Zaporozhye, July 2, 2019
Photo: spzh.news The website of the Zaporozhye Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced a special competition dedicated to the Saints, New Martyrs, and Confessors of Zaporozhye.
In the competition called “We are the heirs of the Saints of Zaporozhye”, believers from the historical birthplace of Cossacks, Zaporozhye, Southern Ukraine, will be given a chance to demonstrate their knowledge and devotion to the Saints who walked on their lands. The purpose of the competition is to increase awareness, study, and veneration of the Saints of Zaporozhye and their remarkable podvigs.
We are overjoyed to say that here at Orthochristian.com, we have presented what is very likely the first English language translation of the lives of those remarkable saints, in an article entitled “Zaporozhye the Unconquered, The Glorious Lives of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Wild Cossack Fields”. Reading the stories both shocked us with their bravery and faith, and yet seemed very familiar to those who study the lives of the new martyrs of the Rus’ Church.
Winners of the competition, who demonstrate the most knowledge and veneration of these Saints in various discussions, exhibitions, oratory and theatrical performances, and other presentations, will be awarded with special pilgrimages to holy sites.
The website of the diocese emphasized the importance for the people of Zaporozhye to understand their saints, both as their own countrymen, with families, dreams, and human lives not unlike modern people, but also to recognize that they sacrificed everything for Christ. The main question is, would we do the same in their place, and what current or recent events do their situations remind us of?
Saint Petro Kalnyshevsky. Photo: Kozakorium One of the most interesting of those Saints is Petro Kalnyshevsky (1691-1803+) who was canonized on November 13, 20151. Saint Petro was the last leader of the Zaporozhian Cossack host, who came to the Cossack Sich at age eight, and rose to be their commander.
Due to political issues, Empress Catherine the Great ordered that Zaporozhian Sich—the fortress of the Cossacks—be liquidated. Kalnyshevsky did everything possible to ensure this happened without bloodshed, even though the end of the Sich was a nightmare for him. He was still forced away into exile, where he lived out his days in Solovki monastery as a monk. Even after he was given permission to leave by the new Emperor, he chose to remain, and the Righteous Petro Kalnyshevsky reposed at the deep old age of 112 years.
Petro Kalnyshevsky had a choice to either fight for political power and even his own freedom, or to avoid bloodshed; like Saints Boris and Gleb, he sacrificed all power and earthly honor in order to prevent any chance of fratricide or division. This is another example from the life of a warrior saint, who was canonized not for winning earthly battles, but for conquering pride and sin, and in this case, like Ilya of Murom, a podvig of monasticism.
Canonization of Saint Petro in Zaporozhye. Photo: hramzp.ua
As with Saints Boris and Gleb, the act of self-sacrifice to prevent internecine and fratricidal wars is considered an important example in contemporary times, especially in relation to the painful situation in Ukraine.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye has before called on people to remember, and not betray the legacy of the Cossacks of Zaporozhye, “glorious knights” as he called them, but to honor their legacy as defenders of Orthodoxy during times of schism.
Matfey Shaheen
