On August 1, the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Mykhailo Komansky (Anishchenko), led the Divine Liturgy in the upper temple of the Stauropegia of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, St. Andrew’s Church in Kyiv. Co-serving clerics were the resident of the Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, Hieromonk Theodosius (Lyakhovych) and Hieromonk Vikentiy (Kozak), who serves in the St. Nectarios of Aeginsky monastery of the Pereyaslav-Vyshneve Eparchy of the OCU. The Divine Liturgy was held on the occasion of honoring the memory of the Holy Fathers of the six Ecumenical Councils.
That’s according to the Spiritual Front of Ukraine.
Admission to St. Andrew’s Church for religious services is free for believers. At the same time, the St. Andrew’s Church Museum of the Sophia of Kyiv National Reserve continues its operations.
This was the first service held after the signing of an agreement with the Sophia of Kyiv National Reserve on free and permanent use of St. Andrew’s Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Reprensentation in Ukraine. At the same time, the temple was and will remain state property.
This is a unique situation where in one location, worship is performed in two styles: the old-style worship in the upper, restored St. Andrew’s Church, and the new-style – In the lower temple-chapel.
In his homily, Bishop Mykhailo emphasized the importance of praying for others and called for the development of the talents that God has given to each person.
“The Lord gives us all unique talents and we should develop them, not envy that someone has what I want and I don’t have. Everyone is unique, you just need to understand what God has given you and develop it. That’s because envy diminishes and destroys love between people and destroys virtues,” Bishop Komansky said during the sermon.
“If the Lord calls to love, and man has no love, or to be friends, and man has no friendship. If the Lord calls someone to act mercifully and man has no mercy, then it is impossible to ‘turn it on’ by pressing some button. People’s nature isn’t like that. For example, we can turn to the Gospel reading. It is written that people brought a sick man, and the Lord, seeing their faith, healed the sick man,” said Bishop Mykhailo.
He emphasized that faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the Word of God.
“Now, the very incarnate Word stood before the sick man and spoke to him. We can assume that the sick man didn’t have strong faith. But when the Word itself spoke to him, based on the faith of others, this shows the power of prayer for other people: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ After that, faith came to him because he didn’t just hear the word of God, he talked to him personally. ”
“So, let us pray for others, let us try to discover in ourselves the talents that the Lord has given us. Let’s not envy each other, let’s cherish virtues, and every day, let’s read the Holy Scriptures to cleanse our minds, to cleanse our souls. Let’s study, remembering that every fragment of the Holy Scripture is addressed to us and is an instruction on how to live our lives,” Bishop Mykhailo, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Kyiv, summed up in his sermon.
It shall be recalled that on January 9, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate appointed Archimandrite (since November 8, 2020, Bishop Komansky) Mykhailo (Anishchenko) head of its Kyiv Stauropegia.
On December 13, 2020, a solemn Liturgy was held in St. Andrew’s Church on the occasion of the opening of the church.
In early July 2021, guests from the Holy Mount Athos and Turkey paid a visit to the Stauropegia.
