Kryvyi Rih honors its patron saint, Petro Kalnyshevsky

On the feast day of Petro Kalnyshevsky, Metropolitan Ephraim celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Kryvyi Rih and led a prayer service before the relics of the saintly Cossack chieftain revered as the city's founder.

On November 13, 2026, Metropolitan Ephraim of Kryvyi Rih and Nikopol celebrated a festive Divine Liturgy at the church dedicated to the holy Cossack chieftain in Kryvyi Rih, the Kryvyi Rih Eparchy reported on its Telegram channel. The service marked the feast day of Righteous Petro Kalnyshevsky, who is venerated as the city's founder.

Concelebrating with the Metropolitan were Archimandrite Volodymyr (Neroba), abbot of the Monastery of Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia; Archpriest Anatoliy Ryzhenko, dean of Kryvyi Rih's Central Deanery; and Archpriest Dymytriy Lesovoy, rector of the church. Other clergy of the Kryvyi Rih Eparchy also attended the service. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and the well-being of its people.

Following the Liturgy, Metropolitan Ephraim and the clergy served a moleben before a reliquary containing the relics of Holy Righteous Petro Kalnyshevsky. The Metropolitan then offered prayers to the saint, who is venerated as the patron of the Kryvyi Rih region.

He subsequently addressed the congregation with words of spiritual guidance and thanked Archpriest Dymytriy Lesovoy for his dedicated service to the parish.

Petro Kalnyshevsky was the last kish otaman (supreme chieftain) of the Zaporizhian Sich. He was exiled to the Solovetsky Islands, where he died.

As the UOJ previously reported, the faithful in Kryvyi Rih honored the region's most revered holy object – the Turkovychi Icon of the Mother of God.