diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/globals.h mutt-1.5.19-vc/globals.h
--- mutt-1.5.19/globals.h	2009-01-04 01:27:10.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/globals.h	2009-02-09 19:30:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 WHERE char *FolderFormat;
 WHERE char *ForwFmt;
 WHERE char *Fqdn;
+WHERE char *Greeting;
 WHERE char *HdrFmt;
 WHERE char *HistFile;
 WHERE char *Homedir;
diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/hdrline.c mutt-1.5.19-vc/hdrline.c
--- mutt-1.5.19/hdrline.c	2009-01-05 21:20:53.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/hdrline.c	2009-02-09 19:30:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -741,3 +741,62 @@
 {
   mutt_FormatString (dst, dstlen, 0, s, hdr_format_str, (unsigned long) hfi, flags);
 }
+
+/* %n = recipient name
+ * %u = user (login) name of recipient
+ * %v = first name of recipient	*/
+const char *
+greeting_string (char *dest,
+		size_t destlen,
+		size_t col,
+		char op,
+		const char *src,
+		const char *prefix,
+		const char *ifstring,
+		const char *elsestring,
+		unsigned long data,
+		format_flag flags)
+{
+  HEADER *hdr = (HEADER *)data;
+  char *p, buf2[SHORT_STRING];
+
+  dest[0] = '\0';
+  switch (op)
+  {
+    case 'n':
+      mutt_format_s (dest, destlen, prefix, mutt_get_name (hdr->env->to));
+      break;
+
+    case 'u':
+      if (hdr->env->to)
+      {
+	strfcpy (buf2, mutt_addr_for_display (hdr->env->to), sizeof (buf2));
+	if ((p = strpbrk (buf2, "%@")))
+	  *p = '\0';
+      }
+      else
+	buf2[0] = '\0';
+      mutt_format_s (dest, destlen, prefix, buf2);
+      break;
+
+    case 'v':
+      if (hdr->env->to)
+	mutt_format_s (buf2, sizeof (buf2), prefix, mutt_get_name (hdr->env->to));
+      else if (hdr->env->cc)
+	mutt_format_s (buf2, sizeof (buf2), prefix, mutt_get_name (hdr->env->cc));
+      else
+	*buf2 = '\0';
+      if ((p = strpbrk (buf2, " %@")))
+	*p = '\0';
+      mutt_format_s (dest, destlen, prefix, buf2);
+      break;
+
+    default:
+      snprintf (dest, destlen, "%%%s%c", prefix, op);
+      break;
+  }
+  if (flags & M_FORMAT_OPTIONAL)
+    mutt_FormatString (dest, destlen, col, elsestring, greeting_string, data, flags);
+
+  return(src);
+}
diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/init.h mutt-1.5.19-vc/init.h
--- mutt-1.5.19/init.h	2009-01-05 21:20:53.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/init.h	2009-02-09 19:30:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -745,6 +745,22 @@
   ** .pp
   ** This setting defaults to the contents of the environment variable \fC$$$EMAIL\fP.
   */
+  { "greeting",		DT_STR,	 R_NONE, UL &Greeting, UL "" },
+  /*
+  ** .pp
+  ** When set, this is the string that will precede every message as a
+  ** greeting phrase to the recipients.
+  ** .pp
+  ** ``Format strings'' are similar to the strings used in the ``C''
+  ** function printf to format output (see the man page for more detail).
+  ** The following sequences are defined in Mutt:
+  ** .pp
+  ** .dl
+  ** .dt %n .dd recipient name
+  ** .dt %u .dd user (login) name of recipient
+  ** .dt %v .dd first name of recipient
+  ** .de
+  */
   { "gecos_mask",	DT_RX,	 R_NONE, UL &GecosMask, UL "^[^,]*" },
   /*
   ** .pp
diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/PATCHES mutt-1.5.19-vc/PATCHES
--- mutt-1.5.19/PATCHES	2008-03-19 22:07:06.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/PATCHES	2009-02-09 19:30:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+vc.greeting
diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/protos.h mutt-1.5.19-vc/protos.h
--- mutt-1.5.19/protos.h	2009-01-05 21:20:53.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/protos.h	2009-02-09 19:32:15.000000000 +0200
@@ -526,6 +526,9 @@
 void ci_bounce_message (HEADER *, int *);
 int ci_send_message (int, HEADER *, char *, CONTEXT *, HEADER *);
 
+const char *greeting_string (char *, size_t, size_t, char, const char *, const char *,
+		const char *, const char *, unsigned long, format_flag);
+
 /* prototypes for compatibility functions */
 
 #ifndef HAVE_SETENV
diff -urN mutt-1.5.19/send.c mutt-1.5.19-vc/send.c
--- mutt-1.5.19/send.c.orig	2010-09-17 16:49:09.000000000 +0200
+++ mutt-1.5.19-vc/send.c	2010-09-17 16:53:15.000000000 +0200
@@ -469,6 +469,18 @@
   }
 }
 
+void mutt_make_greeting (HEADER *hdr, FILE *out, int flags)
+{
+  char buffer[STRING];
+  if (Greeting)
+  {
+    mutt_FormatString(buffer, sizeof(buffer), 0, Greeting, greeting_string,
+		      (unsigned long) hdr, flags);
+    fputs(buffer, out);
+    fputc ('\n', out);
+  }
+}
+
 void mutt_make_post_indent (CONTEXT *ctx, HEADER *cur, FILE *out)
 {
   char buffer[STRING];
@@ -1003,7 +1015,6 @@
   }
 }
 
-
 /* look through the recipients of the message we are replying to, and if
    we find an address that matches $alternates, we use that as the default
    from field */
@@ -1439,6 +1450,8 @@
     if (option (OPTHDRS))
       process_user_header (msg->env);
 
+    mutt_make_greeting(msg, tempfp, flags);
+
     if (flags & SENDBATCH)
        mutt_copy_stream (stdin, tempfp);