A monk from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra thanked the employees of the “reserve” for their “godly” handling of the relics of the saints

Archimandrite Polikarp (Linenko), a monk of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, expressed his gratitude to the staff of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve for their handling of the relics of the Kiev-Pechersk saints. The archimandrite believes that the scandal surrounding the interference of secular people in the process of preserving the shrines arose “out of nowhere” and “out of context.” At the same time, in his opinion, the employees of the ‘reserve’ are doing “godly work” by “drying” the relics of the saints. He stated this on the YouTube channel “Viche.”

«I am sorry that some irresponsible person posted these photos (photos of the blasphemous attitude of the reserve’s employees towards the relics of the saints, — ed.), completely taken out of context. Our elders have always done this since ancient times, and this is what we were taught. And we did it. That is, in the summer, during Petrov’s fast, during the warmest time of the year, the relics of the saints were taken out of the caves and the clothes in which they lie in the caves were removed, and they were taken out of the reliquaries. We put them in a separate room, which was simply called a “relic dryer.” And the clothes of the reverend and the reliquaries in which they lie were taken out into the sun to dry. […] That is, most people perceived the caves as an orderly shrine because they came, touched the relics, and left. In reality, however, careful work was constantly being done,» — the clergyman noted.

At the same time, Archimandrite Polycarp is not at all concerned that the process described above is now being carried out by secular people who, as has been seen before, do so in violation of accepted procedures. The monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra said that he is grateful to the employees of the “reserve” who are now dealing with the preservation of the holy relics. In addition, he actually accused the Church of being responsible for the current situation, saying that it was the fault of representatives of the UOC that the monks of the Lavra lost access to the caves and relics of the Kiev-Pechersk saints.

«At the moment, the keys to the caves are in the hands of museum employees. And it is clear that the drying of the relics was initiated by museum employees. At the same time, as I was told, the monks of the OCU were also involved in this process. I am very grateful to the museum staff for engaging in this God-blessed work. I am also in favor of monks being involved in this. We already have experience in this, we already know how to change the reverends’ clothes, taking into account all conditions, primarily weather conditions. However, if such circumstances have arisen, then I bow low to these “museum patriots” of the reverends for taking this on. This needs to be done, and if there is no choice, I don’t care whose hands do it. […] I don’t see any sedition in this! I believe that the museum staff deserve honor and glory for what they are doing. Even if it is done by museum staff, a good deed will be done. And the people who display these photographs are simply trading in the reverend fathers,» — added Archimandrite Polycarp.

We previously reported that representatives of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” continue their blasphemous actions against the relics of the reverend Kyiv-Pechersk. This time, the employees of the “reserve” removed part of the relics from the Far and Near Caves and placed them in a storage room on the territory of the Lavra.