On August 29, 2022, on the Day of Remembrance of Ukraine’s Defenders who sacrificed their lives for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of their country, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine held a memorial service at the “Memory Wall” outside St. Michae’’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv.
His Beatitude was co-served by the vicar of the Golden-Domed Monastery, Archbishop Ahapit of Vyshhorod, the venerable brothers of the monastery, and invited clergy, the press service of the OCU reports.
At the end of the service, the head of the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church laid flowers at the memorial of the fallen heroes.
More than 4,000 photos of Ukraine’s heroes have been placed on the “Memory Wall.” But these photos were posted before the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, that is, before February 24. Unfortunately, this cruel and terrible war continues to this day, every day taking lives of many of our brothers and sisters who are protecting us. We pray for them, showing them our love in return for the love they showed us and our God-given Ukrainian land, defending our territorial integrity,” said Metropolitan Epifaniy.
The Primate emphasized that Ukrainians have no right to forget all those sacrifices that were laid on the altar of their Independence.
“We must continue to pray for those who have gone to eternity. And for those who are currently defending our land, we offer prayers for their health. And also, for all their relatives, may the Lord strengthen them, give them the strength to continue to work worthily, and do everything to bring our victory closer,” noted the primate. “May the Lord rest the souls of fallen heroes in the Kingdom of Heaven. Our low bow, honor, and eternal memory go out to them.”
