Kiev, May 5, 2020
tobiporada.com.ua
In a video recorded on the occasion of the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, in addition to congratulating all Orthodox women, the abbot of the Kiev Caves Lavra, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, also gave up-to-date information on the number of brothers who have been sick recently.
His Eminence noted that there is much false information and “many disagreements in the media about the Kiev Caves Lavra and other monasteries.”
While various media reports had upwards of 150 brothers or even the entire brotherhood contracting the coronavirus, Met. Pavel specified that: “There are more than 200 members of the brotherhood in the holy monastery. 68 people got sick, 19 people did not have a confirmed diagnosis, 28 people had a positive diagnosis. 25 people were in the hospital; today two people are in the hospital, the rest are in self-isolation.”
Unfortunately, three brothers of the Lavra have reposed in the Lord in recent months: Frs. Nektary, Nikodim, and Naum.
However, those in the hospital suffered from a variety of ailments, not all related to the coronavirus: “But among the 25 who were in the hospital were those who did not have the coronavirus—heart attacks and such common illnesses that people have. Therefore, I remind you once again that the Lord is merciful to us, and we are almost all at home.”
The abbot also stressed that everything in the Lavra is done according to doctors’ instructions, to whom he expressed his deep gratitude, himself having spent a week in the hospital and having witnessed their efforts.
“And we, dear brothers and sisters, must unite to thank God and help the doctors who sacrifice and give their lives for us... Disasters unite people. We must unite if we love our country, if we love our people, if we value our lives. We must change our lives, we must bring worthy fruits of repentance, we must pray for each other, no matter what faith you are. We must, once again, put on the Risen Christ and see in man not an enemy, but a brother and friend. Let the Lord help us all,” the Metropolitan concluded.
False information concerning the Pochaev and Svyatogorsk Lavras has also been refuted by civil authorities.
