Holy Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Photo:Anthony Bartaway)
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) celebrated Orthodox Christmas services in the Holy Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra for the first time in its history on Jan. 7. It took over what was traditionally an event hosted by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) of Ukraine (formerly the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate).
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) celebrated Orthodox Christmas services in the Holy Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra for the first time in its history on Jan. 7. It took over what was traditionally an event hosted by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) of Ukraine (formerly the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate).
NV visited the Lavra on that day to observe this historic event.
From Russia to Kyiv
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is one of the most iconic sites in Ukraine, and one of the holy sites of Eastern Orthodoxy as a whole. From its humble origins as a simple cave monastery, over the course of a thousand years, it was built, rebuilt, and renovated from fires and war. It is the center of the Eastern Orthodox faith in the country and its golden domes, baroque walls, and turquoise-colored roofs dominate the city’s skyline when viewed from the Dnipro river. But, for the last 337 years, it was never truly in the hands of the local Ukrainian faithful. With the exception of an interlude during the officially atheistic Soviet era when it served purely as a museum, during all of that time, it was controlled by the ROC.
That changed this Orthodox Christmas, which fell on January 7th due to the differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars, when the OCU held services for the first time in the Holy Dormition Cathedral, the primary church on the Lavra grounds.
A Ukrainian prayer
Metropolitan Epiphany of Kyiv and All Ukraine stood before a gathered crowd packed into the cathedral for the holiday. His sermon prayed for the protection of Ukraine – in the Ukrainian language rather than the Lavra’s previously dominant Russian one – and called upon the Lavra’s clergy still loyal to Russian Orthodoxy to join the Ukrainian Church. He also thanked all of those gathered for making the return of the Lavra to Ukrainian hands a reality.
“We thank everyone who dreamed of Ukrainian prayer in this holy place, about its release from the captivity of the Russian world,” he said.
“Your prayers and your civic…
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