Your Excellencies, Dear Faithful People, Dear Latgalians,
Hello in Aglona, hello in the heart of Latgale!
This year marks the hundred years since our country was founded. We would not be able to celebrate the centenary of Latvia without a belief in our country and its future.
Here in Latgale, we can feel the power of faith especially keenly. Here, Priest Francis Trasuns contribution above rubies for the Latvian people and Latvian land would join into one destiny a hundred years ago. The Catholic priests also preserved the light and hope of our spirit in the darkness of Soviet occupation so that Latvia would rise from the ashes. After the restoration of independence, faith has escorted us and strengthened us on our way to a stable and democratic country.
This year, many global leaders, kings, and presidents visit Latvia and congratulate on the centenary. However, we have been waiting for one of them more than for anybody else. You already know what I am going to mention. Having answered the invitation expressed by the Latvian Roman Catholic Church and myself, His Holiness Pope Francis will visit the Land of Mara. He will come to encourage us to keep the faith and humanity strong in the challenging time we live, consolidate us in our faith, and encourage us for love.
While looking forward to that day, I especially wish to emphasise two values where the power of faith is necessary both for our Latvia and for everybody of us.
First of all, it is a family as a cornerstone of society. Parents, grandparents, and godparents are those, who shape our personalities and instil values like respect, the virtue of work, love for our land and our people and belief in our country. A strong country cannot be imagined without strong and large families.
However, there are also children without parents next to us. There are families where parents are far away, or only one of them has stayed. There are also families undermined by poverty.
I am confident that everybody can find an opportunity to help another family, both the state and municipalities, and each of us. Let us stop in a daily hurry if we see a little child wandering around, let us bring an armful of firewood to our elderly neighbours, or just listen to them in hard times. It does not require much. Let us not be indifferent, let us lend a helping hand, and support because every person is vital to our society.
Secondly, any rise or fall of every individual begins in his or her heart, where family ties are intertwined, the basis for attitude towards each other, society, and the surrounding world is shaped. Our collective and Latvian success or failure begins in the hearts of people.
This is a crucial time for Latvia, and we will hear many loud voices. Therefore, it is essential to find a moment of silence among those voices and be able to listen to one’s own heart so that making decisions and choices and acting would comply with that. I believe that your heart will object to every attempt to use “is on the shortcuts of your own advantage paying for it with true dignity of yourself and other people”.
May the upcoming visit of Pope Francis strengthen each of us in our faith and strength to act at our best! Let us meet again in the heart of Latgale after a month and a half to receive the blessing for our country, our people, and our Latvia!
God bless Latvia!
