Head of the UGCC: Through joint prayer and work we can change ourselves and world for the better

Before the prayer, the Primate of the UGCC recalled that today we remember the event from the childhood of the Mother of God, when she was brought to the Jerusalem temple as a three-year-old girl.  And when the priest Zechariah met her, he took Mary into the sanctuary.

 "This event is an icon of the Christian life, because life in faith is always the way to the temple," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The first step, he mentioned, is always the catechistic path through which people in the early centuries of Christianity prepared themselves for the Sacraments of Baptism and Anointing. And after receiving these initial sacraments, the road continues and it lasts a lifetime.  "Even after death, even in eternity.  So prayer on the rosary helps us to walk those steps of the Christian life, entering into the sacrament of God's presence,” the Head of the UGCC explained.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew a symbolic parallel: as once the priest Zacharias took the Virgin Mary by the hand and led her into the holy of holies, so today she takes us by the hand and through prayer on the rosary, leads us to the mystery of God's presence.

 "May the Blessed Virgin Mary remain the mystery guide of each of us, so that we may experience and know our loving God more and more," the Head of the Church wished.

It is important to note that on the day of the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, more than 20,000 people participated in the prayer.  "I sincerely thank everyone who prayed with us today.  I invite you to join us every evening at 20:00 (Kyiv time) in this common prayer on the rosary.  Through joint prayer and joint work we can change ourselves for the better first of all, and then this world, in which in these days, at this time the Lord calls us to bear witness to His holy name, calls us to live,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav concluded.

The UGCC Department for information