On September 2, the feast day of St. Anthony and Theodosius of Kyiv Caves, a solemn spiritual event took place in the village of Rizhok, Vinnytsia district. On this day, the local church was consecrated and the Divine Liturgy was celebrated. Metropolitan Symeon of Vinnytsia and Bar and Bishop Anthony of Chernihiv and Nizhyn concelebrated the consecration of the church and the solemn service with representatives of the clergy of the Vinnytsia-Bar and Vinnytsia-Tulchyn dioceses.
The Altar desk was consecrated in honor of the Vinnytsia-Rozhetska Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which in the 18th century was the main shrine of the convent located in the village of Rizhok. Later, the icon was moved to Vinnytsia, and that is why it is now called the Vinnytsia-Rozhetska Icon. In March 2022, the community of the church in Rizhok village decided to leave the moscow Patriarchate and join the canonical local Orthodox Church of Ukraine. At the same time, the community decided to change the name of the church, which had previously been named in honor of Prince Alexander Nevsky. And today, after the consecration, the church in the village of Rizhok was named after an icon that is directly related to the village and is part of its history.
After the consecration of the Throne, the hierarchs celebrated the Divine Liturgy, during which its participants prayed for Ukraine and for the victory of the Ukrainian army. Special prayer requests were also offered for the local church community and the benefactors of the church.
After the Liturgy, a procession around the church was held and a prayer service was held to the Mother of God and Sts. Anthony and Theodosius of of the Caves. Metropolitan Symeon addressed the parishioners with an archpastoral sermon and congratulated the church community on the memorable event that took place on this day. The Archpastor noted the work of the parish priest, Father Anatoly Blashchuk, and the parishioners. Metropolitan Symeon presented some of them, who had worked hard to decorate their village shrine, with blessed bishop's letters.
Metropolitan Symeon also congratulated Bishop Anthony, whom he concelebrated with, on the day of memory of St. Anthony of the Caves, who is the patron saint of the Chernihiv bishop.
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
