Kiev, December 8, 2021
Photo: news.church.ua
A new church was consecrated at the holiest site in Ukraine—the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra, in honor of one of the Lavra’s own saints.
The consecration of the Church of St. Agapit of the Caves was celebrated by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the primate for Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Photo: lavra.ua His Beatitude then served the first Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church. He was concelebrated by dozens of other hierarchs, including His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod, the abbot of the Lavra, His Eminence Metropolitan Stefan of Gomel of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, His Grace Bishop Theodosius of Seattle of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and a host of Ukrainian hierarchs and clergy.
Following the Liturgy, His Beatitude led the clergy in glorifying the Mother of God before the icon of the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple.
Met. Onuphry congratulated Met. Pavel and all the Lavra brethren on the consecration of the new church, wishing that “the Lord might,” through the prayers of St. Agapit, “heal us mentally and physically and help us live such that we might become children of eternal salvation.”
The Ukrainian primate then distributed gifts to the children who sang at the service.
The Church of St. Agapit is the Lavra’s tenth above ground church, in addition to another six in the Near and Far Caves.
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