OCA's Alaskan Diocese announces fast for peace in Ukraine

St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka. Photo: Wikipedia

The Sitka and Alaskan Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America has announced a three-day fast and a week of special prayer services in anticipation of the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, scheduled for 15 August in Alaska.

Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska issued a pastoral letter calling on the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the diocese to take part in a three-day period of fasting – what he described as “a three-day ascent of intercession” – from 12 to 14 August, culminating in a day of prayer on 15 August.

“At this hour, we ask our Lord Jesus Christ to guide these talks with mercy, to quell hostility, and to end the bloodshed,” Archbishop Alexei stated in his official message.

The diocese has organized special services in churches throughout Alaska, including molebens for peace and akathists to the Alaskan saints.

On 15 August, the day of the summit, the diocese has declared a general day of prayer for peace. Churches will remain open for prayer, and at noon the bells will ring to summon the faithful.

The diocese emphasized that, from an Orthodox perspective, praying for leaders is “a spiritual duty, not a political act.” Archbishop Alexei’s pastoral message contains a special call to pray “for the protection of the innocent, the return of captives, and the consolation of the grieving and the suffering.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a Liturgy of the Primates of the American and Macedonian Churches will be held in the United States.

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