The pre-Easter Interview with the Abbot of the Kyiv-Caves Lavra, Metropolitan of Vyshhorod and Chornobyl Pavel. March 27, 2025.

– Your Eminence, 31 years ago, the Holy Synod of the UOC appointed you as the Vicegerent of the Kyiv-Caves Lavra. For many, the holy Monastery is a pearl and a symbol of Kyiv. However, has it always been in such an auspicious state?

Greetings to you, dear readers of our website. The Lavra has been and will always be a spiritual light which the enemy of mankind cannot extinguish. It should always prosper, but for a thousand years, our holy Monastery has suffered all sorts of oppression.

Six Vicegerents were before me after the revival of the monastic life in the Lavra in 1988. Each of them did everything possible to restore the Caves’ Monastery, which was almost destroyed during the ungodly times.

It is encouraging that during our time, we have preserved the history of the holy Lavra and increased its prosperity. Before, the churches and buildings were in ruins, and the caves were in a deplorable state. With almost no government support, but thanks to the donations from the good people, the rebuilding of the Lavra started. All restoration work was carried out by the licensed groups from all corners of Ukraine under the supervision of the National Preserve and the state institutions.

The most important thing is that, by God’s Grace, during this period, I managed to gather a great monastic community. Forty brethren were ordained to the hierarchical rank. About 50 monks have already passed away. Unfortunately, some left the monastery for various reasons or no reason at all, as St. John the Evangelist said: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. “ (1 John 2:19).

Those who have stayed, these are nearly two hundred toilers of Homestead of the Theotokos, are going to be thrown out of their own home. These Ukrainian citizens are being deprived of their right to pray in their Church, in their Monastery. Yes, our spiritual Homeland is in Heaven, but we remain the citizens of Ukraine, who have the right to the freedom of religion.

– Your Eminence, how can we understand the significance of the Lavra for modern Ukrainian society?

The main thing is to trace the influence of the Lavra on the transformation of a person. Earlier, on the Great Thursday, the day when every faithful should receive communion, I saw only 50 people at the Divine Service in the Church of All the Venerable of the Caves’ Monastery. Later, tens of thousands of believers began to attend our festive services in the overcrowded Lavra churches. The pastors and the people were united in the glorification of God’s Name in the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Till this day, the brethren have diligently performed their obedience, and thousands of names are being commemorated daily during the Divine Services in the churches of the Lavra. Through the enlightening ministry of the Lavra, many came out of the darkness into the light of Christ’s teaching. Even after a thousand years, our Venerables preach, and their spiritual disciples continue to receive Heavenly assistance in earthly matters.

Our parishioners also work for the good of the Motherland. A bad citizen on Earth can never be a citizen of Heaven. Many faithful fight on the front lines, defending their earthly homeland.

Together we are the children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and our Head, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphrius of Kyiv and All Ukraine, does everything to preserve the parish, regardless of the trials.

Not only the brethren with the parishioners, but also the secular “… confessed the great and wonderful works of God” (Tob. 12:22). We have received great help from the conscientious journalists who wanted to show the true history and culture of our people. Together with the clergy, they sought to convey to people the rich history of Kyiv and Ukraine. Through our joint efforts, we created many edifying films which revealed the sense of the feats of our Venerables, narrated about the state-forming significance of the Baptism of Rus and the enlightening work of our hierarchs. Due to this, many came to Christ; I baptized many journalists. I am still grateful for their equal-to-the-apostolic work in the great deed of spreading the Divine Word, for as we hear during the Easter Service: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

– Please tell us what the faithful, who want to pray to the Venerables but cannot get to their relics, should do now?

I asked to open the caves for people, and I am sure that this will happen soon. I hope that the entire Lavra will be opened. After all, only prayer can help those in power and the state, so we must not close the churches but open them, so that the people of God can offer up joint prayer. Only the enemies of Ukraine can destroy and take away churches, handing them over to the unknown.

The Lord called us to pray everywhere: “… the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father” (John 4:21).

If it is not possible to visit the caves, take an icon of the venerable ones, read the Akathistus to them, the canons and troparia. Our churches are open, where the holy Caves’ Fathers are especially venerated. Pray to them that the Lord may enlighten the persecutors of the Church, so that they also turn to God, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

– Your Eminence, now many especially hope for Christ’s Luminous Resurrection. This time, the celebration of this greatest feast will be on the same date for all Christians. How can we prepare for it well?

We have already reached the middle of the Lenten journey leading to the Resurrection of Christ. Before its arrival, we must observe a strict fast because fasting is not a human ordinance, but a divine ordinance. For the violation of the fast, Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise. We must remember that fasting and prayer are two wings that lift a person to spiritual heights. In our time, full of temptations and falls, it is difficult to avoid seductions, but we must rise, repent and continue moving toward the Risen Christ.

However, it is important to remember not only the outward, bodily observance of the fast. The Lord calls us to keep our hearts, ears, and eyes free from sin, even in our thoughts. Christ Himself gave us an example of great fasting by spending forty days in the desert. He rejected all passions, vices and temptations of the enemy, and then the devil left Him, and “angels came and were ministering to Him” (Matt. 4:11). The Lord gave us strength to fight temptations through the Divine Grace. To avoid emptiness in the heart, we need to fill it with communication with God. We should pray earnestly for the healing of the schism, for the end of the war, and for the rebuilding of the country from the ashes.

In addition, each person must diligently, with fear for God and rejoicing with trembling (see Ps. 2:11), fulfill his duties, regardless of who he is: a public servant, a worker, a clergyman or a private individual. Negligence in work leads to the resentment of those around, and anyone who “does the work of the Lord negligently” (Jer. 48:10) will be condemned.

In summer, the anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council will be celebrated, where, by the way, the issue of a single day for the celebration of Easter was discussed. Therefore, this year is significant for Christians worldwide, but it depends on us how we spend it.

– In conclusion of our conversation, Your Eminence, please offer a word of encouragement to our readers and the brethren of the Lavra for a joyous celebration of the bright Easter holiday!

Beloved in Christ, brothers and sisters! Let us unite around the Risen Christ, warmly greeting each other with the words “Christ is Risen!” for we have One Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He cannot be divided by nationalities. Let us remember that the Church can exist without us, but we cannot be saved without it. There can be no political churches—there is only One Church, “which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Brethren, hold fast to Christ, our venerable ones, and the Head of the Church. You may be maligned and reviled for His Name — do not pay attention. We have already gone through this in the 20th century.

I wholeheartedly congratulate everyone on the upcoming Easter. May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in our hearts, on our land, and throughout the world! I thank everyone for prayers!