Polotsk, Vitebsk Province, Belarus, March 4, 2024
Photo: church.by
Celebrations in honor of the 185th anniversary of the Polotsk Council that reunited Belarusian and Lithuanian Uniates with the Orthodox Church in 1839 were held on Sunday, March 3, in the ancient town of Polotsk.
The festive celebrations began with the Divine Liturgy at St. Sophia’s Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Belarus. The Divine service was headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk and Zaslav, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, with the concelebration of several other hierarchs and a number of clergy, reports sobor.by.
St. Sophia’s Cathedral, rebuilt after a devastating war in the 18th century on the foundations of an 11th-century Byzantine cathedral, witnessed the fateful decision of the Uniate hierarchs and clergy to return to the bosom of the Orthodox Church, the main initiator of which was the Uniate bishop (later Orthodox Metropolitan of Lithuania and Vilna) Joseph (Semashko).
The Belarusian Church has discussed the possibility of canonizing this great reunifier, and 2018 was declared the year of Met. Joseph in the Belarusian Exarchate.
185 years ago, Met. Joseph gathered bishops and priests and, with God’s help, abolished the 1596 Union of Brest that saw a number of Orthodox bishops departing from the Church and placing themselves under the authority of the Pope, thus creating the Unia.
Photo: church.by Two years before the council, Met. Joseph initiated the collecting of signatures from Uniate clergy who desired to return to Orthodoxy. Only 2% of the Belarusian and Lithuanian Uniate clergy opposed, and the council in the Cathedral of St. Sophia opened on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1839. As a result of the council, more than 1,600 parishes, with more than 1.6 million parishioners were reunited to holy Orthodoxy, who are the ancestors of modern Central and Western Belarus.
The Polotsk Council put an end to difficult times of hostility and hatred, and through Met. Joseph’s efforts, the ancient Orthodox Diocese of Polotsk was able to return to its ancient and unique spiritual, ecclesiastical, social, political, scientific, and educational sources and fruits.
During the service, His Grace Bishop Ignaty of Polotsk read out the message of the Belarusian Holy Synod in honor of the anniversary, referring to the Council of 1839 as an “epoch-making event in the history of our Church and our fatherland.”
About Bp. Joseph (Semashko), the message states:
His Grace Bishop Joseph (Semashko), the initiator and inspirer of the Polotsk Council, later devoted all his works to the spiritual enlightenment of the reunited flock and its establishment in Holy Orthodoxy, in the fatherly faith. Subsequently elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Lithuania and Vilna, he tirelessly preached the Gospel, took care of the comprehensive education and moral growth of the clergy, was always sensitive and attentive to the needs of ordinary believers, showing an amazing example of unity of word and deed, strength of faith, fortitude, love for God and neighbors. People followed Vladyka Joseph, seeing in him a shepherd who, according to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, was ready to lay down his life for his sheep (Jn. 10:11).
Met. Joseph (Semashko). Photo: eparhiya.by The message also hails the Belarusian New Martyrs of the 20th century as the spiritual heirs of Bp. Joseph and his associates
The message concludes:
Realizing the greatness of the Council’s deeds, we are called to continue the work of the blessed memory of Metropolitan Joseph (Semashko), the archpastors and clergy participating in the Polotsk Council, zealously preserving the Orthodox faith and the unity of the Church, the unity of the spirit in the union of peace (Eph. 4:3), in which may the Lord help us all, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and the host of saints of the Belarusian land!
In September 2016, Polish Orthodox believers also celebrated the 90th anniversary of the return of the people of Lemkos to the Orthodox Church from Uniatism.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
