On May 25, 2024, a solemn service was held in the Church of the Protection of the Holy Theotokos in Pysarivka of the Kalynivka City Territorial Community. The thanksgiving prayer service with a prayer for Ukraine and the victory of the Ukrainian army was the first church service to be held in the church after the local religious community decided to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The mood of the faithful was high, and their faces shone with joy. “It was very touching that the first prayer in the church was for our country and all Ukrainian defenders,” said parishioner Maria Lysa, “because the vast majority of people who came to the service have sons, sons-in-law, grandchildren in the Army.
“Thank God that we managed to do what we planned and finally we are praying in our church, in our native language,” added Nelya Balko, because the community of Pysarivka said goodbye to the Moscow patriarchate and joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the end of 2023, but since January this year the church has been closed. The priest who had been in the parish before did not support the people's choice and remained in the church of the Moscow patriarchate. People prayed outside the church, in the dining room, but did not enter the church.
“It was a conscious decision not to enter the church until we had the documents for the land on which our church is located,” says Raisa Bezdushna, chairman of the general meeting of the religious community. - “As soon as we completed the documents, we immediately gathered for worship.
The service was performed by the Rector of the church, Father Stepan Kovalchuk, and priests Yuriy Voloshchuk and Pavlo Zvirynsky.
“Today is a joyful event for the whole village. Thanks to God and all of you, we finally have the opportunity to pray in this beautiful church in the Ukrainian language,” said Father Stepan Kovalchuk during his sermon, ”Remember this day. It is worth celebrating every year because it is a truly historic event for Pysarivka!”
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
