Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine commemorated the twenty fifth anniversary of the restoration of the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral with a heartfelt submit on social media, calling the historic church a robust image of Ukraine’s religious renewal, nationwide dignity, and battle for freedom.
“Historically, yearly on the final Sunday of Could, on Kyiv Day, we honor the feast of the Restoration of the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in our capital,” wrote Metropolitan Epifaniy. “And now, in just some days, will probably be 1 / 4 of a century since this majestic, artifical shrine—revived from ruins and ashes—rose once more, marking a vital chapter within the fashionable historical past of the Ukrainian Church, the Ukrainian state, and the Ukrainian folks.”
Reflecting on the previous, Metropolitan Epifaniy shared a private reminiscence: “It’s laborious to consider 25 years have already handed. As a pupil then on the Kyiv Theological Seminary and later the Academy, I had the good fortune to witness and participate in that historic means of the Cathedral’s revival.”
The Metropolitan emphasised the tragic erasure the positioning had suffered below Soviet rule. “Few strange residents of Kyiv even knew that the foundations of the once-destroyed Ukrainian shrine nonetheless existed,” he mentioned. “For over half a century, there was solely smash and vacancy. The Soviet authorities did the whole lot they might to stop the restoration of religion, fact, and reminiscence.”
“However by God’s Windfall, the result was totally different,” he added. “The Kremlin’s godless hatred as soon as tore down this Ukrainian sanctuary in an try to bury our historic roots, our proud historical past, our religion and prayer beneath the rubble. But it was love and fact that introduced it again to life.”
The reborn St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral, positioned within the coronary heart of Kyiv, now stands as a sacred and visual image of renewal and continuity. “It preserves the religious legacy of the traditional golden-domed cathedral on this blessed, prayer-soaked, historic website,” mentioned the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
He reminded readers of the prophecy of Saint Andrew the First-Known as: “On these hills shall shine the grace of God; an amazing metropolis will come up, and lots of church buildings will God elevate right here.”
“This cathedral is a logo of rebirth, new life, continuity, and spirituality,” Metropolitan Epifaniy declared. “Its restoration marked the place to begin of a brand new chapter in Ukraine’s story. It’s a residing testomony to the inseparable bond between our Church and our nation.”
St. Michael’s can be central to preserving the reminiscence of Ukraine’s modern-day heroes and is the principle cathedral of the united Orthodox Church of Ukraine. “With it’s inseparably linked the historical past of our folks’s combat for dignity, fact, and freedom,” he careworn.
Metropolitan Epifaniy concluded his message with an invite and a prayer: “Allow us to have fun collectively this Sunday the twenty fifth anniversary of the restoration of the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral—with a solemn Divine Liturgy and a united, all-Ukrainian prayer for our folks, our state, our Church, for victory over the enemy, and for the institution of a simply peace in Ukraine.
O Nice and One God, shield our Ukraine!”
