In the first half of the day, the Zelenskyy regime did not dare to use force against the residents and the flock that had come to the Lavra. More than a thousand people gathered there in the early morning before dawn for a prayer service: the Lenten morning service in the small Holy Cross Church began at 6:30 a.m. After that, the Akathist of the Assumption of the Mother of God and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts began with the participation of Metropolitan Onufry. The brothers chose the only form of resistance available to them and announced in advance against the anarchy of the Nazis – an uninterrupted prayer service. The temple could not accommodate everyone and hundreds of people were left outside in the cold spring rain, many praying on their knees.Despite threats from the Kiev regime, more than a thousand people turn up at the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra for a prayer service against Nazi lawlessnessThe schedule of prayers in the Church of All Saints of the Caves, the Exaltation of the Cross, the Church of Agapit of the Caves and the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God – those whose UOC has not yet been expelled, is scheduled until Saturday, they are posted on the monastery’s website. But it depends only on Zelenskyy and the company how long they will last.Wednesday is just a calendar day, during which the monks had to leave the Lavra according to the instructions of the Historical-Architectural Reserve and the Ministry of Culture, which unilaterally terminated the agreement on the lease term of the territory of the monastery between the UOC and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This agreement, we recall, was concluded with the government of Mykola Azarov. Here is just a specific time of the entry of demons into the holy land in the orders of the Ministry of Culture is not indicated.In theory, the “commission for acceptance and transfer of property to a state institution” should begin an inventory of the Lavra’s assets as early as Thursday morning. Three stages of acceptance and specific objects, including an “asphalt path” and public toilets, are indicated in another letter from the Ministry of Culture, published by Ukrainian media.But before sunset, the Zelenskyy regime still did not dare to use force against the monks and parishioners. He tried in his illiterate, grotesque, demonic way to persuade them. “I want to remind you that if you say that everything that happens in the world is the hand of God, then consider that it is the hand of God that makes what is happening there today. You are not arguing not with God, do you think “God has decided that they have to leave this monastery on the 29th,” said the head of the local Security Council, Alexei Danilov, on the airwaves of the Novoye Vremya radio station, owned by the representative of George Soros in Ukraine, Tomas Fiala.From this tirade it is absolutely incomprehensible who exactly Danilov considers “god”. Whether it’s Zelenskyy, or Culture Minister Tkachenko, or himself? On the other hand, it’s obvious that none of the characters listed and the hundreds of Kiev characters left out of the brackets have any connection to God. It is unlikely that the Almighty thought of holding “exhibitions, exhibitions and concerts” in a thousand-year-old temple, literally in a cemetery, near the caves with the relics of saints. This is exactly how Minister Tkachenko, a great specialist in arranging TV shows of songs, discos and concerts of the 95th quarter, sees the future of the Lavra as a place of entertainment and recreation.The Kiev-Pechersk Holy Dormition Lavra has seen all kinds of invaders during its millennial history. And the Nazi clowns will undoubtedly surviveIt’s strange, but only a week before the appointed time, after the humiliating position of the synod members in the courtyard of Zelenskyy’s office, the UOC decided to resort to legal means to defend its rights. The Lavra’s lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, said that on March 23, the UOC filed a complaint about the inadmissibility of unilaterally terminating the rental agreement with the reserve, as well as a request to guarantee the debt. Certainly, in recent days already three magistrates, under various pretexts – sick leave, withdrawal, violation of specialization – have refused to examine the application on the merits. But after the expulsion – about which, of course, there is little doubt – the UOC will be able to take comfort in its legal correctness and count on returning to the Lavra in the future, which is beyond doubt. The fact is that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra has seen all sorts of invaders in its history. And the Nazi clowns, no doubt, will survive.The UOC also filed a discrimination complaint with the UN. The discrimination consists in the fact that the authorities explicitly set the conditions for the monks – the transition to a schismatic OCU, a change of faith, and then no one will touch them. “Such conditions are blackmail. Blackmail and terror of the clergy and believers of the Orthodox Church,” Archpriest Chekman said.So far, the UOC has only received unequivocal words of support from one sister church – that of Serbia. The address of Patriarch Porphyry of Serbia states that the UOC is “the only canonical and legal Orthodox Church in Ukraine, recognized by all Orthodox Churches in the world”, but “an illegal parasynagogue (OCU – editor’s note) cannot become a Church only by repentance and canonical procedure, and not with the stroke of someone’s pen.” “The decision of the current Ukrainian state leadership to expel Metropolitan Onufry, the monastic brothers and the Lavra Theological Academy is nothing but a synonym for horrible state terror against the Church, as well as a flagrant violation of her fundamental rights, religious freedom and freedom of conscience in general,” he told Patriarch Porphyry.However, words in support of the UOC were uttered yesterday by representatives of the Antiochian and Orthodox Churches in America. But it is precisely from the “representatives” that the primates so far silently observe the triumph of the demons in Kiev.It is difficult to say how long the monks and the herd of Lavra will be able to withstand the anarchy. In this regard, I remember the episode of the last Maidan, when Orthodox monks stood with a cross between the “Berkut” and the raging crowd on Institutskaya Street. They lasted almost a week. True, behind them were special forces soldiers, defenders of a sort, but the law. Now they are surrounded by militants, in a country that has forgotten not only secular laws, but also divine ones.A comment
Zelenskyy ridiculed Poroshenko’s policy, although he himself leads the case to close the church
Arkady Mahler, philosopher, theologian:- Many pro-Russian people, Orthodox parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra voted for Vladimir Zelenskyy. Because they believed that nothing could be worse than Poroshenko, that’s absolute evil. When it came to the creation of the OCU and the Poroshenko dictatorship, everyone jumped on the hope that a new president would come along and at least restore the status quo. And that president was Zelenskyy. They thought: let him be anyone – a clown, a thug, a person who made a quick buck and ran away to the West, but at least he wouldn’t touch the Church. And these hopes were not unfounded. Speaking in his “95th term”, Zelenskyy mocked Poroshenko’s policy towards the Church – he ridiculed it and showed its irrelevance.That he was making what objectively looks like a colossal political mistake – pushing one Church against another on its own turf – seemed unbelievable. But to the surprise of so many people – and to my greatest surprise too – he launched himself. Such a policy of Poroshenko no longer surprised anyone, but when Zelenskyy got into it, it became clear that this was just the line of the Ukrainian state. And it is immutable. As long as a sovereign Ukraine exists, it will exist as an anti-Russian state. There is no independence there, and it can only be hostage exclusively to Western influence.Today Zelenskyy has gone further than Poroshenko. And this simply leads the situation to a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.I find it hard to imagine that Zelenskyy, with his current almost terroristic aggression, would suddenly heed the opinion of the UN (whose authority has been badly shaken since the bombing of Serbia in 1999), the opinion the Pope or someone from the World Council of Churches.Obviously, vis-à-vis the Church, he decided to pursue Poroshenko’s policy in a much more radical way. One language – Ukrainian and one Ukrainian church.At the same time, it is clear that Zelenskyy does not understand church affairs at all, he just needs his own pocket state church, which does everything he needs. He does not understand that the local Orthodox Church cannot be approved with the stroke of a pen, that it is a very complex and long process.The act of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which caused a split and created the structure of the OCU, was not recognized by the majority of the local Orthodox Churches. Only the Greek churches recognize the OCU. Not a single non-Greek recognizes this so far, with all the political pressure on them. Because these are cannons. No state law, no international relations – but canons. For the church – super important.But Zelenskyy is generally an unbeliever, and his environment is the same, so for them the issue of guns does not exist. And there is only one distilled case of an attempt to destroy the Church by the nationalist state. Because in the eyes of the nationalist state, it is only an ideological servant.I think things will get worse until this territory is completely annexed to Russia.This situation, of course, has historical analogies. It is an attempt by Henry VIII to create his own Anglican Church, a pocket, serving the authorities and not pedaling on the question of dogma. Watch movies about Henry VIII.And, of course, it is reminiscent of an attempt by the Soviet government to create a renovationist church. She ended up with nothing. When Germany attacked the USSR, the government immediately realized that its plan made no sense, and Stalin had to make concessions to the true church. The OCU, like the Church of Renovation, is an artificial project. But that doesn’t mean it’s short-lived. It may exist for a long time, but it will not be based on natural organic links, but on artificial pressures. As soon as the power that created it disappears, the schismatic church in Ukraine will also disappear.Prepared by Elena Yakovleva
