His Beatitude: To receive healing, we must repent of our sins
The Primate of the UOC stressed that the root of both spiritual and physical illness lies in human sin, while the grace of the Holy Spirit gives a person strength beyond sorrow and even death itself.
On August 9, 2026, the feast day of Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine led the service at St. Panteleimon Convent in Kyiv’s Feofania district and addressed the faithful with a sermon.
The Primate noted that on this day the celebration of Christ’s glorious Resurrection is joined with the commemoration of the great healer and saint of God Panteleimon, who lived during the persecution of Christians.
Metropolitan Onuphry also recalled the miracle that led the saint to baptism. Seeing a child lying dead on the road after being bitten by a snake, the young man asked the Lord to raise him from the dead – and his prayer was answered.
The Primate recounted the tortures endured by the saint – a wheel fitted with blades, molten lead, and being cast into the depths of the sea with a stone tied around his neck – and recalled that many who witnessed his courage themselves confessed Christ and were put to death. Before Panteleimon’s execution, the sword in the soldier’s hand bent like wax, and after the saint was beheaded, milk flowed instead of blood and the olive tree beside him burst into fruit.
His Beatitude recalled that the largest portion of the Great Martyr’s relics is kept on Mount Athos at St. Panteleimon Monastery, where the saint’s head is also preserved, while a portion of his relics is kept at the convent in Feofania. “Everyone can venerate them and ask the saint for mercy, for health of soul and body,” he said.
The Primate summed up the central message of his sermon at the end.
“The cause of our illnesses – both spiritual and physical – is our sins. And in order to receive the mercy of healing, we must repent of our sins. Then the prayer of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon will help us and bear good fruit,” Metropolitan Onuphry stressed.
He also pointed out that the witness of the martyrs reveals the power of grace: “We marvel at the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which strengthens a person and makes him so strong that no sorrow, not even death itself, can overcome him.”
His Beatitude concluded by praying for peace: “We pray that, through the prayers of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, the Lord may help us all and bless our land with peace.”
As the UOJ reported, Metropolitan Onuphry has also said that legalizing sin will not solve humanity’s problems.
