Met Arseniy reminds faithful in court of the importance of gratitude to God

Metropolitan Arseniy in the Dnipro court. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On December 5, 2025, Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko) served a thanksgiving moleben in the hall of the Checheliv District Court of Dnipro. As reported by the press service of Sviatohirsk Lavra, after the prayer the Metropolitan addressed the faithful with words of spiritual instruction.

The hierarch and the faithful prayed together during a break in the court proceedings. The moleben was timed to the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Arseniy’s episcopal consecration.

After the service, the hierarch turned to those who had come to support him, reminding them of the importance of thanksgiving – the form of prayer that St. John Chrysostom called the highest of all. According to the Metropolitan, gratitude to God opens for a person the way to new blessings.

“For the very fact that a person gives thanks, the Lord showers him with new mercies. And in our interactions with others, unfortunately, we rarely thank anyone. Most often we approach someone for help, we want something from another person, we ask for something. Yet God is the One who loves us, who has showered us with every virtue and good gift. Even the simple fact that we are now breathing – it is the Lord who created the air for our sake, and therefore every breath of air is the mercy of God,” the hierarch said.

The Metropolitan noted that every ordination in the Church is an expression of the Church’s living breath, a testimony to the fulfillment of Christ’s words: “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18).

“Therefore any ordination – whether of a deacon, a priest, or a bishop – is an event in the life of the Church. Not merely an historical moment, but an event of great spiritual victory and of the truth of Christ’s words: ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age’ (cf. Mt. 28:20),” he concluded, offering the faithful his prayer that the Lord would help them and that the Most Holy Theotokos would shelter them under Her protection.

As the UOJ reported earlier, on the anniversary of his episcopal ordination, Metropolitan Arseniy spent 11 hours in court.

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