Boyarka UOC parishioners to OCU raiders: Use your force to pray for the AFU
On the eve of the vote for the transfer of the St. Michael's Church of the UOC to the OCU, believers demanded that Dumenko's adherents leave the shrine alone.
The parishioners of the UOC from Boyarka appealed to the supporters of the OCU with a demand to stop inciting a spiritual war in the city and to direct their energies to prayers for Ukrainian soldiers instead. Tatyana, a parishioner of the St. Michael's Church, said this in an appeal circulated by the First Cossack.
According to her, the believers of the UOC will not leave their temple, but will pray despite any votes and other provocations:
“I would like to appeal to those people who will come today to decide our fate, the fate of our parish, our church. I would like you to hear me. Please direct your energies and strength to pray for our warriors who are having a very hard time. <...> By your decision, by voting on the transition, you make a decision for the fate of many people. Consider whether you are ready to take such a responsibility. If you make this decision for us today, then we will pray, we will believe in the Lord, which you will not take away from us.”
Natalia, a parishioner of the St. Michael's Church, is sure that the believers of the UOC are ready to give their souls for the sake of their Church. It is important for her that the shrine remains with the believers. Her deceased son, Archimandrite Flavian, served in this church.
“It is even more painful for me to see everything that is happening around our church, because Archimandrite Flavian, a young priest, served in this church. He is no longer with us, may his soul repose in the Lord. He devoted his whole life, 29 years, to the temple. He came here to take communion and began to go to this temple from childhood. He dreamed of becoming a priest and he became one. This was his life. <...> We are now standing here and giving our souls for our church. Come to your senses, please, I beg you very much,” said Natalia.
Parishioner Anna is sure that the adherents of the OCU, who came to the meeting, unleashed a spiritual war in the city:
“People who don’t care, who don’t go to services and don’t believe in God, claim that they have the right to take away from us what gives peace to our soul. Moreover, they do it at a time when there is a war at the front, when your heart is already very heavy. Now a war is being waged in our small town, but a spiritual one.”
As reported by the UOJ, the raiders voted for the transfer of the St. Michael's Church of the UOC to the OCU in Boyarka.
