The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy, during a visit to the Chernihiv Diocese on November 24, performed a prayer service for Ukraine’s victory over the aggressor in the ancient Transfiguration Cathedral.
The Transfiguration Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Rus. It is located in the historical center of Chernihiv. The construction of the cathedral began around 1033-1034 by order of the first Chernihiv prince known from the chronicles, Mstyslav Volodymyrovych. The chronicles first mention the “church of the Holy Savior” in 1036, the OCU website reports.
Together with the Primate prayed Bishop Antoniy, the head of the diocese, hierarchs and clergy, defenders of the Homeland, believers, as well as the Head of the Chernihiv administration Vyacheslav Chaus, and General Director of the National Reserve “Ancient Chernihiv” Natalia Rebrova.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine also offered prayers for the defenders of the Homeland and at the end of the service addressed the believers: “Today we thank God that He has deigned to offer prayers in this ancient Transfiguration Cathedral. Gradually, as we see, the Lord is helping and facilitating us to establish our recognized local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. And all historical monuments, all historical cathedrals, laurels and monasteries should belong to the local Ukrainian Church, because this is the heritage of our Ukrainian people, this is the heritage of our Ukrainian history. We pray and beg God for victory and believe that soon the Lord will grant us this great gift.”
In addition, the Primate expressed gratitude to the head of the diocese, Bishop Antoniy, the Head of the administration, the Director General of the National Reserve, and the clergy for the development and establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on the God-blessed Chernihiv land.
At the end of the visit, Metropolitan Epifaniy visited the Trinity-Illia Monastery, where the relics of the Chernihiv saints rest.
The Primate of the OCU also took part in state events honoring the memory of the victims of the Holodomor.
