Metropolitan Longin: Today the Lord tests us, strengthening our faith
The Hero of Ukraine called on the faithful to patience and forgiveness of the persecutors of the Church.
On September 25, 2025, at the celebration of the Wonderworking Boyany Icon of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) addressed the faithful with a heartfelt homily on the present trials of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports a UOJ correspondent. The hierarch compared the situation of the UOC to Christ’s Golgotha and called for patience and all-forgiveness.
“Today it is not I, nor anyone else, but our Church – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the canonical Church – that goes to Golgotha, to crucifixion,” Metropolitan Longin declared, addressing the multitude of pilgrims. He emphasized that just as the Myrrh-bearing Women and the Mother of God followed the Savior to His crucifixion, so too the faithful of the UOC do not abandon their Church in its hour of trial.
The metropolitan reminded those present of the sufferings of previous generations of Orthodox Christians: “All our ancestors suffered greatly, our priests who came before us – they all suffered. At night they were beaten, arrested, intimidated, yet nothing could turn them away from the truth and from God. The very same thing we see today.”
The hierarch posed a painful question as to why it is precisely Orthodox Christians who are branded enemies of the state: “We have many confessions in Ukraine, just as every country does, and no one touches them. Why is it only we, out of all, who are considered enemies of our own state? When we have supported our state, when our children defend this state, and we help them?”
He then explained the spiritual meaning of the present trials: “Today the Lord is testing us, He is examining us, our Church, in order to strengthen us in this faith. The time has come when the Lord has seen that everything among the people wavers, and faith is collapsing.”
Metropolitan Longin urged the faithful to Christian love even toward their persecutors: “Do not condemn anyone, do not resent anyone, do not reproach our primate, our Beatitude. Forgive all, pray for all, love all.”
He asked God for strength: “That we might be able to love everyone, forgive everyone, and endure just a little longer.”
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Wonderworking Boyany Icon was honored in Bukovyna.
