Priest Condemns 'Godless' Zelensky Regime's Seizure of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra During Great Lent

On March 10, the Zelensky regime demanded that the Orthodox monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, a historic Christian convent and one of the most revered holy places of the Orthodox world, vacate the monastery by March 29, accusing the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of violating the terms of an agreement on the use of state property. The order came amid Great Lent, the most important fast within many denominations of Eastern Christianity.

"This is outright devilry, because the fact that they launched the seizure of the Christian Orthodox shrine during Lent, which is sacred to all Orthodox Christians, and this suggests that they are not Christians, and even more so not Orthodox," said Hieromonk Feofan, a Donetsk priest. "In Lent, we prepare for communion at the Last Supper of Christ, that is, these are reverent moments, very sacred, and then for the celebration of Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ. This is a time of turning in upon yourself, going deep into thoughts, reexamining your life, and working on yourself. And then a sheer devilish, demonic power comes and begins to destroy everything. What [the Kiev regime] will build upon the foundation of the Lavra remnants will no longer belong to Christ, it will not be a church, definitely, because it was done, firstly, illegally, and secondly, by such hellish methods."

Hieromonk Feofan, Donetsk Priest

The expulsion of monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is part of a broader persecution of Orthodox priests by the Kiev regime, which includes a takeover of holy shrines and even burning churches down, according to Hieromonk Feofan. The Kiev regime has employed those brutal methods to force the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), the historically-established wing of the self-governing Eastern Orthodox religion in Ukraine, to renounce the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate. Earlier this week, Dmitry Korchinsky, Ukrainian public figure, called for torching all the churches of Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. According to Korchinsky, "there is nothing wrong with that."

Hieromonk Feofan, Donetsk Priest

"I have one acquaintance, a monk of the Lavra, and, unfortunately, he had to leave it," Hieromonk Feofan said. "And Thank God that he managed to flee the place, because he says that it was simply dangerous to stay there. Some armed individuals constantly came there and checked everyone at the entrance of the Lavra. That is, life there was in constant tension, and he had to leave. Now he is safe. But from speaking with him, I understood that those Lavra brothers with whom he communicates, are in a very difficult situation right now (…) Let's see if they will defend the Lavra. In general, we had precedents in history when the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and other large monasteries were encroached upon, and the monasteries defended themselves. But, unfortunately, in our time, for some reason, we have goodness without fists."

Hieromonk Feofan, Donetsk Priest

Previously, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said the monks could stay in the Lavra if they joined the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine led by defrocked metropolitan Patriarch Filaret. However, according to Hieromonk Feofan, this would be a betrayal of Faith. Feofan cited the Holy Gospel as saying: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). According to him, when a person with this feeling defends his Lavra, his monastery, his church, he is not afraid of anything or anyone.

"Why did the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople stand? It existed because it could defend itself. And now, unfortunately, we have a defenseless Orthodox Christianity, which cannot defend itself," noted Hieromonk Feofan. "We realized in 2014 that if we were captured, if Donbass were captured, we would lose almost everything for what we had lived and what we had cherished all that time, everything that our ancestors left us, including faith. We understood that if Filaretism came here, then the Uniates would come after it, and then the Vatican (…) At that moment, the issue of protecting the republic was of utmost importance, because everything else, and the Orthodox faith, and shrines, and our native land, that's all we would have betrayed if we hadn't started to defend Donbass. We have chosen protection at all costs. Not to survive at any cost, but to protect at any cost."