that which is most sacred within the walls of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior…
So apparently what then should have ensued? The times when such issues were decided by force have passed, and thank God, that this is so. But what should have ensued in this land of ours which by the mere fact of its existence is in many ways obliged to the Orthodox Church and the Orthodox faith, which inspired our people to accomplish great feats, including the defense of our homeland in 1812? In fact it is in the name of this victory that the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was raised. But no, there are people who justify this sacrilege and minimize it, trying to brush it off as some kind of amusing joke. And it is indeed sad, and my heart breaks from bitterness, that among these people there are those who consider themselves to be Orthodox.
Let us then draw this line between the Cathedral of the Placing of the Robe of the Lord here, on Donskaya, the events of the XVII c., and that which has occurred in the XXI c. before the greatest sanctity of our Church and all of the Orthodox World – before the particle of the Robe of the Lord. I believe that not a single believer may say: “this does not concern me,” “it is none of my business.” No believer can remain unhurt by this. Therefore I urge each and every one of you to intensify your prayers about our country and our people. For there will be no future for us if we begin to desecrate that which is most sacrosanct, and if such desecration is seen by some as some kind of act of valor, an expression of political protest, or as a harmless joke.
These days we are observing Lent. The devil has had a good laugh over us, having brought us so many sorrows in the days when we should be distancing ourselves from worldly worries, when we should be deep in prayer, observing Lent, confessing our own sins. But perhaps the Lord is making us go through such tribulations in the holy days of Lent so that we all become conscious of our responsibility for our land, for Holy Russia, and for the Orthodox faith. For the Orthodox believer this sense of responsibility is expressed primarily through fervent prayer to God. These other people do not believe in the power of prayer. They only believe in the power of propaganda, lies and slander, in the power of the Internet, in the power of media, in the power of money and weapons. We believe in the power of prayer. And I urge the entire Russian Church to pray fervently and diligently about our country, about our faith, about our people, so that the Lord will absolve us of our sins and once again fill us with His grace, strengthen us with the Divine Grace of the Holy Spirit, so that, having gone through temptations, we have emerged from them cleansed, stronger, and capable of arranging our future in conformity with God’s commandments and human conscience.”
Source in Russian (Official ROC page): http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/2101850.html