His Beatitude: The best years of my life were when I served as a hieromonk

Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: news.church.ua

The Primate of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, believes that the best years of his life were 18 years of serving as a hieromonk. Bishop Victor (Kotsaba) of Baryshevka told about this in his blog on the website "Korrespondent".

Vladyka Victor said that when the metropolitan staff came to His Beatitude to congratulate him on the 30th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, the Primate of the UOC said: “After three or four years of priestly service, it seemed to me that I had already been serving half my life. And 30 years of being a metropolitan flew by like an instant.”

In the opinion of His Beatitude Vladyka, this is so because "the priest's ministry is more liturgical, and the bishop's ministry is loaded with administrative issues".

Bishop Victor noted that for Metropolitan Onuphry, "the richness of life is measured not by the number of events, important meetings with the authorities but exclusively by the religious component".

“He truly lives when he serves the Liturgy, prays, and performs the Sacraments of the Church. For him, the most important event is the Divine Liturgy, and the most important meeting is the meeting with Christ. These words can be confirmed by everyone who, at least once in his life, has had even a short communication with our Beatitude Metropolitan,” Vladyka Victor emphasized.

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