November 6, 2021 marks 1000 days of round-the-clock prayer stand for the right to pray in their church of the religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos with. Mikhalcha Storozhynetsky district of Chernivtsi region, writes “Pravlife”.

Since then, believers have experienced ridicule and insults from representatives of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, pressure at work, ignoring judges and government officials, beating with sticks and tear gas attacks, bullying children, etc. The old Assumption Church also suffered abuse from the schismatics: in 2019, the raiders knocked down the doors of the church, in 2020 they cut the entrance to the vestibule.

“But these 1000 days brought useful fruits for the religious community: believers became closer to each other, more friendly, as if they had one heart, loved their temple more, began to appreciate their ancestors more, who preserved and transferred the temple to them, instilled love for the temple and to God, ”the message says.

It is noted that prayer and worship became the greatest treasure for the defenders of the temple. During the period of standing, four “twenty” were formed for the reading of the Psalter; believers were strengthened spiritually and physically, because they had to pray in the open air at any time of the year and in any weather.

Let us remind that the believers of the UOC s. Mikhalcha of the Storozhynetsky district of the Chernivtsi region have been performing a round-the-clock prayer stand and watch near the Assumption Church since February 10, 2019. The temple was under the threat of capture after a meeting of the territorial community, which voted to re-subordinate the parish of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. The re-registration was carried out by an official of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration Mykola Gergelyuk. Day and night, believers protect their church from raider attacks, pray for peace and the preservation of the Orthodox faith in Bukovina.