Kiev, June 15, 2023
Photo: news.church.ua
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the brotherhood of the Kiev Caves Lavra celebrated the feast of St. Agapit of the Kiev Caves yesterday.
Photo: news.church.ua
The All-Night Vigil on Tuesday night and the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday morning were celebrated by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine and a number of other bishops in the Church named in honor of St. Agapit at the Kiev Caves Lavra, which has been the main Lavra church since the Ukrainian state evicted the Church from the Upper Lavra, where the main cathedrals are located.
The church was filled to overflowing with Orthodox faithful who came to pray and venerate the relics of St. Agapit. Those outside on the street patiently endured insults and slanders from anti-Orthodox activists, the UOC’s Information-Education Department reports.
After the reading of the Holy Gospel, His Beatitude offered a homily on the life and miracles of St. Agapit:
St. Agapit, who here on earth became renowned for the wondrous healings that he entreated from God for people, still stands before the throne of God and helps people who come to him with faith, with love for God, and they receive healing of physical ailments, and even more spiritual ones...
Without spiritual health, physical health doesn’t help anyone. Secondly, he reinforced our bodily infirmities so that we could perform our earthly ministry in such a way that the Most Holy Name of God would be glorified by our lives…
When a person lives in such a way that he doesn’t glorify himself, but God, he doesn’t magnify himself, but God, when we live in this way, our life ends on earth, but continues in eternity, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the beatitude where St. Agapit is located, who glorifies the one God in Trinity together with all the saints.
Photo: news.church.ua
Following the Liturgy, prayers for peace in Ukraine were offered, and a procession with the relics of St. Agapit to the Near Caves was held. A moleben was served at the Caves and the faithful were sprinkled with holy water.
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The holy unmercenary physician St. Agapit of the Kiev Caves was born in Kiev. He was a novice and disciple of St. Anthony of the Caves, and lived during the 11th century. If any of the monastic brethren fell ill, St. Agapit came to him and selflessly attended to the sick one. He fed his patient boiled herbs which he himself prepared, and the person recovered through the prayers of the saint. Many laymen also turned to the monastic physician with the gift of healing.
In Kiev at this time was an experienced Armenian physician, who was able to diagnose the nature of the illness and even accurately determine the day of death just by looking at a patient. When one of these doomed patients turned to St. Agapit, the grace-bearing healer gave him some food from the monastery trapeza (dining area), and the patient became well. Enflamed with envy, the physician wanted to poison St. Agapit, but the Lord preserved him, and the poison had no effect.
St. Agapit healed Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Chernigov, the future Great Prince of Kiev (1114-1125), by sending him boiled herbs. The grateful prince went to the monastery and wanted to see his healer, but the humble ascetic hid himself and would not accept gifts.
When the holy healer himself became sick, that same Armenian physician came to him and after examining him, he said that he would die in three days. He swore to became an Orthodox monk if his prediction were not fulfilled. The saint said that the Lord had revealed to him that He would summon him only after three months.
St. Agapit died after three months (on June 1, not later than 1095), and the Armenian went to the abbot of the Caves monastery and received monastic tonsure. “It is certain that Agapit was a saint of God,” he said. “I well knew, that it was impossible for him to last three days in his sickness, but the Lord gave him three months.” Thus did the monk heal sickness of the soul and guide to the way of salvation.
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