A multi-thousand cross procession to Kreshchatik monastery held in Bukovina

The temple in honor of the Protection of the Theotokos. Photo: Facebook

On July 5, 2019, a traditional procession from Chernovtsy to the monastery in honor of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, which is located in the village of Khreshchatik, Zastavna district of Chernovtsy region, was held in Chernovtsy-Bukovina Eparchy. This is reported by the press service of Chernovtsy-Bukovina Eparchy on its Facebook page.

A religious procession started after the prayer service, which took place at the church of the Intercession of the Mother of God of Chernovtsy at about 6.00 in the morning and, according to the press service, at about 19.00, the believers walked towards the monastery, having covered almost 40 kilometers during this time.

The 30^th in succession cross procession was led by Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernovtsy and Bukovina. Along the way, the pilgrims visited the settlements, in which supporters of the OCU organize numerous provocations against the UOC believers. In particular, these are Zadubrovka and Vaslovovtsy villages.

The press service noted that in the village of Vaslovovtsy, supporters of the OCU asserted that the community of the canonical Church would not be able to properly receive and provide food to many thousands of the participants.

However, the believers of the Holy Dormition temple, with the help of God, were able to receive pilgrims, as said by the eparchy, even better than in previous years. This is despite the fact that only part of the parishioners met with the cross procession walkers, because the rest stayed near the temple in order to avoid possible takeover or provocations from the OCU members.

In addition, the believers of the village of Zadubrovka, who have been defending their temple round the clock for more than 4 months, went to meet with the cross procession with kalaches (soft sweet bread – Ed.) and asked Metropolitan Meletiy to pray and bless all the residents of the village.

In response, the Metropolitan of Chernovtsy and Bukovina presented an icon of the Intercession of the Virgin to the community of St. Michael’s church and stressed that Zadubrovka believers protect the most precious thing they have – the Orthodox faith.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Bukovina “clergy” of the OCU decided to hold a meeting with Poroshenko precisely at the time when the cross procession of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church would be going through Zastavna.

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