UOC prayerfully celebrates eighth anniversary of the Primate's enthronement

On August 17, 2022, on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the enthronement of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, a Divine Liturgy was held on the main square of the Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, reports the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

The Primate was concelebrated with the members of the UOC Holy Synod: Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa and Izmail, Metropolitan Mark of Khust and Vynohradovo, Metropolitan Theodore of Kamyanets-Podilsky and Horodok, Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Court of the UOC, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshhorod and Chornobyl, Father Superior of the Monastery, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, Chancellor of the UOC, Metropolitan Nikodim of Zhytomyr and Novohrad-Volynsky, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, Metropolitan Bogolep of Olexandria and Svitlovodsk, the assembly of bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the clergy of the Lavra, the Kyiv Diocese, and guests in the holy rank.

Liturgical hymns were performed by the mixed metropolitan choir under the direction of Archimandrite Gerontiy (Borysevych) and the choir of the Kyiv Theological Schools under the direction of Archimandrite Roman (Podlubniak).

During the liturgy, the participants prayed for peace on the Ukrainian land, for deliverance from the enemy, for the Lord to look down on the Ukrainian people and save those who are in despair and lost their homes, for the blessing of God's people of good will who help those in need. The Primate asked God to bestow His mercy onto Ukrainian nation, to bring the authorities to reason, to strengthen the warriors with courage, to free the captives, to heal the sick and give shelter to those who have lost their homes.

After the dismissal, Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa and Izmail delivered a congratulatory speech to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry on behalf of the Holy Synod, bishops, clergy, monastics and all believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

His Beatitude thanked for the congratulation and expressed gratitude to the congregation for everything that happened during the eight years of his leadership.

"Everything good that was done during this period is the fruit of our joint efforts, our common prayers, our patience and humility. I wish that the Lord will be henceforth with us, that the following years – as long as God will determine for each of us to live – will be successful, prayerful, and hopeful that the Lord will bless our land with peace," said His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.

As the UOJ wrote, Primates of some Local Churches congratulated His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry on the anniversary of his enthronement.

Read also