Bulgarian priest: Sacrilege in the Lavra is a blow to all Christians

Fr. Vasil Vasilev. Photo: Fr. Vasilev's Facebook

Bulgarian priest Vasil Vasilev from the city of Shumen commented to the UOJ in Bulgaria on the footage of sacrilegious manipulations by the staff of the Lavra Reserve with the relics of the Venerable Fathers in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The rector of the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Father Vasil Vasilev, stated that he follows the events unfolding in the great Orthodox shrine with deep pain and concern. According to him, they are a repetition of the same crimes and sacrileges that the godless Bolsheviks committed in the past, trying to destroy faith in Christ and erase the light of Orthodoxy.

"My heart cannot remain indifferent to the desecration of relics, to the expulsion of monks, to the mocking attitude towards shrines. This is not just an attack against a single monastery or a single Church – it is a blow against the entire people of Christ. We, the Orthodox, are one body, one spirit, and one heart in Christ. When the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra suffers, all Orthodoxy suffers – our small church in Mitnitsa suffers, and we, the believers in Bulgaria, suffer too," the priest stated.

Father Vasil emphasized that today is a time for prayer, but also for a vigilant conscience. "We cannot remain silent when God's shrines are desecrated. We cannot accept when God's house is turned into an arena of godlessness. Just as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers stood firm in persecutions, as Bulgarian saints and martyrs confessed their faith even in the face of death, so we today must be steadfast in confessing the truth," he said.

The Bulgarian priest called on all Orthodox Christians to offer a common prayer for the brothers and sisters in faith in Ukraine, for the monks of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and for all who keep Christ's truth with tears and pain.

"Let us not be afraid – the Lord is our strength, the Most Holy Theotokos is our protection, and the saints are our heavenly intercessors," Father Vasil emphasized.

The priest recalled that history has witnessed how the God-fighters fall, but the Church of Christ stands. "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).

"Lord, strengthen Your suffering Church, preserve the monks who confess Your name, and enlighten those who do lawlessness. Grant us peace and unity in Orthodoxy, so that we may stand together to the end," concluded Father Vasil Vasilev.

As the UOJ wrote, Metropolitan Timotheos of the Jerusalem Patriarchate called the actions of the Ukrainian authorities a mockery of the Orthodox faith.

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