Kiev, May 12, 2021
The faithful in Bronitsa joyfully celebrated Pascha in their new church. Photo: Facebook
Two parish communities of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church were blessed to celebrate Pascha in new churches this year after losing their previous churches to the violent schismatics of Patriarch Bartholomew’s “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU), reports the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Thus, in gathering to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, they also marked a new beginning in the lives of their communities.
The Church of the Nativity of the St. John the Baptist in the village of Bronitsa in the Volyn Province was under constant attack by schismatics in early 2019. The community gathered in January and declared its intention to remain within the canonical Ukrainian Church. A few days later, OCU thugs physically attacked the priest as he was preparing for a Baptism.
They finally managed to seize the church in February, and the canonical community was forced to spend two years worshiping in a simple room adapted for liturgical purposes.
However, this year they were able to celebrate the Bright Resurrection of Christ in a new church that they built in a matter of months, after the foundation stone was laid on November 8 last year. On March 27, crosses were blessed and installed on the dome of the new Church of the She Who is Quick to Hear Icon of the Mother of God.
Photos from the first Paschal Liturgy in the new church were published on Facebook by the rector Fr. Nazar Priymak.
The comunity in Nesvich also joyfully celebrated Holy Pascha in their new church. Photo: spzh.news
On March 4, 2019, violent schismatics seized the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Nesvich in the Volyn Province. Two weeks later, it the head of the Volyn Provincial State Administration illegally re-registered the church to the OCU, created by Pat. Bartholomew of Constantinople, former President Poroshenko, and the U.S. State Department.
The canonical community initially began meeting in the parish house near the church, although they were driven from there as well. They then began meeting in a tent set up near the church, and when cold weather set in, they began to worship in a parishioner’s house.
The new church, in which the community joyfully celebrated the Resurrection of Christ, is built on private territory. There is still a lot of construction work to be done, but parishioners are already gathering there for the Divine services.
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