Met. Arseniy: We must go through the war as Christians, taking up a cross

Metropolitan Arseniy. Photo: svlavra.church.ua

On March 27, 2022, Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatogorsk, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatogorsk Lavra, in his sermon on the Holy Cross Week, said how important it is to turn to God with all your heart to get through the war.

"We must experience the present time as Christians, take up the cross and follow Christ. We must grab hold of His Robe and not let go because without God, the man brings himself to a terrible condition. Without God, we become cruel and close the door to eternal life for ourselves," said Metropolitan Arseniy.

The hierarch of the UOC urged believers to refrain from the abundance of news and concentrate on prayer.

"As a rule, all the news is negative, and people get lost where the truth and where the lie is, they do not know who to listen to, everywhere is hatred, anger, tragedy. The abundance of news makes a person anxious, which leads him to a mental disorder. In this situation, it is necessary to concentrate on prayer, on the inner state, and it will give the soul strength to survive everything. The Lord helps us to carry the cross that He has given us if we turn to Him. We wait for God's help, but we need to ask for it, we need to talk to God. The Lord, showing us the Crucifixion, says that He is ready to give Himself so that man can be saved, we need to rush to Him," said Metropolitan Arseniy.

"Today more than ever, the temples must be crowded, and we are all asleep. How can we wake up our hearts, break this stony, winter deadness! It is destroyed by sincere prayer and abstinence, participation in the sacraments of the Church. Then there is a spring rebirth, the soul begins to revive," added Metropolitan Arseniy.

The abbot of the Sviatogorsk Lavra noted that during the war, people behave differently, some pray and help their neighbours, and some get angry and judgemental.

"In today's situation, everyone behaves differently. Some speak words of love and try to help their neighbour while others with anger and irritability hate and embitter. At this time, it is important to remain human, as they were our ancestors, who also went through wars and hunger strikes, but for us, they remained our good mothers, grandmothers, fathers and grandfathers, the workers of moral life, who taught us a lot. They too lived through a difficult time, sometimes more difficult than ours," said Metropolitan Arseniy.

As reported, the abbot of the Sviatogorsk Lavra said that we would cope with ruins if only souls were unharmed.

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