Memory of St Theodosius of Chernihiv honored in UOC's Chernihiv Eparchy

Divine service at the Church of All Saints of Chernihiv. Photo: Chernihiv Eparchy

On February 18, on the feast day of Saint Theodosius of Chernihiv, hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) conducted a festive service at the Church of All Saints of Chernihiv. This was reported by the diocesan press service.

The Divine Liturgy was led by Metropolitan Roman of Konotop and Hlukhiv and Archbishop Nikodim of Liubech, accompanied by clergy of the diocese and visiting priests.

During the liturgy, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for the Church, which is suffering from persecution.

At the conclusion of the service, a moleben was held before the icon of Saint Theodosius.

Archbishop Nikodim thanked Metropolitan Roman for the joint prayer, congratulated the faithful on the feast, and invoked God’s blessing upon all.

On the evening before the celebration, the archbishop led an all-night vigil in the same church, assisted by clergy of the parish and the diocese.

The holy relics of Saint Theodosius of Chernihiv, as well as those of Saint Lawrence and Saint Philaret, are kept in the Trinity Cathedral of Chernihiv. However, access to them is currently closed to believers.

As the UOJ previously reported, the director of the "Ancient Chernihiv" reserve, N. Rebrova, stated that the relics are museum exhibits studied by anthropologists. When asked by a journalist whether believers would have access to the relics, the official gave an ambiguous response:

"Yes, we understand the necessity of this. But this issue is still under discussion. We believe that simply opening access to the relics in a museum setting is not appropriate. The question of the use of the Trinity Cathedral by a church community needs to be resolved," said Rebrova, making it clear that the UOC is not considered one of these communities.

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