In Gilcha, on the day of the patronal feast, believers of the UOC prayed at the door of the sealed church

On May 22, 2023, on the day of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the village of Gilcha of the Zdolbunovsky deanery, a festive Divine Liturgy was held in the open air, because the temple was sealed after an attempted raider seizure by supporters of the OCU, the press service of the Rivne diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reports.

“The atmosphere of the holiday was special, eyewitnesses say, even reverent: birds sang, the wind roared, people brushed away tears, hugged, encouraged each other,” the diocese website says.

Also during the sermon, the rector of the parish, Archimandrite German Kulakevich, spoke about the conditions under which they have to perform services: “Yesterday they called and said that we have no right to serve services here until we get permission from the village council, because now it’s all theirs. We will once again bury the fallen defender of Ukraine this week, so relatives were forced to write a request to the deputies of the village council to bury the warrior in the church with our priests. There are no words to comment on all this … But no matter what happens, remember we are Christ’s and with Christ.