Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav shared the Christmas Eve supper (Sviata Vecheria) with the elderly in the evening of January 6, 2020, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
Over 140 seniors from Kyiv, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions gathered for dinner. Among those present are the lonely people, displaced persons, people with disabilities. It began with a joint prayer and greeting from His Beatitude Sviatoslav, who expressed great joy that on Christmas Eve he had the opportunity to be with the elderly. “It is a special honor for me today – the privilege of welcoming you all here at our Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv so that we can sit together for a festive Christmas Eve supper,” said His Beatitude to the guests.
He recalled that in the Gospel we are told when Christ was born, the wise men from the East came and brought our Savior their treasures: frankincense, myrrh and gold. “Today, in our cathedral, our Kyiv Archeparchy brings gold to the Nativity scene. Because that gold is not some precious metal. That gold is our people of golden age. This is the greatest treasure we have,” said the Primate.
“And together with you we announce a very good message from the heart of our Church to the whole of Ukraine and to the whole Ukrainian world: Christ is born! Let us glorify Him! ”- added His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Head of the UGCC also shared with the audience the Christmas bread – Prosfora, approaching everyone with the blessing and wishes of the joyful Christmas holidays.
The dinner was organized by Caritas-Kyiv Foundation with the support of the Andrijiv Hrish (Andrew’s Pence) Charitable Foundation, together with the communities of the Kyiv Archeparchy and volunteers.
The UGCC Department for Information