UOC church consecrated in vlg Rakov Les, built instead of the seized one

Temple of the UOC in honor of the martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia in the village of Rakov Les. Photo: pravoslavna.volyn.ua

On September 14, 2021, on the day of the church new anniversary, Archbishop Nathaniel of Volyn and Lutsk performed the rite of consecration of the church in honor of the martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia in the village of Rakov Les of Volyn region, built instead of the seized one. This was reported by the press service of the Volyn Diocese.

After the rite of consecration, the bishop led the first Divine Liturgy in the church.

The Archbishop was concelebrated by Bishop Athanasius of Kamen-Kashirsky, Archimandrite Nektarios (Bakopoulos),cleric of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, Archpriest Bogdan Andreychuk, dean of the district, Paisiy (Khomich), head of the diocesan chancellery, Archpriest Rostislav Sizhuk, clerics of the eparchy and guests in the holy dignity.

At the Small Entrance, the chancellor of the Volyn diocese awarded the rector of the church with a high church award – a miter.

During the service prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for the unity of World Orthodoxy, as well as for deliverance from coronavirus infection and for the health of medical professionals.

Recall that the UOC community in the village of Rakov Les was one of the first in the region to be illegally re-registered in favor of the OCU. After the former rector of the Annunciation church, Archpriest Nikolai Smoliarchuk, together with a part of the religious community came under the jurisdiction of the OCU, he was banned by the decree of Vladyka Nathanael on February 22, 2019. The UOC community, headed by the new rector, Archpriest Rostislav Sizhuk, was denied access to the church and prayed in a temporary tabernacle.

It took the faithful of Rakov Les village 7 months to build their new church.

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