Weapons are not always decisive in war. Often it’s the power of prayer and faith that defeats the adversary.
Chaplain of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Dmytro Prysiazhnyi told about this in an interview with Ukrinform.
“Often in war, it is not the power of arms that is decisive, but the power of faith and the power of prayer. I will give an example: September 8, 1514, the battle of Orsha, on the territory of modern Belarus. It’s the 15,000-strong army of Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Poles under the command of the glorious prince Konstantin of Ostrog against the 80,000-strong Moscow horde, so the forces are unequal. Any military analyst at that time would have suggested a disappointing outlook for the army of Konstantin of Ostrog. However, the commander, being a man of sincere faith, went on a campaign with a prayer. He had spiritual mentors in his army, who blessed him with a holy prayer. The soldiers went into battle with crosses on their flags and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Muscovites!” noted the OCU military chaplain.
According to Father Dmytro, there are no atheists in the trenches.
“We also have an eloquent Ukrainian proverb: ‘if you have any anxiety, turn to God.’ When you are being shelled and everything around is burning and moving, both young men and already quite mature people pray and cross, even if they never did this in their civilian life,” the priest told Ukrinform.
He says that at the front, when life is in limbo, you remember everyone – the Lord, the Most Holy Mother of God, and all the saints.
As a reminder, the Divine Liturgy for the Ukrainian-speaking Orthodox faithful will be held in Denmark.
