Head of Ukraine Catholic Church says "Wounded and dead people are calling to our conscience today."



 Christ is Risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is Friday, May 6, 2022, and Ukraine is experiencing the 72nd day of this unjust, bloody Russian aggression against our state and our people.
Active battles are being fought in Donetsk region… The whole east and south of Ukraine are on fire. Dnipropetrovsk region was shelled by rockets. Wounded and dead people are calling to our conscience today. Nikolaev also suffered rocket attacks.
However, we have been cheering for Mariupol for some time now. According to reports, about half a thousand people were evacuated from the city, but many more remained. And the city, in particular the glorious Azovstal plant, is heroically defending itself and also calling on the conscience of the whole world to stop this unjust war and aggression. In fact, the victory of Ukraine is being forged in Mariupol.
Today Ukraine celebrates the memory of the great martyr and winner Yuri, who is still called a miracle worker. His figure, which is associated with strength and victory, is especially eloquent for us in Ukraine today. St. George's Cathedral in Lviv celebrates its throne holiday. The cult of St. George, martyr and victor, is very ancient in Ukrainian lands.
Who is a martyr? Who is the martyr Yuri the Victorious for Ukraine today?
A martyr is a witness to the resurrection. By dying, going to torment and death, he shows the world that the death we can now experience has already been overcome and despised by Christ's resurrection, and after it is life. The germ of that immortality, the resurrection we carry within us. And he who gives his life as a testimony of the risen Christ shows this victory over evil.
The martyr defeats his tormentors in a special way. Those who crucified Christ thought that they would bury His word, teaching, and power forever. However, Christ overcame death by his death and defeated the tormentors. Something similar happens to a martyr. He who kills a martyr thinks he is defeating the one he has killed. But the opposite happens, because the martyr is the winner, he defeats his tormentor.
And today, praising Yuri, we are talking about two features of his feat. First, he exposed the wickedness of his tormentors, and second, he sacrificed himself. These two factors were the key, the content, the basis of his victory. That's why we call him the winner.
We are now asking the great martyr Yuri to help us discover the power he has testified to be present in us. After all, with our suffering, our victory, we expose the wickedness of those torturers who came to the Ukrainian land. Even when the torturers cling to the so-called St. George ribbons, trying to claim the victory of the great martyr Yuri, he himself unmasks them.
Defending the Motherland, Ukrainians make their pure sacrifice on the altar of God's love, which is a force that brings victory. Therefore, celebrating the memory of this great martyr, realizing the content of his feat and the source of his victory, today we feel that the great martyr and victor Yuri is fighting for Ukraine, he is on our side. He is destroying this on Ukrainian soil, piercing with his spear this ancient snake, which is now trying to sting Ukraine. And that's why the victory will be with Yuri for us!
God bless Ukraine! Give victory to our army over the wicked enemy. Give victory to the Ukrainian people so that they may unmask their wicked tormentor and glorify our risen Savior with their pure sacrifice. God bless Ukraine!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, with His grace and love of man, always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

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