The relics of Ilya Muromets and other saints were hidden from the parishioners of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

This is “an unprecedented manifestation of the infringement of the rights of Ukrainian believers”

Since March 21, monks and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been banned from entering the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, explaining this by the fact that the commission of the Ministry of Culture assesses the safety of cultural values. Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities notified the UOC of the need to leave the Lavra until March 29, when the agreement with the church on the lease of state property on the territory of the monastery would be terminated.

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is one of the first monasteries of Kievan Rus. It belongs to the state, but religious organizations use its territory on a leasehold basis. For a long time, the only tenant was the UOC-MP. The last agreement on gratuitous use was signed on July 19, 2013 for 10 years. The contract expires on March 29, and the authorities refuse to renew it. And now they have also closed the access of monks and parishioners to shrines.

“On March 20, 2023, the monastery received a letter from the leadership of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve stating that from now on, access to the Near and Far Caves by the museum will be terminated due to the work of the commission, which will determine the level of preservation of “cultural values ”(this is how representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the reserve call the relics of the saints and other shrines,” the head of the information and educational department of the UOC-MP Clement says in a statement. The dates for the commission are not specified.

It will also be impossible to pray in the Exaltation of the Cross Church, the Annozachatievsky Church and the Church in honor of the Cathedral of All Saints of the Caves (Warm Church). The UOC stated that “the closing of the caves by the reserve without warning is an unprecedented manifestation of the infringement of the rights of Ukrainian believers, who these days are traveling en masse from different regions in the hope of bowing to the Kiev-Pechersk shrines.” Recall that now is just the time of Great Lent and prayer, preceding Easter.

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is a whole complex of various structures. Conventionally, it is divided into two parts – “Upper” and “Lower”. The greatest shrines of the Lower Lavra: Near and Far Caves, where the relics of at least a hundred saints are buried. And there are no such relics, perhaps, in any monastery in the world. For example, in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Anthony Caves, the imperishable relics of the epic hero Ilya Muromets are supposedly buried. There is also the grave of the ancient Russian writer Nestor the Chronicler, who is considered the author of The Tale of Bygone Years. As well as the relics of the icon painters Ilipiy Pechersky and Gregory. In honor of the buried, a celebration was established – the Cathedral of the Reverend Fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk Near Caves.

The Far Caves in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra keep the relics of 49 saints. Here you can find the grave of the founder of the Lavra, Theodosius of the Caves, an old cell of the saint and two underground churches. Also there are myrrh-streaming heads – the relics of nameless Orthodox saints. They rest in glass or silver vessels in one of the underground churches. During the existence of the Lavra, they are credited with many miraculous healings.

In Soviet times, when only part of the Lavra premises acted as a monastery, the domes ceased to stream myrrh. But already in the 90s, when the monastery was completely revived, parishioners could once again become witnesses of a divine miracle. .It is not known how long the “commission” of the Ukrainian authorities will last and whether representatives of the UOC will be able to defend the shrine, but even in Soviet times, the Near and Far Caves were open to the public.