Vinnytsia believers: We have no right to forget the price of great Victory

Metropolitan Varsonophy (Stoliar) of Vinnytsia and Bar and the clergy of the eparchy at the Eternal Flame in Vinnytsia. Photo: UOJ

The priests of the Vinnytsia Eparchy honoured the memory of the soldiers-liberators who were buried in the centre of the regional capital. Flowers were laid to the Eternal Flame and a litia, led by Metropolitan Varsonophy, was performed, reports a UOJ correspondent.

Vladyka addressed all those present with the words: “Our compatriots and relatives gave their lives to defeat fascism so that we could glorify the risen Christ today. And we must remember this, appreciate the heroism of those people who gave their lives for their friends, fulfilling the commandment of the Lord. Today we prayed for all those killed, tortured, burned in the camps, who laboured on the home front, who brought Victory closer so that the Lord would rest them in the abode of the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember this feat."

We have no right to forget at what cost the Great Victory was gained, says Olga Kushnir. Her father Vladimir Popov ended the war in the rank of lieutenant colonel. He devoted his whole life to aviation and told more than one generation of Vinnytsia residents about the difficult front roads.

Vinnytsia residents came to the Eternal Flame with photographs of their relatives – participants in World War II. Alexander Vladislavovich is holding a portrait of his grandfather – Leonid Petrovich Skakun. He left for the family not only orders, medals, but also books – memories of the war years.

Natalia Bezkidevich always prays in the church about her great-grandfather, Kovalchuk Daniil Ivanovich, and visits the Glory Memorial. “This is not only the chronicle of our family. This is the history of our country, and we have no right to rewrite it,” says the woman.

We have no right to forget the great price of the Great Victory, which was gained with love for the Motherland and with a cross under a soldier’s shirt.

As the UOJ reported, on Victory Day, UOC eparchies prayed for the dead soldiers.

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