Icon of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg vandalized at UOC temple

The icon at the Church of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg at Sviatoshyn Cemetery in Kyiv. Photo: Facebook / Archpriest Gleb Pomelov

In Kyiv, vandals threw stones at an icon at the UOC Church of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, breaking the glass and damaging the icon, reports Archpriest Gleb Pomelov, the rector of the temple, on his Facebook page on July 19, 2020.

"For 12 years of life, the Church of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg at the Sviatoshin cemetery has undergone many trials ...,” wrote the priest. “There have been repeated break-in attempts. There have been successful burglaries. There was a fire in a nearby building, less than a meter away from the temple, which burned pine trees and made the metal melt, but the fire did not even touch the church. There were many trials, but this happened for the first time. The vandals encroached on Blessed Xenia herself, threw stones at her icon and damaged the glass and the icon".

The rector appealed to all who were not indifferent for help in restoring the shrine.

"We need to collect 5-6 thousand hryvnias. It is very desirable to restore it by July 29, the Memorial Day of the fools-for-Christ Seraphima and Mary, and also it is the birthday of our temple – on this day in 2008 the first liturgy took place," added the archpriest.

Donations to restore the damaged icon of the capital's Church of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg can be transferred to PrivatBank account 5168 7422 2838 1459 (Pomelov Gleb Viktorovich).

As reported earlier, in the Zhytomyr Eparchy, unknown people destroyed and desecrated the memorial cross, putting in its place a "crucifixion" with a swastika and satanic symbols.

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