UOC Primate consecrates Transfiguration Cathedral at Pochaiv Lavra

On the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry performed the Great Consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra and celebrated the Divine Liturgy there, the UOC Information Center reported.

His Beatitude was concelebrated by a host of hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the monastery clergy, and visiting clergy. At the Little Entrance, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry awarded the Lavra’s abbot, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Pochaiv, the Order of St. Job of Pochaiv, First Class.

During the service, the clergy and faithful offered special petitions for peace in the Ukrainian land, for deliverance from the enemy, for the protection of those who have fallen into despair or lost their homes, and for God’s blessing upon all who help those in need.
Following the reading of the Holy Gospel, His Beatitude delivered a sermon to the faithful. At the conclusion of the Liturgy, he led a service of glorification before the icon of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Congratulating the abbot, the brethren, and pilgrims on the historic occasion, the UOC Primate emphasized the special significance of the cathedral’s consecration. His Beatitude noted that from now on, divine services will continue to be celebrated in the newly consecrated cathedral, where the numerous faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will offer prayers for peace, well-being, and salvation.

The Transfiguration Cathedral is one of the newest churches at the Pochaiv Lavra. Completed in 2013, it was built to ease the strain on the Lavra’s historic buildings. The three-altar cathedral combines modern architectural solutions with traditional elements of Ukrainian church architecture and can accommodate up to 4,500 worshippers at a time.

As the UOJ previously reported, Metropolitan Onuphry consecrated the Annunciation Church in the Bukovyna village of Ostrytsia.