Over 1,000 believers gather at St. Nicholas Church of UOC in Khmelnytskyi

Feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary in the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC in Khmelnytskyi. Photo: Khmelnytsky Eparchy's Facebook page

On October 14, 2023, on the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, more than a thousand believers attended the first festive liturgy at the St. Nicholas Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the city of Khmelnytskyi. This information was reported by the press service of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese of the UOC.

The divine service was led by four hierarchs of the UOC: Metropolitan Theodore of Kamianets-Podilsky and Horodok, Metropolitan Antoniy of Makariv, Metropolitan Evseviy of Shepetivka and Slavuta, and Archbishop Victor of Khmelnytskyi and Starokostiantyniv. The liturgy was concelebrated by the spiritual father of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese, Archimandrite Pachomiy (Dydyk), the secretary of the diocesan administration, Archpriest Oleksandr Rybchynskyi, and the hegumen of the Holy Cross Monastery in Starokostiantyniv, Archimandrite Ioasaph (Horkavchuk), as well as the deans of the diocese and the rectors of the churches in Khmelnytskyi.

During the liturgy, fervent prayers were offered for peace, for the victory, for Ukraine's defenders, and for all those affected by the war.

After the Gospel reading, Metropolitan Theodore addressed the faithful with a sermon.

The solemn liturgy was accompanied by singing, performed by the hierarchal choir under the direction of Maria Protsiuk and the clergy choir of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese under the leadership of Archpriest Yevhenii Cherniatynskyi.

The service concluded with a procession around the church, after which Archbishop Victor congratulated everyone on the holiday.

"Today, it is a celebration of Orthodoxy in the city of Khmelnytskyi," the hierarch said. "By the grace of God and His blessing, we have gathered for the first time in this holy church to lift our prayers to the Most Pure and Most Blessed Theotokos with one mouth and one heart. Today, we have gathered here in great numbers to manifest our strong Christian faith, to show each other that we are many, and we strive together, supporting each other, loving each other, helping each other, to move forward on the path that will surely lead us to God."

The bishop thanked the parishioners for their donations, which helped to build the St. Nicholas Church.

"In this church, where we have today begun our prayer, it will be celebrated daily and around the clock. So whenever you come here, you will always hear prayer – akathist hymns, the reading of the Psalter, and other prayers. We will pray here for our native Ukrainian land, for our defenders, for our people, who are suffering so much today, and for the Lord to grant us a blessed peace as soon as possible," said Archbishop Victor.

As reported by the UOJ, on the Feast of Pascha, only a few dozen people gathered for a "service" at the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the UOC in Khmelnytskyi, which had been seized by supporters of the OCU.

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