We feel the power of your prayer, which is the source of our hope that together we will defeat evil — the Head of the UGCC thanked the Catholics of Europe for praying for Ukraine
We do not just believe but feel the power of your prayer, which stops the war and is a source of our optimism, and we hope that together we will defeat evil and peace will bless our Motherland! Thanking the Catholics of Europe for today’s prayer for Ukraine, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav said this in his daily military address on the 203 rd day of the bloody, sacrilegious war waged by Russia against the Ukrainian people.
The Primate reminded us that today, according to the church calendar, the Churches of the Byzantine tradition of Ukraine begin a new church year.
“On this day, we honor our Lord God as the Creator of the human race, the Bestower of spiritual grace. We thank Him for wisdom and providence over the world. Nowadays, we especially feel and understand that the cause of the universe’s origin is not a blind chance and that the history of the world is not a chaotic accumulation of some moments, events, and facts,” the Head of the Church implied.
On this day of God the Creator, His Beatitude Sviatoslav completed his reflections on the “Public Guide of the Believer.” Precisely the tenth commandment tells us about hope: “I live in the hope that God gives me. Therefore, courageously and patiently endure trials, try to bring the Kingdom of God closer with my good deeds.”
“We can courageously and patiently endure trials — the Head of the Church assures — precisely because we have hope, that we contemplate God’s providence, even in those terrible, painful circumstances that fall to our lot. Therefore, we try to implement this God’s plan in our lives. And in this way, we learn to behave wisely and by good deeds to bring the Kingdom of God closer even amid the senselessness of war.
The Head of the UGCC told us that people often ask us: do you, in Ukraine, have hope? And we say: yes, we have it because God gives it to us, not man. We are a people of faith, and in faith, we receive hope. And this hope moves us to victory over the Russian aggressor, to win not only in war but also over war, to win, the crown of which will be peace in our Motherland.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew attention to the unique prayer initiative of the bishops of Europe, which took place on September 14 in different parts of the continent. Christians living according to the Gregorian calendar today celebrate the Exaltation of the honest and life-giving Cross. It is precisely in the crucified Savior that today Europe, the believing world, sees crucified Ukraine.
The Holy Father Francis, whom we are accompanying in prayer to Kazakhstan, invites faithful Christians on this day to see the wounds of the crucified Savior in the wounds of Ukraine.
The UGCC Department for Information
