Minsk, August 27, 2020
church.by
Yesterday, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church released His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zalslavl from his position as primate of the Belarusian Orthodox Church at his own request, appointing His Grace Bishop Benjamin of Borisov and Marinogorsk, a native Belarusian, in his place.
Later that day, Bp. Benjamin issued his first pastoral epistle to the clergy and faithful of the Belarusian Church, published on the official Church site.
In his letter, the new Belarusian primate emphasizes that prayer and repentance are essential prerequisites for the Lord to show His mercy and bring peace to the Belarusian people and land.
“My first address to you as the primate of the Belarusian Orthodox Church will not be festive and exalted. It arises from pain of heart for our native people and our land, from love for you all,” he begins.
If man does not hear God speaking through love or his conscience, then He speaks to us through sufferings, which Belarus is currently experiencing, Bp. Benjamin writes.
As a spiritual offering to the Lord, to entreat the end of the present sufferings, Bp. Benjamin not only calls upon the people to finish the Dormition Fast strictly and faithfully, but to continue fasting for another three days:
In these final days of the Dormition fast, dedicated to the memory of the final earthly days of the Most Holy Theotokos, I call upon all Christians to strictly observe the fast and extend it for three days. When the ancient city of Nineveh was in danger, all its inhabitants took a fast upon themselves, even the animals, and the mercy of God came (Jonah 3). During the fast, let us strengthen our public and personal prayers for Belarus. Let us unite for common prayer in our churches and on church territories, and let us light lamps of fervent prayer in every home all across Belarus.
And prayer and fasting go hand-in-hand with repentance: “A change of minds and a change of hearts from evil to good, from lies to truth, from division to unity, from condemnation to understanding—these are the changes that our society needs first of all.” The recent troubles in Belarus are because of the inclination of the human heart towards evil, the new primate writes.
A spiritual struggle for the Belarusian homeland is underway, His Grace writes, and “unity in common prayer and love according to faith and the law of Christ has always been an essential principle in White Rus’ for overcoming various calamities, sorrows, sicknesses, and troubles.”
“I believe that if we fervently, zealously, and unanimously fulfill our intention to spend these three days in fasting, prayer, and repentance, we will quickly see the response of Heaven and we will understand what we, the people of Belarus, must do to defeat evil with good and to prevent further evil,” he exhorts.
The journey to peace in Belarus begins with the people’s prayer and repentance, and the Lord will always hear the intercessions of His Most Pure Mother.
“May the Lord and the Mother of God and the saints ever be with us, and especially now, in this our first blessed joint undertaking!” His Grace concludes.
