UOC hierarch says why persecution of the Church began and when it will end

Metropolitan Theodosiy. Photo: Cherkasy Eparchy

Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv congratulated the persecuted Presentation of the Lord community, which prays in a basement church in Cherkasy, on its patronal feast day. In his sermon after the Divine Liturgy, published on the diocese’s YouTube channel, the hierarch noted that on this day the room was overcrowded with believers, unlike the seized church, which remains empty.

“The Spirit of God blows where He wills, and He ceases to blow where there is falsehood, evil, and hatred. The Presentation of the Lord Church has stood almost empty for the second year,” the bishop said.

According to him, people are now compelled to gather in makeshift spaces, apartments, houses, and basements, while the seized churches remain practically deserted.

Metropolitan Theodosiy explained why this has happened:

“This is the cyclical life of the Church, from its very beginning established by the Holy Spirit. The state of persecution and pressure from the authorities, society, and unbelievers is very beneficial for our souls. When the Church prospers externally and materially, our hearts and minds become dull, 'covered in fat' to the point where we can no longer distinguish between good and evil, what is necessary and permissible according to the Gospel and what is not. A rusted Christian heart cares only for itself, its comfort, and well-being,” he said.

He added that when the misunderstanding of the importance of living by the Gospel becomes critical in a Christian society, the Lord allows persecution, which purifies Christ’s Church through sorrows and sufferings from “excess fat.”

Metropolitan Theodosiy compared the life of secular and church society to an iceberg, saying that Christians sometimes resemble the submerged lower part of the iceberg.

“It is often difficult for us to be at the bottom, although some even like this position,” he continued. “But the Lord loves His Church, and He gradually melts the lower part of the iceberg – us Christians – with water, diluting our comfort and well-being with sorrows, illnesses, and persecutions, as we are experiencing now. Especially when we become too 'heavy' and forget that we must love one another and strive for God.”

The Cherkasy hierarch emphasized that “when the lower part of the societal iceberg – our Church – becomes so thin that our souls long only for God and nothing else, that is when the iceberg flips. Those who were on top find themselves deep under the water, while the Church rises above and ascends to Heaven once again, becoming white, pure, and visible for hundreds of miles in the ocean.”

The bishop noted that to regain such a “light” state, Christians must first learn to love their neighbors as themselves and strive to be sincere and deep in their prayers and in fulfilling the Gospel commandments.

“When the number of truly church-going believers, not just those who call themselves Orthodox, reaches a certain percentage in society, the iceberg will flip again, and the Church will shine in glory once more,” he concluded.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the Church of Greece expressed support for Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy.

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