Dear Rev. [Marion J. (Symeon)] Cardoza,

May the blessing of the Lord be with you.

I have received your second letter and am very touched by the urgency of your appeal to find the true roots of Christianity. Please forgive my delay in answering your first letter; we have been very busy these past few weeks with a pilgrimage here to our monastery.

May God reward your search for true Orthodoxy. I myself found it twenty years ago after a fruitless wandering in oriental religions, and I have never doubted that this is the true Church established by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The pitfalls in the way of finding and becoming one with Christ s Church are many, as you yourself have already realized. I myself believe that if one is absolutely sincere and truthful, and will beware of trusting his own opinions and feelings, God will grant him to find His Church.

I will be in Santa Cruz over the Labor Day weekend to give a talk at a Russian-language religious conference there, and I would be very happy to meet with you then, and with members of your community if you wish. I do not yet know my schedule that weekend, but if you can tell me when you might be free, I am sure we can arrange a meeting.

We are sending you separately a few more Orthodox publications. Please pray to God that he might make our meeting fruitful.

With love in Christ,
Unworthy Hieromonk Seraphim