Pereyaslav, Ukraine, Kiev Province, November 21, 2022
Photo: news.church.ua
In 1942, the relics of the Holy Venerable Martyr Makary, the Wonderworker of Kanev and Pereyslav (18th-19th century), were transferred from Pereyaslav to Cherkassy.
Yesterday, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of this transfer and the feast of the Archangel Michael, a portion of his relics were transferred back to Pereyaslav, to the Holy Archangel Michael Monastery, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Photo: news.church.ua
The celebrations began with the Divine Liturgy at the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkassy celebrated by the local hierarch, Met. Theodosy of Cherkassy and his two vicar bishops. After the service, the hierarchs and clergy held a procession with the relics of St. Makary around the cathedral. Then a fragment of the relics was transferred to Pereyaslav, about 75 miles north of Cherkassy.
Hundreds of faithful greeted the holy relics of the saint who is honored as the Heavenly patron of the region. They were carried in procession around the church of the Archangel Michael Monastery, and His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, the Chancellor of the UOC, served a moleben before them with Met. Theodosy of Cherkassy.
Photo: news.church.ua
The reliquary was then placed in the church, where they were previously kept in the 18th century.
Met. Anthony spoke about St. Makary as a heroic defender of the Orthodox faith against the Unia of Eastern-Rite Catholicism. “The times weren’t easy, the Unia was planted, various enemies sought to seize our land, but the holy Venerable Martyr Makary put all his strength and talents towards preserving the Orthodox faith for you and me, and for this he didn’t spare even his life,” Met. Anthony preached.
“We have gathered in this holy monastery today to glorify the Venerable Martyr Makary and pray that the Lord will give peace to our homeland, that this war, which takes many lives of our fellow countrymen, will end and the future of our homeland can be built. But the most important thing for Orthodox Christians is to assert their faith with their lives, on which our salvation and, we hope, the salvation of future generations will be based,” Met. Anthony concluded.
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The incorrupt relics of St. Makary were originally transferred to Pereyaslav from Kanev on May 13, 1688, to save them from an attack by the Turks. In 1713, they were placed in the newly built church of the Archangel Michael Monastery. In the coming centuries, the relics were kept in various churches throughout the monastery and the city of Pereyaslav.
In 1942, during WWII, the relics of St. Makary were moved from Pereyaslav to Cherkassy. In 2002, after the consecration of the Archangel Michael Cathedral, the largest church in Ukraine, the incorrupt relics were transferred to the cathedral.
Now, a portion of the relics, with the historical wooden coffin, have been returned to Cherkassy.
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