70th anniversary of the Great Victory

BREST, 22 June (BelTA) – The heroic defense of the Brest Fortress is a symbol and image of unity, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at the ceremony to mark the 74^th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War at the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial, BelTA has learned.

The Patriarch addressed the participants of the events as “brothers and sisters”. So were the fortress defenders who faced the enemy in 1941. “There is something in this world that unites more than kindred blood,” the Patriarch said. When the fortress defenders stood shoulder to shoulder to defend the fortress and the Motherland, there was a genuine brotherhood that could not be split even by death.

“We are one family. It is not only because we have blood that leads us to common ancestors. But also because we lived through one history in joy and grief. The Brest Fortress cannot be divided into national sectors. There are things that cannot be divided, the same as a family is undivided theoretically. This heroic defense of the Brest Fortress is a symbol of unity, an image of unity and the ability to jointly overcome deadly perils and win. The defenders of the Brest Fortress won,” Patriarch Kirill said.

Being in the fortress arouses mixed feelings, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said. It is pain for all those, mainly young people, who died in the first days of the war and a pride for their glorious deed. “It is with pride we bow to this deed, realizing its meaning for us, every contemporary person, be it Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, everyone who is an heir of the great past,” the Patriarch stressed.

“May God give prosperity to Brest, the Belarusian land, the Russian and Ukrainian land, people who are brothers and sisters to us in spirit,” the Patriarch said. The Patriarch presented the Brest Fortress with the icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow.