08 February 2026
Dear brothers and sisters!
On this Sunday, the Holy Church suggests that we gaze into the mirror of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This Gospel story reads today not as a legend of ancient times but as a frighteningly accurate diagnosis for our time.
Let us remember the trajectory of the fall: the younger son demands, 'Give me my portion.' He takes what he did not build and journeys to a 'far country'. Is it not the path that we as society are following in recent years? We have decided that we can live without our Father's blessing, believing that happiness can be built upon a split with our own roots and thousand-year-old Faith.
We have been fascinated by ideas of others and have obsequiously hearkened to ostensible 'friends'. We have wasted our birthright for political mirages and our dignity for attempts to please the interests of others. The outcome of this story is logical: when wealth earned by many generations has been wasted, ostensible 'friends' disappear, famine comes, and yesterday's heir finds himself at a pig's trough. Let us look around: seized churches, the persecution of the faithful, a mess in hearts. Freedom without God has turned into slavery.
By the Providence of God, today we also honour the memory of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. This feast has been established in memory of the first victim of the godless persecution of the XX century, Metropolitan Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) of Kiev, murdered at the walls of the Lavra in 1918. The New Martyrs are completely opposite to the prodigal son. In years of terrible trials, they did not journey to a 'far country', they did not exchange the Truth for convenience or safety. Laypeople, monastics, priests — they feared neither sufferings nor death and kept faithfulness to God till the end. Their feat reminds us: the true Church is always persecuted, but a triumph of evil is illusory and temporary.
Today, we vitally need to 'come to ourselves', as said in the parable. Repentance is not weakness, it is a return to common sense. It is the courage to admit one's mistake and come back Home.
We have repeatedly addressed the powers that be with the only call: come to your senses and repent. All those trials, grief, and sufferings which have befallen our people are a direct consequence of inordinate pride and a deviation from the Truth. It is a result of the actions of Ukrainian politicians — and of not only the present authorities led by Zelensky but also all those who started this ungodly coven, deceitfully disguised as a 'revolution'. The present oppression of the canonical Church, the persecution of clergy, the loss of moral compass and humanity in general — all of those are links in one chain.
But, just as before, we state: it is not too late to change everything yet. Barely had the father from the parable seen his son when he came to meet him. So does our Mother Church, washed by the blood of the New Martyrs, wait for every soul.
By the prayers of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors, may the Lord strengthen our faith and protect the Orthodox people from temptations. A time to cast away stones has passed. It is time to return from the land of illusions to our Father's home — to peace and Righteousness.
All related news On this Sunday, the Holy Church suggests that we gaze into the mirror of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This Gospel story reads today not as a legend of ancient times but as a frighteningly accurate diagnosis for our time.
Let us remember the trajectory of the fall: the younger son demands, 'Give me my portion.' He takes what he did not build and journeys to a 'far country'. Is it not the path that we as society are following in recent years? We have decided that we can live without our Father's blessing, believing that happiness can be built upon a split with our own roots and thousand-year-old Faith.
We have been fascinated by ideas of others and have obsequiously hearkened to ostensible 'friends'. We have wasted our birthright for political mirages and our dignity for attempts to please the interests of others. The outcome of this story is logical: when wealth earned by many generations has been wasted, ostensible 'friends' disappear, famine comes, and yesterday's heir finds himself at a pig's trough. Let us look around: seized churches, the persecution of the faithful, a mess in hearts. Freedom without God has turned into slavery.
By the Providence of God, today we also honour the memory of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. This feast has been established in memory of the first victim of the godless persecution of the XX century, Metropolitan Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) of Kiev, murdered at the walls of the Lavra in 1918. The New Martyrs are completely opposite to the prodigal son. In years of terrible trials, they did not journey to a 'far country', they did not exchange the Truth for convenience or safety. Laypeople, monastics, priests — they feared neither sufferings nor death and kept faithfulness to God till the end. Their feat reminds us: the true Church is always persecuted, but a triumph of evil is illusory and temporary.
Today, we vitally need to 'come to ourselves', as said in the parable. Repentance is not weakness, it is a return to common sense. It is the courage to admit one's mistake and come back Home.
We have repeatedly addressed the powers that be with the only call: come to your senses and repent. All those trials, grief, and sufferings which have befallen our people are a direct consequence of inordinate pride and a deviation from the Truth. It is a result of the actions of Ukrainian politicians — and of not only the present authorities led by Zelensky but also all those who started this ungodly coven, deceitfully disguised as a 'revolution'. The present oppression of the canonical Church, the persecution of clergy, the loss of moral compass and humanity in general — all of those are links in one chain.
But, just as before, we state: it is not too late to change everything yet. Barely had the father from the parable seen his son when he came to meet him. So does our Mother Church, washed by the blood of the New Martyrs, wait for every soul.
By the prayers of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors, may the Lord strengthen our faith and protect the Orthodox people from temptations. A time to cast away stones has passed. It is time to return from the land of illusions to our Father's home — to peace and Righteousness.
