Dear people of Aglona,
Dear pilgrims,
Dear friends,
Loba dīna vysim, kas šudiņ Aglyunā iz vītys i attuolynuoti pi ekranim (Latgalian: Good afternoon, everyone! Greetings to everyone who is in Aglona today and all the television viewers).
I
This year’s celebration in Aglona will be unusual, unlike other years. This year’s celebration has been overshadowed by Covid-19 virus.
There are limits on gatherings and many are watching the celebrations remotely from their home together with their families or congregation.
It is also unusual for me to address you remotely today instead of joining you in Aglona.
II
I am grateful to each one of you for being patient and staying strong in these difficult times of Covid-19 pandemic. We would not have successfully overcome the virus if it were not for personal responsibility and self-discipline of all of you.
We are in a relatively better situation because our people are conscious of their duty to observe safety and prevention rules. Pandemic drastically changed our habits and we learned to put common needs above our own wants and wishes.
We had to relearn many other things, master new skills and technologies for living, working and praying remotely during the pandemic.
And above all, I hope that it made us all more aware of how valuable time with relatives, seeing friends and celebrating together can be.
III
Crisis makes us re-evaluate what is significant and what is not, separate everyday rush and passing trends from what is really essential.
Crisis is an excellent opportunity to better ourselves individually and together, to grow as a society, become a community driven by human concerns for common good, fellow men and women and our near and dear ones.
Let us use it wisely and grow as humans, individually and together.
This celebration is a good opportunity to review our priorities and figure out what is really important, to think about the deeper meaning of this religious festival.
Christian values are deeply embedded in Latvia and Latvian identity. These values are a part of the European identity, part of European heritage. These principles are a value in itself. They have shaped the modern, globalised world and Latvia, and are respected by free and democratic society.
We should be grateful to be living in free Latvian State. We should feel grateful for safety provided by Latvia, the safety we and our relatives can enjoy.
I hope that everyone here and wherever you are watching us will feel inspired and filled with strength to face another day after visiting Aglona.
Let us hope for the best and hopefully we will all be see each other next August, here in Aglona!
God bless Latvia!