Metropolitan Anthony: “It is impossible to attain salvation without being crucified with your God”

In his sermon on the Feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary emphasized the inseparable connection of this feast with the saving Sacrifice of the Savior, drawing parallels between biblical events and the present trials of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. His words were published on the Pravlife website.

The hierarch reminded that the Cross of Christ has become not only the symbol of Christianity, but also a guide for every believer:

“Out of His ineffable love, the Creator is crucified on the Cross to blot out the records of human wrongs, hatred, malice, and sins. This is why the Cross of Christ has become not only the main symbol of Christianity, but also an indication that the path of everyone who calls himself a follower of Christ lies exclusively through Golgotha. It is impossible to attain salvation without being crucified together with your God. Yes, from a human point of view, this is an unattractive path — human nature does not accept it, trembles, and sometimes protests. But sin cannot be put to death without suffering.”

The archpastor noted that the modern world offers bypass routes, but all of them lead to apostasy:

“We are slyly told: we do not demand that you renounce Christ, but your Christ, your Church, and your canons must not interfere with our plans. Accept our rules of the game, and everything will be as before… But, first of all, ‘as before’ will never return. The system of coordinates being imposed on modern man contradicts the Gospel worldview, where above all is God and the immortal soul. Even the rules currently applied to our Church contradict the Constitution of Ukraine and international conventions.”

Metropolitan Anthony drew attention to attempts by state bodies to interfere in the internal life of the Church, particularly by dictating with whom it should maintain Eucharistic communion:

“A state institution that should ensure equality of all denominations before the law allows itself to give direct instructions to the largest religious organization on whom to build relations with and whom to break them with. Such statements go beyond a neutral state position. This is an area belonging exclusively to canonical law.”

The hierarch also criticized the information about the allegedly “free transition” of thousands of parishes to the OCU, stressing that in many cases this took place through the use of force, pressure, and church seizures:

“Recently they do not even bother to hold fake meetings. New ‘owners’ simply arrive with documents for the church — people who had never been seen among the parishioners before — and then law enforcement officers appear to ‘persuade’ to hand over the keys. We have seen what this leads to in Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, and other cities.”

Comparing present-day realities with biblical history, Metropolitan Anthony recalled the example of the Maccabean brothers, who during times of spiritual betrayal remained faithful to God and for this accepted a martyr’s death:

“If there are people in the world, even a small number, who truly love God, He will certainly show a way out of the most difficult situation. May God grant us the faithfulness of the Maccabees so that we may bear our Cross with dignity and not betray either Christ or His Holy Church.”

It should also be recalled that Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) commented on the attacks against the episcopate and believers of the UOC. The hierarch noted that much of the criticism directed at the higher church clergy often comes not from outside but from within the Church itself, yet those who do this have no good intentions other than to destabilize the situation in the UOC.