O God, breathe with Ukraine so that Ukraine and her youth may live, - from His Beatitude Sviatoslav on 116th day of the war

In these difficult days for whole Ukraine, days of loss and great struggle, we ask the Holy Spirit for this gift as a source of living water, a gift that will help Ukraine survive and revive. The Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav said in his daily address on June 19, 116th day of the war.

The Head of the UGCC, as always, began his address with the withdrawal from the front over the past day, thanking God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for another day of fight:

“Fierce fighting continued in the east and south of Ukraine over the past day. According to state authorities, the biggest fighting is taking place between Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Luhansk region. There the enemy has concentrated the largest amount of its weapons, its resources, in order to capture this part of the Ukrainian Luhansk region. The city of Kharkiv was subjected to very intense, brutal, and insidious attacks, air and rocket attacks. Also yesterday missiles struck the city of Mykolayiv in the south of Ukraine twice. Mykolayiv in the south of Ukraine was hit twice by missiles. But Ukraine stands. Ukraine is struggling. Ukraine is praying. And we thank the Lord and our defenders, sons and daughters of Ukraine, for living up to this morning and seeing this Sunday daylight and sunshine.”

In his address, His Beatitude Sviatoslav spoke with pain about the death of another Ukrainian soldier - 27-year-old Artemy Dymyd, who died yesterday in Donetsk region, and expressed his condolences to his family: On behalf of our entire Church I express my sincere condolences to Fr. Mykhailo, Pani Ivanna and the whole Dymyd and Krypyakevych family over this great loss. This priestly couple, mainly their pain in the current circumstances of Ukraine, is an icon of our Church, which is the center of service to its people and bears the burdens, pains and sufferings of the Ukrainian people and their youth. This heroic death shocked all intellectual scientific circles of Ukraine and today we say: heroes do not die! Please, Lord, embrace Artemiy into Your arms and eternal memory grant unto him!”

Then the Primate reminded that today Ukraine celebrates All Saints' Day, the day of commemoration of the direct action of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the history of mankind.

A saint is a person who reflects, carries in herself the Divine holiness. In the Liturgy we sing: “For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.” And he who carries the living God in himself by the power and action of the Holy Spirit, revealing to the world the faces of the loving Heavenly Father, becomes a partaker of God’s holiness in its various forms. We pray today: saints of all times of Christianity, pray today for the suffering Ukraine, for the suffering Ukrainian Church,” he mentioned.

On this day, His Beatitude Sviatoslav reflected on the next gift of the Holy Spirit – the gift of piety. What is this gift and why is it different from what is called ritual or outward piety?

According to the Primate, when we speak of piety as a gift of the Holy Spirit, we are talking about a person's ability to feel the root cause of her life and existence… With this gift of the Holy Spirit we seem to return to the source of our being and life, to feel that we are loved and desired by God. As the psalmist David sings: “the fountain of life is with you and it is in your light that we see light.”

But that person, who returns to the original source of her existence, to the Lord, is reborn, renewed. That person lives, develops, and grows.

“Therefore, the gift of the Holy Spirit – piety, gives us the opportunity to feel that every day we breathe with you because God breathes within us in his love. We are able to act and love God and our neighbor through what we feel - the first to love us and give us life and existence is our Lord, our loving Father, who saves us in Jesus Christ by the power and action of the Holy Spirit,” emphasized the Head of the Church.

“Today we ask: O Lord, grant us revival and life in Ukraine! Today we live by Your gift of the Holy Spirit and by this piety, as the deer, we return to the springs of water, because our soul longs for the living God. O God, breathe with us, breathe with Ukraine, so that Ukraine, her youth may live! In the midst of the sea of ​​death, You are present as our source of life!  O God, bless the children of Ukraine!” finished His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The UGCC Department for Information