On the feast of Mid-Pentecost on Wednesday, His Eminence Archbishop Roman of Konotop and Glukhov celebrated the consecration of a chapel and a well in the Sumy Region in northeastern Ukraine, on the site of the execution of several monks in 1922, reports the Konotop-Glukhov Diocese.

The site is popularly known as “Popovsky,” from a word meaning “priest,” in honor of the monks of the St. Nicholas Hermitage in the village of Rikhli who were shot on the site on December 18,1922 for intending to celebrate their patronal feast of St. Nicholas. Local tradition says the monks were buried right where they fell from the deadly bullets.

Two years later, the healing “Popovsky” spring appeared in the Popov Valley. A prayer for peace in Ukraine was read during the day’s Divine Liturgy, as well as a prayer for the reposed monks and priests. A memorial service for the slaughtered monks was also celebrated following the Divine Liturgy.

May 7, 2018