Met Agapit tonsures priest into Great Schema in Otchenashivka church
Metropolitan Agapit tonsures the rector of the Otchenashivka church. Photo: Eparchy press service
On April 14, 2025, Holy Monday, Metropolitan Agapit of Mohyliv-Podilskyi and Sharhorod celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Protection of the Theotokos Church in the village of Otchenashivka, Tomashpil Deanery, the eparchy’s press service reports.
Before the start of the Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Agapit performed the rite of tonsure into the Great Schema for the rector of the church, Archpriest Ioann, who received the name Sergius in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Clergy of the eparchy concelebrated with the metropolitan during the service.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Agapit addressed the newly tonsured schemamonk with words of spiritual guidance.
The Great Schema is the highest degree of monasticism in the Orthodox Church, requiring an especially strict way of life and deep commitment to prayer. Those who enter the Great Schema take vows of complete renunciation of the world and its concerns, dedicating themselves entirely to God.
Earlier, the UOJ explored why the number of monastics in the UOC continues to grow amid persecution.
Read also
Wounded Catholic priest in Poland calls to forgive Ukrainian attacker
A Catholic priest wounded in the attack on a Benedictine abbey in Jarosław asked the faithful to pray for the attacker and not blame the Ukrainian people as a whole.
UOC begins celebrations honoring St. Kuksha of Odesa
A service on the eve of the feast day of St. Kuksha of Odesa was held at the Dormition Monastery.
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve raises concern over Sviatohirsk shrines
Exhibition organizers stressed the need to document the impact of the war on Sviatohirsk in order to preserve Ukrainian identity.
Favor Foundation donates food and diapers to Kharkiv hospital
The UOC charity provided hygiene supplies for patients at an emergency hospital in Kharkiv.
Dumenko presents awards to staff ahead of Soviet-era Reserve’s anniversary
The OCU claimed that the creation of the Soviet museum made it possible to preserve the Kyiv Caves Lavra during the years of atheist persecution.
UOJ-USA publishes scandalous Phanar document about chronicles of OCU creation
In the document prepared for Patriarch Bartholomew, a Phanar representative described the SBU's surveillance of the Constantinople delegation and Poroshenko's pressure on the course of the "Unification Council."