UAOC processes in Lviv

LVIV (RISU) — On the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, February 21, 2010, the faithful of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church organized a religious procession in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. The procession was attended by 80 priests of the Lviv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), 5 centers of the Lviv Stauropegion Brotherhood of St. Andrew the-First-Called-Apostle, Ukrainian Cossacks, and about a thousand faithful led by Archbishop Makarii of Lviv of the UAOC.

RISU was told by the deputy head of the Lviv brotherhood, Yurii Fediv, that the event was aimed to revive ancient Eastern traditions and to pray for the health and good of the citizens.

“For the first time since 1700, when the Lviv Orthodox Eparchy accepted the union with Rome, the Orthodox community of the city conducted a religious procession with icons, relics of the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, Great Martyr Mercury, St. Anastasia of Constantinople and parts of the Holy Life-Giving Cross, and church banners along the central streets of ancient Lviv,” noted the brotherhood’s representative.

The procession was started with a public prayer in the Stauropegion Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God of the UAOC. After that, the procession passed along the streets of the city. The Gospel and the Canon of Christ were read near each church on the way. The procession was met by the parishes of the Assumption of the Mother of God of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God of the Roman Catholic Church. The senior priests of the mentioned parishes read the Gospel. Bishop Makarii of the UAOC expressed gratitude to the priests of the neighboring parishes for meeting the procession and the joint prayer.

The priests served a requiem service near the monument to the great poet Taras Shevchenko. The procession ended with a service in the Church of Assumption of the Mother of God of the UAOC.