Kiev, May 16, 2023
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
Today is a double feast for the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra, with the celebration of St. Theodosius, one of the founders of the ancient monastery, and the transfer of the wonderworking Dormition Icon from Constantinople to Kiev at the time of the monastery’s founding.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine led the celebrations last night and today in the Lavra’s Church of St. Agapit of the Kiev Caves. Thousands of Orthodox faithful attended the Liturgy this morning.
Photo: news.church.ua
And in honor of the wonderworking Dormition Icon, His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye published a text on the essence of what is happening in Ukraine and round the Kiev Caves today.
“The Mother of God is with those who remain faithful to the Church of Christ. We’re grateful to the Lord that He has vouchsafed us to live at a time when faith in God and trust in His providence are being tested,” His Eminence writes.
Today, when our Church celebrates the bringing of the Dormition Icon of the Mother of God of the Kiev Caves, I would like to share my thoughts with those who do not understand the essence of the events taking place around the Kiev Caves Lavra, to whom the Lavra and its Dormition Cathedral actually belong, and to remind by whom and for what it was built.
The Lavra and the Dormition Church were founded by the Queen of Heaven herself and were built not for the needs of the state, but for prayer and monastic work. The Mother of God personally financed this construction and showed the architects the exact dimensions of the future church. “I want to build myself a Church in Rus’, in Kiev, and so I’m telling you to do it. Take this gold,” the Mother of God told the architects. She also gave them the relics of the martyrs that were laid in the foundation of the church, and also entrusted them with her wonderworking icon of the Dormition, which more than once saved Kiev from the invasion of enemies. The Queen of Heaven founded this place for worship, not for a museum, concert programs, folk art festivals, and other folklore. To turn the relics of saints into “exhibits,” the Lavra into a “Ukrainian pantheon” (literally polytheism), to kill the prayerful spiritual life of the oldest monastery—this is equivalent to throwing rocks in the face of the Mother of God and those saints whose relics rest in the caves. You don't need to be a prophet or a seer to understand what consequences such audacity will have for those madmen who do this.
But now we see and feel in our hearts that God is with us. The Mother of God is with those who remain faithful to the Church of Christ. We’re grateful to the Lord that He has vouchsafed us to live at a time when faith in God and trust in His providence are being tested. After all, for us the issue is quite different from how it’s covered by the politically engaged media. It’s not a matter of loyalty to one jurisdiction or another, but whether we will remain faithful to Christ and the Gospel, whether we will serve Caesar or God, profess anti-Christian values and God-fighting morality or remain faithful to the commandments of God. This is the choice that each of us makes today.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
