UOC eparchy marks 25 years since St. Nicholas of Iskrivka’s glorification
A festive service was held in Iskrivka, Kirovohrad region, to mark the 25th anniversary of the glorification of the local 20th-century hieromartyr.
On July 17, celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the glorification of Hieromartyr Nicholas of Iskrivka were held at the UOC’s Exaltation of the Cross Church in the village of Iskrivka, Kirovohrad region. Archpriest Kyrylo Bozhko reported this on Facebook.
The festive Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Metropolitan Boholep of Oleksandriia and Svitlovodsk, concelebrated by clergy of the Oleksandriia Eparchy and priests who had arrived for the celebrations.
Hundreds of pilgrims from different regions of Ukraine attended the service, gathering for common prayer and to honor the memory of the saint.
After the service, clergy and believers held a cross procession around the church, offering prayers to Hieromartyr Nicholas of Iskrivka.
Hieromartyr Nicholas of Iskrivka, whose secular name was Mykola Mykhailychenko, served as rector of the church in the village of Iskrivka. In 1919, he suffered martyrdom for his faithfulness to Christ. According to Church tradition, shortly before his death, the priest learned of the trials awaiting him and replied: “For Your sake, O Lord, I am ready to endure to the end.”
In 2000, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church canonized Father Nicholas, and his honorable relics were uncovered and became a place of prayerful veneration for believers.
As previously reported by the UOJ, a cross procession with a reliquary containing the relics of the saints of Oleksandriia was held in Znamyanka.