Video-message of His Beatitude Sviatoslav. June 18. 115 th day of the war

Today is Saturday 17 June 2022. Ukraine is already experiencing 115 days of this great war, the bloody war that Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people.

During the last day again fierce fights took place on the whole front line, from the Kharkiv region in the north to the Kherson region, the Mykolayiv region in the south. From what we hear from the reports, the fiercest fighting is taking place in the Luhansk region, the enemy is trying to attack Sloviansk, Bakhmut, and the already known city of Sievierodonetsk, which is again the centre of the biggest battles that are already taking place in the city itself.

But Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is fighting. And we thank the Lord God for surviving this morning. We thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine for being able to see the morning light, the rays of the morning sun rising over Kyiv. Although some towns and villages are far from the front line, there is no safe place in Ukraine. Again yesterday the city of Kremenchuk in Poltava region was brutally fired at with eight rockets. The enemy is trying to methodically destroy all of Ukraine's infrastructure so that Ukraine cannot spend the next winter with dignity, to destroy Ukraine's ability to feed and warm its children in the winter.

But Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is fighting and praying.

Yesterday I finished my visit to three regions of Ukraine—to the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions. And such a very deep impression is left when you see that Ukraine has won the battle for the sowing season. 95% of those fields that were planned to be sown this year are sown and Ukraine is green. We saw how towns and villages in the Sumy region live, with Russia on their borders. We saw how deeply wounded the Kharkiv region is. One third of the region is under Russian occupation. And the city of Kharkiv is under Russian fire every day, and Poltava and Poltava region have become a humanitarian aid hub that takes in refugees, tries to treat the wounded, serves all those who then return to the front or look for ways to return back home. This solidarity, this mutual support, this cooperation between different communities of civil society, this cooperation with local authorities, seeks the best ideas of ​​how to solve the most difficult problems.

Today I would like to reflect with you on another gift of the Holy Spirit. We know that these gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to the words of the prophet Isaiah, are like manifestations of His presence in the person, manifestations of His presence in the Church community. Today we reflect on that which is given to the person in the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we call knowledge. Obviously, a person acquires knowledge themselves. We learn, we work, we improve our intellect, we read, we are interested, and the Lord God created a human mind capable of knowing the Truth.

But what kind of knowledge are we talking about when we talk about the gift of the Holy Spirit? Obviously, a person in his or her ability to know, also has certain limits. The Lord God in Whom we believe often surpasses in His greatness man's ability to know Him. Only a spiritual person can know the spiritual world and spiritual things. Thus, the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is called the knowledge of our Lord God, Creator and Saviour, in the Holy Spirit seems to meet a person who wants to know Him, who seeks Him. And He raises them to Himself to the level of His supernatural Mystery and thus the incomprehensible, immeasurable, eternal God makes Himself known to man, becomes cognitive for Him. He reveals to the person the Mysteries of His eternal existence. And this is given to us by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. When a person has the gift of knowledge as a gift of the Holy Spirit, then he can see, as if up close, God's wisdom, God's gift, the God’s plan for man and the world. She can fully understand all the types of knowledge she still has. We know that human knowledge is fragmented today. Everyone knows deeply only a piece of their own knowledge and is competent in only one narrow specialty. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, a person learns to see holistically the reality in which he or she lives and to know the God to Whom he moves, in Whom he believes.

We ask the Holy Spirit to help Ukrainians feel this gift of knowledge today, that we may know more than our enemy knows, that we may experience that spiritual world, that we may see and feel the Archangel Michael with his army, which today is at war with evil, the devil in this war alongside the Ukrainians. And we thank the Lord God for making Himself known by sending His Only-Begotten Son. And so, sending us the Holy Spirit, giving us knowledge.

O God, bless Ukraine! O God, bless the Ukrainian army. O God, bless all those who seek you, want to know you, want to believe in you and serve you. O God, give Ukraine peace, free Ukraine from the invader. Grant victory to the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people.

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

Glory to Jesus Christ!