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On August 13, 2023 His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon sent a letter of condolence to His Eminence Archbishop Seraphim of the Holy Autonomous Orthodox Church in Japan on the occasion of the repose of His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel of Tokyo and All Japan. In his letter, His Beatitude assured His Eminence of his prayers and mentioned the long-standing ties of friendship between our Churches.
The text of the letter reads as follows:
Your Eminence, dear brother and concelebrant in the Lord’s Mysteries,
Christ is in our midst!
Please accept my condolences on the recent falling asleep in the Lord of His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel of Tokyo and All Japan. On behalf of the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, we extend our sympathy to the grieving clergy and faithful of the Holy Autonomous Orthodox Church in Japan, and we assure you of our prayers both for His Eminence’s repose and for the grieving flock he leaves behind. The historic connection between our Churches has left indelible bonds of love and fellowship in our hearts, and the children of the Orthodox Church in America cannot but mourn with you who mourn (Sir. 7:34, Rom. 12:15).
For more than twenty years, His Eminence served the Lord as the primate of Japan—Nippon, “the place whence the sun rises.” May the true Sun of righteousness, the never-setting Light of the age to come, rise eternally over His Eminence, raising him up with that rising, rewarding His Eminence’s many years of labor in the heat of the day with eternal refreshment and everlasting participation in the tranquil brightness of the Holy Trinity.
永遠の記憶! May His Eminence’s memory be eternal!
Yours in Christ,
+Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
