UOC Chancellor about what Cross Procession on Rus Baptism holiday embodies

Religious procession of the UOC. Photo: facebook.com/church.information.center

On the eve of the celebration of the 1033th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, told why the believers of the UOC celebrate a big procession on this day and what it personifies. This was reported by the Information Center of the UOC.

The hierarch recalled that a cross procession is one of the forms of church worship, "a prayer service, during which both the clergy and the laity turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, the holy saints with the words of prayer." According to church tradition, cross processions must be performed on the days of major church holidays.

“The church community goes beyond the boundaries of the temple and testifies to its joy in front of the outside world – this is the key message of any cross procession. People are so filled with spiritual joy that they simply cannot help but share it with the world around them,” noted Metropolitan Anthony. <...> At the beginning of Christianity, the apostles testified before the whole world about Christ, about His Resurrection from the dead. This is how the Church grew. And today the joy that fills Christians is expressed in such a special form of festive congregational prayer as the cross procession."

Met. Anthony explained that cross processions of the UOC are a call for peace and harmony in Ukraine, where, unfortunately, hostilities have not ceased, and society remains divided.

“A religious procession is a call for unity and reconciliation,” he stressed. “The Church testifies that actual reconciliation is possible only on the basis of Christian morality. We want the Ukrainian society to realize this.”

The hierarch recalled the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession, which took place from July 3 to July 27 in 2016 to become the largest prayer procession for the Day of the Baptism of Rus, which united the whole of Ukraine.

“It was a procession of peace, love and prayer for Ukraine, which started simultaneously from the Sviatogorsk Lavra in the east of Ukraine and from the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra in the west. The cross procession covered about 1200 kilometers and passed 12 dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. About 500 thousand believers took part in it. On July 27, the two cross processions met in Kyiv on St. Vladimir Hill, from where, after the traditional annual prayer service, headed to the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Despite all the difficulties, obstacles and provocations, the All-Ukrainian Cross Procession of Peace, Love and Prayer for Ukraine has become a unique example of the unity of all regions of Ukraine. Believers of Transcarpathia, Galicia, Bukovyna, Volynia, Polesie, Taurida, Slobozhanshchyna and the central part of Ukraine, as well as from Crimea, Donbass and Luhansk oblast prayed for peace in the country,” he said.

Metropolitan Anthony emphasized that the annual participation of hundreds of thousands of believers in the festivities on the occasion of the Day of the Baptism of Rus testifies to the loyalty of the Ukrainian people to the canonical Church. He also noted that the number of participants in the great Cross Procession from the St. Vladimir Hill to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is growing every year.

“Every year in the capital, the number of believers that participate in the cross procession, dedicated to the Day of the Baptism of Kievan Rus, increases by tens of thousands. This is a really large number of people, which exemplifies the faithfulness of the Ukrainian people to the choice made by Prince Vladimir, as well as to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” summed up the UOC Chancellor.

We will remind, earlier in the UOC gave the details of the celebration of the 1033th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, which is scheduled for July 27-28, 2021. 

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