Odessa, August 12, 2014
Through joint efforts of the Diocese of Odessa and the Public Council at the Odessa Regional State Administration, over 15 tons of humanitarian aid have been collected and delivered to the Svyatogorsk Lavra where the aid will be distributed among hundreds of refugees as well as civilian residents of Donbass and the Lugansk region.
On August 8, before departure of the shipment, Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail performed the traditional singing of an Akathist before the Wonder-Working “Kasperovskaya” Icon of the Mother of God at the Dormition Cathedral of Odessa with Bishop Arkady of Ovidiopol, Vicar of the Diocese of Odessa, as well as numerous representatives of the city clergy concelebrating. At the service special kneeling prayers for cessation of bloodshed, for peace and prosperity in the country were offered up. Then Metropolitan Agafangel sprinkled with holy water the truck containing the humanitarian aid (collected by the clergy and the faithful of the Odessa Diocese) for civilian residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
In his archpastoral speech, the metropolitan has noted that in accordance with the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of June 19, 2014, financial and humanitarian aid were collected for those who had been injured or affected during the fratricidal war in the eastern Ukraine. Metropolitan Agafangel has thanked the Odessa State Administration and the regional police leaders as well as the Security Service of the Ukraine for assistance in the organization and delivery of the humanitarian aid.
