Kiev, September 12, 2024
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The spiritual labors of the Christians of the last times will differ from those of the great ascetics of old, the Ukrainian primate said in his homily on the feast of the Saints of the Far Caves of the Kiev Lavra on Tuesday.
According to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the Christians of the last times will first and foremost be known for their patience and love, reports the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Information-Education Department.
“Today we honor the memory of our Venerable Fathers of the Caves, whose incorrupt relics rest in the Far Caves. Of course, the asceticism of people who will live in the last years of the world will differ from that of the ancient fathers. And the main spiritual labor of the last Christians will be patience and love,” His Beatitude emphasized.
This is how we resist evil, he said: “So that human malice doesn’t break our love for God, so that no evil can knock us off the path that leads to salvation, to eternal life. Preserving love, purity of faith, and patience are the main feats by which the last Christians will be saved.”
The Metropolitan called upon his flock to take inspiration from the example of the saints of the Kiev Caves and to endure the trials and tribulations that the Lord allows in our lives.
His Beatitude expounded on his point:
To endure with gratitude, without becoming embittered, and to pray for everyone: both those who hate us and those who love and have mercy on us. Because this is God’s commandment—the commandment of love.
As long as love exists, the world will exist. Love will disappear, and the world will cease to exist. Even if we have everything we need for life: natural resources, harvests, and money—if there’s no love, all this is dust and ashes.
And the Ukrainian primate concluded: “Through the prayers of the Venerable Fathers of the Caves, may the Lord protect us and bless our land with peace, so that we may live on earth in such a way that our life continues in eternity in Heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
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