On the day of celebration of the world-wide Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, solemn divine services were held in the Kyiv-Caves Lavra in honor of the dedication feast of the Monastery.

The night before, the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphrius of Kyiv and All Ukraine held the all-night vigil in the Refectory Church of venerable Anthony and Theodosius of Caves.

The all-night vigil in the Monastery’s Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was led by the Vicegerent of the Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl with the concelebration of the brethren in the holy rite. Before the beginning of the short vespers, the plat with the Cross decorated with flowers was transferred from the credence table to the altar with the chanting “Save, Lord, Your people”.

After singing of the great glorification, the Cross was taken out of the altar and, according to the ancient Orthodox custom dating back to the 4th century, the Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross was performed. Then, with the chanting of “We worship Your Cross, Lord,” all the praying knelt at the great shrine, the Cross of the Lord, containing a fragment of the Life-Giving Wood on which Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.

On the day of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the early Liturgy on the square in front of the Church of the Exaltation was celebrated by the Holy Archimandrite of the Monastery, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphrius. The Head of the UOC was assisted by the Vicegerent of the Kyiv-Caves Monastery, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshhorod and Chernobyl; the Head of the UOC Administration Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, Bishop Sylvester of Belogorodka, Bishop Mark of Borodyanka and the clergy of the monastery.

At the lesser entrance, the Head of the UOC honored the clergy of the Kyiv-Caves Lavra with the liturgical awards: archimandrite Alexius, archimandrite Niphont and archimandrite Joseph received the right to wear the second pectoral cross with ornaments; hieromonk Benjamin, hieromonk Raphael, hieromonk Alexander and hieromonk Moses to wear the cross with ornaments; hieromonk Sergius to wear pectoral cross; hierodeacon Euthymius, hierodeacon Philaret, hierodeacon Pambo, hierodeacon Dionysius and hierodeacon Andrew were elevated to the rank of archideacon; hierodeacon Isaiah, hierodeacon Theognostus, hierodeacon Ruth, hierodeacon Sylvester and hierodeacon Erasmus received a double orarion.

In the Gospel pericope of the day, Holy Apostle John the Evangelist spoke of the sufferings and crucifixion of Christ, which he himself witnessed to the very end: “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe”(John 19:35).

During the Liturgy in the churches of the Lavra, prayers were offered for the repose of those who died in the plane crash near the city of Chuguev near Kharkov as well as seminarians who died in 1986 during a night fire in Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary residential building, classmates of His Eminence Pavel.

At the end of the divine services, the Cross of the Lord was traditionally worshiped.

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