Metropolitan Theodosiy: Monk’s murder is a manifestation of satanic hatred
The Cherkasy metropolitan compared the murder of monk Barsanuphius at the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra to the martyrdom of Venerable Martyr Raphaila 100 years ago.
Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kaniv Theodosius stated that the brutal murder of monk Barsanuphius of the Svyatogorsk Lavra repeats the same satanic hatred with which Venerable Martyr Raphaila (Tertатska) was tortured to death one hundred years ago. He said this in a sermon at the celebrations at the Holy Trinity Chyhyryn Convent on August 24, 2026.
According to the hierarch, one hundred years ago Abbess Raphaila was taken outside the walls of the house where she lived after the monastery was closed, and was brutally tortured: she was run over by a cart, her limbs were broken, and she was stabbed with bayonets. "This is exactly how Satan hates God and God's truth. And people who submit to Satan, who have become his instrument in this world, hate in exactly this way those people who are of God, who live holy lives, for the sake of God and His grace," said Metropolitan Theodosius. He emphasized that on the eve of the celebrations at the Svyatogorsk Lavra, a group of people tortured monk Barsanuphius, cutting his face with a knife.
The metropolitan noted that this case is a reminder to every Orthodox believer of the possibility of facing a choice between betraying the faith and death.
"It will depend only on how a person lived up to that moment, how he confessed the Orthodox faith — in words alone, for his own benefit, for the sake of spiritual comfort or fashion, or whether he lived by evangelical principles within himself," said the hierarch.
As the UOJ reported, the attack on the brethren of the Svyatogorsk Lavra occurred on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the martyric repose of Venerable Martyr Raphaila, whose memory was commemorated at the Chyhyryn Monastery on August 24.
