Athonite Monks see a new Holodomor in the war against Ukraine, because the whole country has plunged into darkness, people are suffering. There is no water and millions of people are in this situation, so the monks pray for peace, the Abbot of the Athos monastery Xenophon Archimandrite Alexey said.
On November 24, 2022 for the blessing and direct participation of the Abbot of the Athos monastery Xenophon, the first liturgy and memorial service in the history of Athos was performed for the victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Archimandrite Alexey thanked the Chief Consul of Ukraine in Thessaloniki.
In the old temple of the monastery, where unceasing prayers have been given for a thousand years, worships are held and tears of repentance are shed, both the fathers of this monastery and the pilgrims prayed for the victims of the Holodomor, the Abbot said.
“It really was the extermination of our Ukrainian brothers,” Archimandrite Alexey described the Holodomor in Ukraine.
Such a memorial service was probably performed for the first time, everyone was touched, because so many souls left this life in such a terrible way, unfairly and unlawfully, he said.
“We empathize and share this pain of Ukrainians. All the fathers of our monastery are praying for the speedy end of the grief, which does not bring anything good,” said Abbot Alexey.