Met. Anthony urges believers to make prostrations for UOC persecutors
Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, the UOC Chancellor, called on the believers of his eparchy to daily make three prostrations with a prayer for the softening of the hearts of those who oppose the Church. The hierarch made this appeal in a post on his Facebook page, marking the beginning of the church new year.
The occasion for the appeal was the decision of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), which on September 9 announced signs of the Boryspil Eparchy's affiliation with a foreign religious organization whose activities are banned in Ukraine.
In his address, Metropolitan Anthony wrote: "Dear hierarchs, fathers, brothers and sisters! I call on the faithful children of the Boryspil Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to daily make three prostrations with a prayer for the pacification of the evil hearts of all those who are hostile to the Church of Christ. May the Lord grant them understanding, peace and repentance, and grant us steadfastness in faith, patience, love and spiritual courage."
The hierarch emphasized that the Church, which confesses the God of love, cannot respond to hostility with hostility: "Our task is to preserve the peace of Christ, not to repay evil with evil, to pray for those who oppose the Church, and to remain faithful to Christ."
Metropolitan Anthony noted that the state has powers established by law, but has no right to determine what a person should believe: "The history of the Church shows: unlawful decrees are revised, officials change, ideological trends disappear, while Christ remains — 'the same yesterday and today and forever' (Hebrews 13:8).”
He urged his flock not to give in to fear or panic: "Even if today regulations are being drafted and decisions are being made against the Church, and officials believe they can determine the boundaries of human faith, there is nevertheless a limit that no earthly authority can cross – the mystery of the human heart, where a person encounters God."
The abbots and abbesses of monasteries, as well as the rectors of all churches of the Boryspil Eparchy, are instructed to read the appeal after the Divine Liturgy on September 20.
As the UOJ reported, Metropolitan Anthony criticized the DESS order regarding the Boryspil Eparchy.
