Roman Hryshchuk, a priest and chaplain with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, revealed who is bringing up the “Orthodox Taliban” in Ukraine.
I had an unpleasant conversation with an Orthodox believer affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. In 10 minutes he repeated all clichés spread by the Kremlin: on the civil war, on Ukraine attacking itself, on our soldiers as those guilty in “fratricide,” etc. And I thought, where do they get this into this heads, who taught them this in Ukraine, especially in Bukovyna (western Ukraine – ed.)?
The answer came by itself: a priest I know sent me photos of a prayer book, which I myself often saw: this is the most popular prayer book in the Moscow Patriarchate, entitled “The Great Orthodox Prayer Book for Every Need.” But what I saw there struck me deeply. Please note: the prayer book was published in the Pochaiv Lavra in 2018 (four years into the start of war by Russia!!!) with the blessing of the Pochaiv (ROCinU – ed.) Metropolitan Volodymyr.
After reviewing the content, I couldn’t believe my eyes. To be convinced that it isn’t a forgery, I decided to personally visit the Nicholas temple of the Moscow patriarchate in Chernivtsi
The Chernivtsi-Bukovyna diocese! A consistory! A church book shop…
Yes, this is no lie! They’re still offering their faithful a prayer book of this edition! Let’s read the table of contents!
There is a very serious law of psychological perception: If you want to make something important for the people, you need to make it a cult! That is, for people to pray for it! After all, people associate the highest values with prayer and God. When someone prays about something, they understand it is very important! In general, from the text of our prayers we learn what the highest values are, worth living and dying for!
From our prayers, we learn about forgiveness, love of neighbor, patience, love for our homeland and our Creator.
However, people can use this powerful weapon and tool to the benefit of their evil intentions! This is how religious fanatics and kamikaze sectarians are brought up.
And now to your attention is the content of that prayer book: In the very title of the section: “Prayers for the homeland” it clarifies which homeland is in question: it’s Russia! Not even Rus, namely RUSSIA! So people are supposed to pray for RUSSIA and “settling strife within it”: that is, for the restoration of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE!
A prayer to be saved from splits, all sorts of ‘Maidans’ and their implications! A prayer of repentance on the day of the assassination of the Russian royal family, pressing on condolences, urging to “repent”, that is, to restore what’s lost – Russian tsar’s authority over Ukraine, Russia’s “God-protected” empire, etc.
Then it is suggested to pray exclusively to Russian saints and immediately designate adversaries – foreigners and non-believers. I can just see the face of propaganda pundit Dmitriy Kiselyov saying that it’s “heretics, blacks, and Americans” who are fighting on Ukraine’s battlefields. But if it is offered to pray for Russian soldiers as their own, then the enemies of Russian soldiers, that is, those with whom they are at war, are Ukrainian soldiers. So this is what they mean by “enemies, infidels, and foreigners” who must be destroyed! Hence the hostility of many ordinary parishioners with the Moscow Patriarchate to the Ukrainian Army. This is why their parishioners hardly ever volunteer to join army ranks or assist the Army in other ways.
In conclusion, it should be noted that it’s with the help of such “prayers” that the “Orthodox Taliban”, the “Orthodox Army” is being brought up.
Such “prayers” and “prayer books” are like poison. After receiving a dose of snake venom, the victim falls into a stupor, stops running or resisting. And then the snake (Russia) is able to easily finish them.
PS: Questions to the “great lover” of Ukraine, ROCinU’s Metropolitan of Bukovyna Meletius, in whose shop I personally bought this book, of which I have video evidence I’m set to forward to the SBU!) and to the infamous Archimandrite Nikita, who prefers only burying Ukrainian soldiers, who was very offended that military priests didn’t want to see their clerics as chaplains: Do you understand that the blood of our soldiers is on your hands and the Lord will ask you for the lost souls of those who believed in your propaganda ???
