On the second day after Christmas, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy, called on the faithful not to forget the suffering of Ukrainians, which is inflicted on them by the modern-day Herod, Putin.
“On the Sunday after Christmas, the Church reminds us of the two sad events – the flight of the Virgin Mary with the Infant God and the righteous Joseph to Egypt and the cruel extermination of children in Bethlehem and its surroundings by the order of King Herod. In the midst of the joy we have, remembering and glorifying the birth of the Savior, from the Gospel we hear about pain, bloodshed, and suffering from the efforts of evil. And while in the past years such memories had a greater moral and educational value for us, now, in the time of indescribable suffering brought to our land by the modern-day Herod and his embittered servants, these memories directly echo with pain in our souls,” the metropolitan said in his sermon, the OCU press service reports.
According to Epifaniy, millions of our fellow citizens became forced refugees due to Russian aggression, just as the Mother of God and the Child and Elder Joseph – Her betrothed and guardian – were refugees.
“Women, children, people of the older generation, escaping from the murderers of the Kremlin dictator, are forced to flee their Motherland, their native home, to another land, often far away and foreign, in order to find there shelter and protection from cruelty and violence. But hundreds of children’s lives, thousands of lives of peaceful inhabitants of Ukrainian cities and villages, the soul-slayers sent by the Kremlin Herod have already taken away and continue to take away… So even though we celebrate now and glorify the event of the birth of the Son of God and the Savior of the world, we do not forget the great suffering that in these very days and hours our brothers and sisters are experiencing,” reminded the head of the OCU.
The bishop noted that Ukrainians remember all the suffering in prayer and ask for God’s help and protection for them.
“We ask for the repose of the souls of the innocent victims of the Russian attack. We ask for recovery, healing of physical and mental wounds for those injured and maimed by Russian bombs, bullets, and missiles. We ask for protection and help for forced refugees and displaced persons who, like Christ and His earthly parents, left their native land, seeking protection from danger. May the Lord inspire mercy in the hearts of people of good will who take care of our refugees, and may He reward them a hundredfold for their kindness and sacrifice,” said Metropolitan Epifaniy.
He added that again and again in our prayers we remember our newest heroes, courageous soldiers – defenders of Ukraine and that thanks to their daily sacrifice, thanks to their indomitability, we have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in relative peace.
“For this, for our freedom and independence, we have to pay a high price every day and every hour. We don’t forget that and we never will!”
“The current events and the events of the Gospel time, the suffering and deaths of innocents make us ask ourselves the question: why does God allow this to happen? That’s because He gave humanity the inalienable gift of freedom. Each person comes into being with free will and choice. This gift is the basis of our ability to love because it is the fruit of freedom. At the same time, our freedom and the right to choose also mean a person’s ability to choose evil and hate instead of love and good. Evil and its consequences are not God’s choice, but man’s choice,” explained the head of the OCU.
He expressed confidence that the sword of God’s justice will punish evil and every unrepentant criminal, like Herod, will be condemned. And everyone who has gone through innocent suffering will receive a reward from God.
It should be recalled that Metropolitan Epifaniy said OCU parishes would be able to switch to the New Julian calendar.
Also, the Metropolitan took part in the enthronement of the head of the Church of Cyprus.
