On October 21, 2023, during his Primatial visit to Odesa region, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine consecrated the church in honor of the Holy Martyrs Vira, Nadia, Lyubov and their mother Sophia in the village of Lisky, in the suburbs of Odesa. This is reported by the official website of the OCU.
In the newly consecrated church, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in concelebration with Metropolitan Symeon of Vinnytsia and Bar, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Mykolaiv and Bohoyavlensk, Archbishop Symeon of Dnipro and Sicheslav, Archbishop Agapit of Vyshhorod, Archbishop Athanasius of Odesa and Balta, the Rector of the church, Archpriest Roman Dorosh, and the clergy of the Odesa Diocese, celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The service was also attended by the defenders of the Motherland, representatives of local authorities and believers.
At the Small Entrance, Metropolitan Epiphanius honored Father Yuriy Dmytruk with another priestly award - the ordination of a protopriest.
During the service, prayer requests were offered for the soldiers who defend Ukraine, for the government and our people, and for the repose of the souls of all the fallen defenders of the Motherland and civilians.
Metropolitan Epiphanius also offered a special prayer to the Lord at a time when the Motherland is in danger.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Primate addressed the faithful with a Primatial Word.
Last year, probably, there was only a dream of this church - because then they had just begun to build the walls. And today, on Demetrius' Memorial Saturday, in the village of Lisky in Odesa region, we have already consecrated the Altar and this beautiful church in honor of the holy martyrs Vira, Nadia, Lyubov and their mother Sophia.
Each church, each community is a brick of our one local Ukrainian Church. And if each community is strong, united, then, accordingly, the same will happen to the entire Ukrainian Orthodox Church. So today we rejoice, because the doors of one more church are open for the faithful to come to it, drawing here the invisible Divine grace that strengthens our physical and spiritual forces.
This event is extraordinary for the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has repeatedly suffered persecution in its history, when shrines were destroyed and churches were ruined. Today we see with our own eyes how our large church family is growing, how new churches are appearing. And, obviously, the construction of the church in Lisky is a testament to the miracle of God in our lives. After all, if the Lord had not blessed us, we would not have built the church so soon in this difficult time and would not be serving the Divine Liturgy here today with the community.
God performs miracles all the time, but we are so used to them that we take them for granted and do not give them the importance they deserve. So let us thank the Lord for His daily miracles and even for the trials that He sometimes allows in our lives. After all, these trials are necessary, they strengthen us spiritually - while the Lord is always invisibly there with us, supporting us and giving us grace,"
said the Primate.
Metropolitan Epiphanius also honored the benefactors with church awards and presented a personalized cross of the Primate to the Rector, Archpriest Roman.
In conclusion, Bishop Athanasius thanked the Primate for his Archpastoral visit and sincere prayer.
According to the press service of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (OCU)
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
