The fathers of Mount Athos report that on May 28, the first day of his stay on the Holy Mountain, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew performed a special prayer in the Iveron monastery in front of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God for the end of the war and the coming of peace in "suffering Ukraine".
He prayerfully shared his pain and sympathy with the Ukrainian people and in his speech to the Athos monks from various Athos monasteries he stated that his heart is constantly with Ukraine and that he prays daily for an early end to the war.
By his example, he called on the Athos fraternity to also pray for an early end to the war in Ukraine, and as a sign of prayerful solidarity with the Ukrainian people, he specially lit an unquenchable lamp in front of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God as a symbol of prayer and sacrifice to God for "suffering Ukraine".
The fathers of Mount Athos say that such a prayer of the Ecumenical Patriarch in the lot of the Mother of God before her most revered miraculous icon has great power and significance...
"Folk wisdom says that friends are known in trouble," notes Serhiy Shumylo, director of the International Institute of Athos heritage. "In these days of Russia's terrible war against Ukraine, we have all seen with our own eyes who are our friends and brothers and who are not... Ukrainian believers have been waiting for three months for Moscow Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev to take the side of his flock in Ukraine and oppose this crazy war unleashed by Putin's Satanic regime against the Ukrainian people. However, the expectations were in vain. Kirill Gundyaev not only did not speak out against Russia's war against Ukraine but also blessed and strongly supports it, giving it even some hypocritical "metaphysical" grounds and justification. From the very first days of the war, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew behaved quite differently, condemning this godless meeting of Russians in Ukraine and stood on the side of the Ukrainian people praying. In these two examples, we can see who is actually the spiritual father, and who is "a wolf in sheep's clothing."
I hope that this example of the Ecumenical Patriarch will inspire the bishops and clergy of the UOC to stop the rash termination of Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other Local Orthodox churches and help restore the dialogue and unity of Ukrainian and ecumenical orthodoxy," Serhiy Shumylo notes.