The Head of the UGCC congratulated the defenders of Ukraine, who shielded our people with their chests from rockets, bomb attacks, and bullets of the occupiers
On the day of the Intercession of the Mother of God, we especially pray for our protectors. Today, the entire nation joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Yesterday’s teachers, athletes, culture and art workers, engineers, and technologists joined the defenders’ positions. Today, we especially want to surround the Ukrainian army with love, prayer, and attention. We pray for him; we entrust him to the protection of the Most Pure Virgin Mary. The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in his daily military address on the 233 rd day of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“On this day, we in Ukraine celebrate a memorable great Christian holiday — the feast of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God. It is a holiday of Christian joy because the Mother of God herself is the protector of God’s people. We recall the mystical vision in the Church of Saint Mary of Blachernae in Tsargorod, where God’s people during the war disaster saw the Mother of God personally present among the worshipers, her in prayer, and her enveloping, protecting, and covering her children with her omophorion. Therefore, today we stand in prayer together with her before God’s face. And we feel that our mother is our greatest protector, our divine protection today.”
The Patriarch noted that it is no coincidence that the Ukrainian people celebrate the Day of Defenders of the Motherland on this day. Today we celebrate the Day of the Ukrainian Army. But it is the Feast of the Intercession, the feast of the Most Holy Mother of God that today reveals the depth of the entire meaning and nature of the Ukrainian army. This is an army of defenders. Not an army of aggressors and occupiers, an army that wants to take something from someone. This is an army that saves lives.
“May our prayer reach the Russian prisons and torture chambers, where today, Ukraine’s best sons and daughters are wandering in captivity. Today we want to wrap in prayer all the wounded who heal the wounds of war and carry the pain of Ukraine in their bodies. Today we want the veil of the Mother of God to fall over every bed of the wounded. Today, we want to surround our service members’ wives, children, and families with attention and prayer — especially those who lost their loved ones in this cruel and terrible war.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav called on this day to pray for the fallen heroes.
The UGCC Department for Information
