UOC priest: Standing at Lavra, we feel the power of God every time

Archpriest Sergiy Chertilin, a clergyman of the Church of All Holy Warriors. Photo: a video screenshot of the "Miryany" Telegram channel

On 22 December 2023, during the prayer standing near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Archpriest Sergiy Chertilin, a cleric of the Church of All Holy Warriors in Kyiv, urged the faithful to tell people about the importance of prayer at the walls of the main Orthodox shrine of Ukraine. The video of the sermon was published on the Telegram channel "Miryany".

"Remember: the Apostle of Christ said that all of you are priests (1 Pet. 2:9, - Ed.),” noted Fr. Sergiy. “Not only I, standing before you in church vestments, but each of you is a priest in some way. A priest is called, most importantly, to spread the word of God. Come to your churches and tell about the power of God, which we feel every time we stand here at the Lavra. Tell all the people you meet that the heart of Ukraine, the heart of our people, the heart of our faith is here – in the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra".

Father Sergiy emphasised that the prayer standing near the Lavra has been going on for 269 days.

"Think about this figure. For 269 days prayer has been going on near our holy abode, in the heart of our country. Many now would like us to disappear. Someone will say, "Why do you pray outside – in the snow, in the rain, in the heat?" <...> The world doesn't want to see us, Christians. It doesn't want to see our prayer, our faith, because it makes it think. Our faith denounces this world, denounces the sin of this world," the priest said.

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