Video-message of His Beatitude Sviatoslav. April 2, 2022

Today is 2 April 2022 and Ukraine is experiencing and suffering already the thirty-eighth day of this horrible war of murderous Russian aggression against our people.

This night, the whole Ukrainian land shuddered. Our homeland experienced once more a massive rocket attack from Russia. Within only a few hours, according to information we heard today, approximately thirty rockets were fired from Belarus. The attacks hit the city of Dnipro, Poltava region, the city of Poltava, and the city of Kremenchuk. Cities and towns in the south of our country were also hit. The Odesa region also experienced attacks in the last twenty-four hours. Bloody battles are taking place around Kyiv, around Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. Human blood is pouring out upon our homeland. Every bomb, every rocket that falls on residential areas and apartment blocks kills tens of people.

Today in Ukraine, the sin of Cain is being committed. The innocent blood of Abel is crying out from the Ukrainian land to the heavens. Today the Lord is crying out to our murderers, to the Cains of the third millennium, saying: “What have you done? The blood of your brother is crying out to me from the earth.” 

I call upon the whole world to hear the voice of blood crying out from the Ukrainian lands to the heavens, the voice of the blood of those innocently killed civilians, women, children, and elderly.

Today in our Church is a universal day of commemoration of those killed innocently in the bloody war in Ukraine.

Today the bloodless sacrifice of the Divine Liturgy will be offered by our bishops both in Ukraine and throughout the world. We pray for our heroes, our military service personnel, our girls and boys, who have covered themselves with eternal glory by giving up for the future of their homeland that which is most precious—their own lives. 

We pray for the innocently killed peaceful inhabitants of Ukraine. According to information, over 150 children have been killed in Ukraine. And these are only the official statistics! We really don’t know how many children have truly died in this war.

Today we will pray for all the victims of this war.

I would like to thank the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe because all the European bishops are praying for the victims of the war in Ukraine. This day is also designated as a day of prayer for the Synod of Bishops of our Church.

We believe that the Lord God will receive these innocent victims as a sacrifice of redemption for our sins and so that there might be peace in our homeland. These tens of thousands of innocently killed people will one day stand at the Last Judgement as witnesses and accusers of our murderers. 

May the Lord God forgive them their sins! May He receive the innocently killed into His embrace! May He grant them everlasting memory!

A new and profound tradition has developed in Ukraine. When the body of a killed Ukrainian soldier arrives in a town or village, the whole city comes out and kneels to welcome the soldier on their knees. Let us raise up prayers for all those who have given their lives for Ukraine and to defend our state. 

O God, receive the innocently killed in your embrace! O God, stop the war! O God, bless Ukraine! O God, make the sin of Cain never to be repeated on Your earth! 

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

Glory to Jesus Christ!