Metropolitan Theodosius: The Reverend Fathers of the Caves do not need our help

The hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Feodosy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, commented on the blasphemous actions of employees of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” regarding the relics of the venerable Kyiv-Pechersk monks. The bishop noted that everything that is happening in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra will have consequences, and the saints themselves “do not need our protection” because they can protect themselves. The bishop’s words were reported by the media.

«Brothers and sisters, let us not panic, let us remain calm. Everything is happening exactly as it should. The outcome of this situation has been obvious to many not just today, or yesterday, or even three years ago… Today, the venerable fathers of Pechersk do not need our help or protection. They will protect us themselves. They will protect us very soon. It’s just that their power and their right to be on our land are not understood by those who are now climbing over their honest remains. Incidentally, their spiritual predecessors in 1922 and 1941 did not understand this either. Let them climb,» — said Metropolitan Theodosius.

The Metropolitan added that the “final word” in the situation with the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will belong to the Kiev-Pechersk saints, so we should not interfere with this, so that all the problems of the Church are resolved as quickly as possible.

«A few years ago, when full-scale persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was just beginning in our country, and the inhabitants of the Lavra were still smiling skeptically at the question of whether they allowed the authorities to divide the Upper Lavra between the UOC and the OCU, I heard the following words from a secular but sensible man: ‘Just don’t let them touch the caves and the relics of the saints. Otherwise, it will end tragically.’ Tragically for the blasphemers. We have all suffered from their lawlessness and impunity. But we can’t do anything about it. The saints, unlike us, can. Shortly before Metropolitan Arsenius, the abbot of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, was thrown into prison, in response to the cries of believers complaining about the events taking place, the bishop said: “The last word will be with the reverend fathers of Kiev-Pechersk.” And now the persecutors are forcing the reverend fathers to say that word sooner. Let us place our hope in the reverend fathers. And let the lawless do their work more quickly…,» — added Metropolitan Theodosius.

We will remind you that recently, Archimandrite Polycarp (Linenko), a monk of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, expressed his gratitude to the employees of the National Reserve “Kiev-Pechersk Lavra” for manipulating the relics of the Venerable Kiev-Pechersk. 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 venerable ones.