Primates of Local Churches congratulate His Beatitude on His Name Day

On June 25, 2023, on the day of commemoration of St. Onuphrius the Great, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry celebrates the Day of his Heavenly Patron, news.church.ua reports.

In view of this holiday date, the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches and hierarchs from abroad sent their congratulations to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.

His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia of All Georgia: “May Saint Onuphrius take care of you before God, so that the Lord will continue to generously grant you the power of prayer, patience, humility, love, kindness, wisdom ... You have already been rewarded with all these graces, but you and your Church require special efforts given those challenges faced by Ukraine. May the Lord help you in bearing this burden and bless you with peace!”

His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia: “On my own behalf and on behalf of the fullness of the Serbian Orthodox Church, we send you heartfelt congratulations and prayerful wishes on the occasion of the celebration of the memory of your intercessor before the Lord, St. Onuphrius the Great. Reveling in the dew of grace, which the All-good God generously pours out on His chosen ones, in the spirit of brotherly love and unity in a single Chalice of the Body and Blood of the Lord, we offer fervent prayers to his Holy Saint Onuphrius so that he will always intercede and pray for Your Beatitude before the throne of the Lord, so that you are led by the grace of the Holy Spirit, in a cheerful spirit and bodily strength for many good years, wisely steering the ship of salvation for all those gathered under your archpastoral omophorion.”

His Beatitude Metropolitan Savva of Warsaw and All Poland: “let me cordially, in the spirit of brotherly love in Christ Jesus, congratulate you on your St. Patron’s day. I wish you good health and God's exuberant help, which would contribute to your difficult ministry as the Primate of the Church, in the difficult conditions of today's life of Holy Orthodoxy in Ukraine."

His Beatitude Tikhon, Metropolitan of All America and Canada: “Taking this opportunity, I want to once again assure Your Beatitude of our personal brotherly love in Christ for you and of our constant prayers for Your Beatitude and your flock. I also want to emphasize the love of the faithful of the Orthodox Church in America for their brothers and sisters in the UOC under the omophorion of Your Beatitude. ... Accept my assurances that I and the entire Orthodox Church in America are next to your Beatitude and the UOC at this time of sorrow, war, and persecution, and please accept our love and our prayers along with our congratulations on your name day.”

His Beatitude Stefan, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia: “On behalf of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Macedonian Orthodox Church - the Ohrid Archdiocese, on my own behalf and on behalf of the fullness of our Local Church, we congratulate you on the Day of your heavenly patron, St. Onuphrius the Great. Our God, knowing your tried and true righteousness, entrusted you with the cross, the responsibility and obedience of the head of the Kyiv Metropolis during the great trials for the Church and the faithful people of Ukraine. Your Beatitude, sincerely congratulating you on your name day, we wish you good health, peaceful days and many more years of service on the throne of the Kiev Metropolitans, continually strengthened by the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

His Eminence Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech (Bulgarian Orthodox Church): “You, dear Vladyka, as the archpastor of the UOC, serve faithfully to God and people in a troubled world, but at the same time, like St. Onuphrius the Great, you dwell in the wilderness of silence, prayer and contemplation. The Holy Fathers say that the Lord sends great shepherds to those nations whom He loves during times of great trials. By your sacrificial ministry, you, dear Vladyka, showed your people and the whole world that you are the shepherd about whom Christ in the Holy Gospel said: 'The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep'" (John 10:11).

His Grace Bishop Irinej of Bačka (Serbian Orthodox Church): “With the most heartfelt congratulations on your namesake, I wish you good health and grace-filled fortitude, so that you serve for the many blessings of the summer, for the good and joy of not only the holy UOC, but and all ecumenical Holy Orthodoxy. I cannot help but take the opportunity to prayerfully wish you with all my heart new grace-filled forces in your confessional struggle for the purity and unity of holy Orthodoxy in your native Ukrainian land and in our Orthodox Universe in general.”

As the UOJ reported earlier, on the day of the namesake, the Primate officiated the Divine Liturgy in Feofaniya.