His Beatitude explains what makes a Christian invulnerable to enemies
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy. Photo: UOC
In his sermon on the feast of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry spoke about the ascetic feats of the saints and emphasized that humility and love for God make a person spiritually strong and invulnerable to enemies, the UOC Information and Education Department reported.
Speaking of the Pechersk saints, the Primate compared them to “the blessed garden of Christ.” “They blossomed in this garden as beautiful flowers, full of fragrance and grace. They were and remain the adornment of this world,” said His Beatitude.
According to him, the love of the venerable fathers for God was perfect – not in words but in deeds. “If a person does not love God, he cannot understand the feats of the venerable fathers,” Metropolitan Onuphry noted.
He reminded the faithful of the ascetic labors of the saints – the seclusion of Saint Anthony, the healing miracles of Saint Agapitus, the wisdom of Saint Nestor the Chronicler, and the patience of Saint John the Long-Suffering. “When a person finds God, then with God he is in paradise everywhere... Where God is, there is the Kingdom of Heaven,” the Archpastor emphasized.
His Beatitude noted that the venerable fathers “endured hunger, fasted, humbled themselves, and renounced their own will in order to fulfill the will of God.” In this, he said, lies the true strength of a Christian.
“Humility before God and love for Him make a person strong and inaccessible to both visible and invisible enemies. Such a person becomes a fortress in which God reigns,” the Primate underscored.
In conclusion, His Beatitude wished the faithful God’s help “to live following the example of the venerable fathers, so as to become heirs of eternal salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Earlier, His Beatitude said in another sermon that the faithful pray for Saint Sergius to bring peace to princes at war.
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