Chubovka, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, June 27, 2025
Photo: pravlife.org
The faithful Orthodox Christians of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church must resist the pressure to offer a pinch of incense on the altar of Baal and betray their Orthodox faith, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy exhorted in a recent homily.
The Metropolitan has remained a strong example of Orthodoxy despite the Ukrainian state’s personal prosecutorial campaign and the schismatics’ violent attacks on him personally and his churches.
On Wednesday, June 25, His Eminence celebrated the patronal feast of St. Onuphrius the Great Monastery in Chubovka, Cherkasy Province, where he delivered a strong sermon on the need to remain true to holy Orthodoxy and the sacred canons and resist the pressure to proclaim an unauthorized autocephaly.
In May 2022, the UOC separated itself from the Moscow Patriarchate. However, the state continues to persecute the Church because of its fidelity to holy Orthodoxy, which has led some to call for the UOC to declare itself autocephalous.
But according to Met. Theodosy, succumbing to pressure in this way would only be a path to destruction:
There are sorrows that we all bear together with you. For example, from the fact that our Church is persecuted, from the fact that believers are not allowed to live peacefully, to pray peacefully, from the fact that they take away our churches from us, at work they oppress those people whom they know belong to our Church. And in educational institutions, they often mock our children when they learn that they attend our churches. How should we bear this common sorrow of persecution against the Church?
There are people who bear it, and there are those who try to get rid of it. How should we bear this trouble in order to receive a reward from God? The same way our Christian predecessors bore it, from the first centuries of Christianity to this day, because persecutions occur always, to a greater or lesser degree. Yes, in the first three centuries they were severe, then sometimes more, sometimes less, but always.
Of course, it’s best to defend one’s Church and faith, as many did, as St. Constantine Equal-to-the-Apostles did, as Prince Vladimir did. As many Byzantine Emperors defended the Orthodox Church and their faith with weapons in hand. As Alexander Nevsky, Peresvet, Oslyabya, and Bogdan Khmelnitsky defended it. But for the most part, this isn’t accessible to us. What then is accessible to us? It’s accessible to us to stand in faith and witness about it before this world. Without fear, firmly, in word and deed, without taking up arms. Is this cross given to many? Also to few, but this too is not a disaster.
The Lord gives the opportunity not to betray Him, even if we can’t openly defend our Church and faith. Simply not to betray. The Lord said when they persecute you in one city, flee to another. Here they do not accept you, leave, hide. And so many Christians of the first centuries went from city to city, didn’t declare, didn’t reveal their confession before the surrounding world, while being steadfast Christians. And in this way they were also saved, didn’t betray God and the Church, and acquired crowns for themselves. And this same path is open to us today.
Those who can’t openly defend faith and Church can leave this country, if you succeed, if you fear repressions, and simply remain silent about your confession and quietly visit churches while they exist, and if not, then later in apartments, if Liturgies will be served in apartments. This too is a path blessed by God, only don’t betray the faith. Well, there is the path of betrayal, it’s like agreeing to sin with one’s personal sorrow, instead of bearing it, so that it brings some peace, comfort, about which we spoke with you before. And in the case of faith, it’s the same thing that was offered to the first Christians, and what very many of them did. Don’t bring a large sacrifice, they said before the altar of Baal or the statue of the Emperor, You don’t need to slaughter rams and lay them on the altar; just throw a small piece of incense, a small piece of incense, no one will notice this, but you’ll show your loyalty, you’ll show that you also respect our gods. And you know, you don’t even have to throw it, just pretend that you threw it, extend your hand over the altar to Baal and pretend that you threw incense. And you yourself don’t even have to throw it, not even a small piece. And no one will touch you. Go home with God, worship your Christ. Make a small betrayal.
This is exactly how they are now forcing us to commit betrayal, to commit betrayal, to throw a small piece of incense on the altar of Baal. They tell us: “So you don’t want to unite with the OCU or with some schismatics, because they seize your churches, they beat your priests and laypeople, they became famous for such terrible crimes? We understand you. You don’t want to unite? Well, fine, don’t unite. But throw a small piece of incense on the altar of Baal, declare unauthorized autocephaly, violate the canons, and we won’t touch you. Tear up, trample the memory of the thousand-year history of your Church, break all canonical ties, and we won’t touch you. This will be your piece of incense.”
Can we go along with this? We can’t go along with this. What difference does it make if you betray in a big way or a small way? What difference does it make to place a ram on Baal’s altar or throw a small piece of incense? Either way it’s a betrayal of God. Either way it’s a betrayal of the Church. Either way we’ll lose our crown.
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