Incommunion

Pray for peace in Ukraine

017rublev troitsaIn Ukraine, Russia and the contested area of Crimea, passions have been running high for months, leading to many deaths and injuries. Honest and well-informed observers offer very different perspectives on what is happening and what the causes are. The injustices are many and are on all sides.

Without taking sides, one thing Orthodox Christians can do is pray with fervor that more bloodshed can be avoided and that the fever of nationalism will not take control of the spiritual lives of the people of Ukraine.

To help parishes and individual believers with resources for prayer, we are providing several links.

As this page develops we will try to provide helpful information that furthers understanding of the events taking place in the region to help bridge the gap through better understanding.

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O Lord Jesus Christ our God, look down with Thy merciful eye on the sorrow and great pain of lamentation of Thy children in the Ukrainian land. Deliver Thy people from civil strife, make to cease the bloodshed, turn away impending misfortunes. Bring the homeless home, feed those that thirst, console those that weep, join together those that are divided. Let not Thy flock that are embittered towards their kin be diminished, but grant them swift reconciliation, for Thou art compassionate. Soften the hearts of those that have grown violent and bring them to know Thee. Give peace to Thy Church and her faithful children, that with one heart and one mouth we may glorify Thee, our Lord and Saviour, unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has called on parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate to include this special prayer for peace in Ukraine to be included in the Divine Liturgy)

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Special Petitions for the Increase of Love: On February 26, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, issued a statement encouraging the clergy of the Eastern American Diocese to add further petitions for the increase of love during the Divine Liturgy on Forgiveness Sunday. The petitions may also be used as part of a moleben that can be served upon completion of the Divine Liturgy. A special service "For the Increase of Love" can be found in the Great Book of Needs or by following the links: http://eadiocese.org/News/2014/march/increaseoflove.en.pdf

Statement of Clergy and Faithful on the Situation in Ukraine issued in Kiev 25 January 2014:

Statement of Clergy and Faithful on the Situation in Ukraine

Courage between Rocks and Guns: Monastic Peace Witness on Kiev’s Euromaidan:
an interview with Hieromonk Melchizedeck (Gordenko) and monk Gabriel (Kairasov) that first appeared in Orthodoxy in Ukraine, a Ukrainian language website on January 30th.
https://incommunion.org/2014/05/08/between-rocks-and-guns/

Patriarch Kirill: My heart is with Ukraine:
https://incommunion.org/2014/05/06/kirill-my-heart-is-with-ukraine/

Statements from Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops:
https://incommunion.org/2014/05/06/statements-from-ukrainian-orthodox-bishops/

A selection of prayers for peace:
https://incommunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/18/prayers/

Ukraine Crisis: Truth is the First Casualty by Jim Forest:
https://incommunion.org/2014/05/07/truth-is-the-first-casualty/

A short sermon by Fr Sergei Ovsiannikov given at the Moleben for peace held March 4 at St Nicholas of Myra Russian Orthodox Church in Amsterdam:
https://incommunion.org/2014/03/17/prayers-for-peace/

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Articles of special interest

Russia, Ukraine and the Church: A Lenten plea for peace
What happens when different parts of a church (and in this case, a church which generally believes in obedience to earthly power) find themselves on opposite sides of a looming conflict? Over the centuries, the Orthodox church has found ingenious ways of preserving the spiritual bonds between its fractured sons and daughters while accepting that in earthly affairs, they were deeply divided. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Russia's Orthodox church was happy to let its small but vigorous outpost in Japan pray for a Japanese victory; no religious ties were broken in the process. Bear all that in mind when contemplating the latest religious moves in Ukraine.... >> read the rest: http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/03/russia-ukraine-and-church

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Photos

An album of photos of peace vigils carried out by monks during the Euromaidan protests in Kiev: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/sets/72157644484980433

An album of photos of the peace demonstration in Moscow that took place Saturday 15 March 2014: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.655866497784545.1073741945.157033337667866&type=3

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