Zadubrovka, Chernivtsi Province, Ukraine, November 9, 2021
Photo: Facebook
Parishioners of the canonical Church of St. Michael in the village of Zadubrovka, Chernivtsi Province, have been prayerfully protecting their church from the violent schismatics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” for nearly three years.
The attempts to seize the church began in March 2019. The faithful have been standing guard at their church ever since.
Tomorrow night, the faithful will celebrate the 1,000th day of their round-the-clock defensive vigil with a nighttime Liturgy, the church reports.
“Let us thank God for the opportunity to profess our faith, for the strength to defend the truth, for the courage and physical strength that the Lord gives us,” the announcement reads.
“Let us ask for patience, love, and humility, entreating the intercession of the Heavenly Queen and the help of the Archangel Michael. Let us all unite in the Eucharist through repentance and receiving the Mysteries of Christ,” the church continues.
Parish rector Archpriest Vitaly Durov and the parishioners invite all Orthodox faithful to gather at their church at 11:00 PM tomorrow night for Vespers, Matins, and Liturgy.
The Liturgy will be followed by a panikhida for the repose of the soul of Archpriest Leonid Delikatny, the former rector, “whose health was irrevocably undermined by endless attacks on him and his community by supporters of the OCU,” in the words of His Grace Bishop Viktor of Baryshevka.
The schismatics, who enjoy the patronage of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, attempted to seize the church on the very day that Fr. Leonid died, beating several parishioners unconscious with clubs, including a 17-year-old boy who was trying to protect his mother.
In July of this year, the Chernivtsi Court of Appeal overturned an earlier ruling, thus voiding the church’s illegal re-registration to the schismatic “church.”
The faithful of Holy Dormition Church in the village of Mikhalcha in the Chernivtsi Province have also been protecting their church around the clock for nearly 3 years now.
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