On the 10th anniversary of the repose of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), on July 5, 2024, the Primate of the Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Stavropegial Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Teremky, Kyiv. This is reported by the official website of the OCU.
His Beatitude was concelebrated by the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Michael of Comana, Metropolitan Symeon of Vinnytsia and Bar, Metropolitan Mykhailo of Lutsk and Volyn, Metropolitan Oleksandr of Pereyaslav and Vyshneve, Archbishop Lavrentiy of Luhansk and Starobilsk, Archbishop Agapit of Vyshhorod, Bishop Nikodim of Kherson and Tavria, clergy of the Cathedral and invited clergy.
The liturgy was attended by Ihor Lysov, chairman of the Cathedral's Parish Council, representatives of local authorities and believers.
After reading the Gospel, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius offered a special prayer to the Lord at a time when the Motherland is in danger.
During the service, prayer requests were made for the soldiers defending Ukraine, for the government and our people, for the repose of the soul of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) and for the repose of the souls of all the fallen defenders of the Motherland and civilians who died during the war.
At the end of the service, Metropolitan Epiphanius addressed the faithful with a primatial word.
"Our sacred duty is to pray. And today we offer our prayers for the blessed Metropolitan Volodymyr. He dreamed of what we have now: we have our own recognized local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We have been going to this for a long time, we have united from different sources into a single river, and we will continue to unite around our Kyivan Thorne. And the time will come when all of us, Orthodox Ukrainians, will be united in our one local Ukrainian Orthodox Church," the Primate said.
Metropolitan Simeon and Metropolitan Oleksandr also shared their memories of Metropolitan Volodymyr.
Later, His Beatitude presented high church awards to Ukrainian soldiers, benefactors of the Transfiguration Cathedral and athletes.
In turn, the chairman of the Cathedral's Parish Council, Ihor Lisov, thanked Metropolitan Epiphanius on behalf of the community and presented him and the priests of the church with commemorative awards, while Metropolitan Oleksandr presented a kyot with particles of the relics of the holy saints.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine celebrated a litia for the repose of the soul of His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) in front of the monument in his honor, which is located near the Transfiguration Cathedral.
In addition, Metropolitan Epiphanius blessed the athletes and coaches of the Ukrainian Olympic team in synchronized diving, who will soon go to the Olympics in Paris.
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
