Video-message of His Beatitude Sviatoslav. July 18. 145 th day of the war

Today is Monday 18 July 2022 and Ukraine is already going through the 145th day of the full-scale Russian invasion, this terrible war that takes the lives of hundreds of people in Ukraine every day.

Again, throughout the day yesterday, last night, the Ukrainian land shuddered from the roar of various weapons, which only the evil genius of modern man is capable of. Active combat operations are underway in Luhansk region and Donetsk region. Again, the enemy launched a powerful rocket attack on the city of Mykolayiv at night, about 10 rockets fell on the heads of peacefully sleeping people in this long-suffering city. The Dnipropetrovsk region and Zaporizhzhia came under missile strikes, our Kharkiv shuddered. The Kharkiv region is also a territory of powerful combat clashes. The border territories of Sumy and Chernihiv regions are shelled every day.
But Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is praying. And Ukraine is learning to overcome.

Today I would like to talk with you about prayer, about Christian prayer. Because every day we pray. Apparently, today in Ukraine, everyone prays: Christians, those who consider themselves members of other religious communities, and maybe even people who are not very religious and not very religious. Because in the conditions of such a terrible war, the human heart calls out to God, cries out to the Creator, even if a person has not yet known and met Him in his life. Everyone is praying. But what exactly is the meaning of Christian prayer and how does it differ from a person's cry for God in general?

As Christians, when we pray, we embrace our loving Heavenly Father in prayer. As Christians, we always pray in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ, because we live in Him, we are in Him, we are baptized in Him, we are clothed in Him. And when we pray to the Father in the name of His Son, we always pray in the Church, with the Church, and for the Church. We are then never alone in our prayer. We are always together. And we always pray thanks to the action and presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Because it is characteristic that He awakens the human heart every day and teaches us how to pray, what we should pray for. It is He who intercedes for us before the Father with groanings that cannot be uttered, as the Holy Scriptures say. He is the Comforting Spirit, the Spirit Who unites us, unites us with Christ, and thus opens our hearts to our Heavenly Father, because that spirit, which is poured into our hearts, himself says: "Abba, Father!"

Therefore, Christian prayer is speaking to Him Who is dear to us, to our own God, Whom we know and Who knows us. Before we even open our mouths, He knows what we need. And therefore, one of the most important features of Christian prayer is complete trust in the One to Whom we turn, this complete trust in the One Who is our hope, our salvation. Moreover, it is the consciousness that the One to Whom we pray is near, is in me. Man is the bearer, the temple of the Holy Trinity.

Today I would invite all of you to pray especially for those who are leaving their homes today. Because the increase in the intensity of hostilities causes a new wave of refugees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine. People are forced to leave everything behind and venture into the unknown. With crying, with a cry to God, with pain and regret in their heart. Whether you know those people or not, whether you had the opportunity to meet our displaced people, refugees or not, today let's envelop them in our prayer, because prayer unites. Just as prayer unites a mother and a son who is at the front, a man and a woman separated by war, prayer unites, it unites and supports all those who feel alone. Let us turn today to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit with a request for intercession for those who can rely only on God in this war today.

O God, bless Ukraine. O God, bless all those wounded in this war. O God, take care of all those whose lives were broken by the war. O God, teach us to pray, as the apostles asked their Master, so we ask You: today, teach us how we should turn to You correctly, so that together with You we can not only overcome in this war, but together with You be witnesses of life in the midst of the sea of ​​death that is spreading around us. O God, bless Ukraine.

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you through His grace and love of mankind, always, now and ever, and for ages of ages. Amen. 

Glory to Jesus Christ!