His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr addressed the faithful on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God

22/9/2011

The message of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the Cathedral of St. Sophia the Wisdom of God

The Cathedral of St Sophia the Wisdom of God in Kyiv is the cathedral church of the Kyivan Rus, the heir and successor of which is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This cathedral was built according to a plan of the Baptizer of Rus, the Holy and Equal-to-the Apostles Prince Vladimir and by the labors of our Enlightener, the Holy and Right-Believing Prince Yaroslav the Wise.

St. Sophia Cathedral of Kyiv is one of the greatest shrines of the world’s Orthodoxy, the unique treasure of national culture, art, architecture, majestic monument of history that carved in its existence the milestones and tragedies, upheavals and victories that our Church and our people have experienced.

Indeed, this cathedral is a beautiful fruit of “salvific radiance ” of the baptism of Kyivan Rus, owing to which in our land of God appeared churches and monastries, the candles of monastic asceticism lit, centers of booklore and spirituality began to work.

“Wisdom has built her house” (Prov. 9, 1) – the Holy Rus, the earthly estate of the Blessed Virgin, under whose cover the Lord has preserved our nation and our Church from the time of baptism to the present. A grand symbol of this is the miraculous mosaic icon of the Mother of God “Orante” of St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. “Orante” have miraculously survived through millennia without losing its pristine beauty in the terrible trials: wars, robberies, fires, strikes disaster, reign of foreigners and atheists. This image is called “The unbreakable wall” and became a symbol of inviolability of the Holy Orthodox Rus.

“Good is the obedience to Your Righteousness “, writes in the “Word on Law and Grace” Kyiv Metropolitan Hilarion, raising his praise of Prince Vladimir. St. Hilarion not only witnessed the construction of the cathedral. In Sofia in 1051 he was installed as metropolitan of the whole Rus: ” Jaroslav installed Hilarion as Metropolitanof Rus at St. Sofia Cathedral, having gathered the bishops” , says the “The Tale of Bygone Years.” Thus, immediately upon the consecration the cathedral became the See of the Metropolitans of Kyiv, the center of common church life, the heart of learned knowledge and Christian wisdom.

Prince Vladimir was also concerned that the “learned knowledge” redistributed throughout the Russian lands. The Chronicle writes that Jaroslav also “loved books, and wrote a lot of stuff kept at St Sophia Church.”

Venerable Nestor the Chronicler in “The Tale of Bygone Years” connects the origin of the idea of Christianization of Rus with the stay of ambassadors of pagan Prince Vladimir at the worship in the temple of St Sophia the Divine Wisdom in Constantinople. The beauty of the church architecture of unequalled creation of Emperor Justinian the Great and the beauty of liturgical action then became an important factor in the choice of faith: “… And we came to the Greeks, and they took us to their place of worship of God, and we did not know if we were on earth or in heaven: for there is not such place on earth or such a beauty … ”

St. Hilarion in his “Word on Law and Grace” testifies of the idea of St. Volodymyr to make Kyiv a new Constantinople. The sacred city of Emperor Constantine the Great which had the Cathedral of St Sophia the Wisdom of God at its core, was the archetype for the new Christian capital of Rus. The idea of the father was embodied by St Yaroslav, who, just like Solomon the Wise, embodied David’s desire to build a grand temple of God in Jerusalem.

St Sophia Cathedral emerged not only as an imitation of the main temple of the capital of Byzantium. As its constructors hoped, it had to excel this church in glory and beauty. Metropolitan Hilarion said: “… a strange and glorious to all countries, which cannot be found all over the earth, from East to West.” Kyiv St Sophia Cathedral of Holy Wisdom was the model for Sophia’s churches, which later appeared in Novgorod, Polotsk, Vologda, Tobolsk, Arkhangelsk.

St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv was not only of all-church, but also of national importance. This is where the grand Kyiv princes received the blessing of reign. The cathedral became a grand tomb. The popular assembly (veche) gathered in the square near the Cathedral.

Unfortunately, breaking the Christian commandment of the Holy Prince Vladimir and St Yaroslav the Wise of the unity of Kyivan Rus and brotherly love for one another by their descendants led to discord and strife that shook the “golden throne” of the Princes of Kiev, and it was only St Sofia’s only Metropolitan’s See that had kept for a long time the Russian land in the jurisdiction of Kyiv as a spiritual center.

Batyy’s invasion (1240), the attacks of the Crimean Tatar Khans Edygeys (1416) and Mengli Giray (1482) caused severe destruction of Sofia. For centuries, the cathedral stood in desolation, dilapidated, open to all winds and disasters. In 1608 it passed to the Uniates, but the desolation only intensified.

Revival of the shrine began in 1633 when the Holy Hierarch PetroMohyla returned back the Orthodox Cathedral, restored the walls and domes, revived liturgical life and gave it to the monastery. The main idea of ​​Metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mohyla was the return to the heritage of the Holy Prince Vladimir. This is where the saint saw the pledge of restoring the foundations of being of the Church and the State. He arranged an aisle in St. Sophia Cathedral in honor of St. Vladimir and renewed the ancient image of Prince in the central nave of the cathedral.
The act of God’s all-merciful providence was finding by the Holy Hierarch Peter Mohyla in 1635 of the honorable relics of the Prince in the ruins of the Church of Tithes. Metropolitan placed the portion of the relics of Saint Vladimir in St. Sophia Cathedral.

St. Peter revived the tradition established by Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv and All Rus, of holding the all-church councils at St Sofia. On the day of dedication day of the Cathedral, the Nativity of the Theotokos on 8 (21) September 1640 in St. Sophia’s Cathedral started the Local Council of the Church, which considered and adopted the theological document of extraordinary importance – the Orthodox confession of faith that, as St. Peter said, ” in order to lead to the customs of our ancestors. In whose time the piety shone”. Later the catechism of the Holy Hierarch peter Mohyla was approved by four Eastern patriarchs, which testified to the unity of the Church of Kyiv with Universal Orthodoxy.

St. Peter did his best to revive the glory and all-church importance of St Sofia as the metropolitan’s cathedral church, which he called “the only decoration of our Orthodox people, head and womb of all churches.”

In the nineteenth century the study of the ancient cathedral began. The decisive contribution to the study of the unique landmark was the work of Kyivan Metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov) “Description of St Sophia Cathedral of Kyiv and the hierarchy of Kyiv”, whose great scientific value has not been lost until now. With the blessing and through the efforts of Metropolitan Filaret (Amfiteatrov) of Kyiv in the cathedral the major restoration works were performed, resulting in discovery of the frescoes of Old Russian period.

The collapse of the Russian empire, revolutionary processes have led to chaos and disorder not only in the public, but also in the church life. St Sophia Cathedral witnessed these violent events, vicissitudes which affected its life. Together with the entire Church, it experienced pains and suffering. During Stalin’s repressions and later hostilities of World War II only a miracle of God’s mercy and professional feat of scientists, archaeologists and all employees of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve “St Sophia” not only saved the church from destruction, but also revealed its origonal beauty and history.With the fall of the God-fighting regime the prayer started to return to the cathedral. In 1990 it was in St. Sophia’s Cathedral that granting of the Tomos of independence and autonomy in governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Patriarch Alexy II of Russia was held. But, unfortunately, split of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and the tragic conflict and confrontation around St Sofia in 1990, 1993 and 1995, suspended the process of returning the Cathedral to the Church.

Employees of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve have done and are doing much to preserve the ancient temple complex, and yet the shrine lives its real life only when its walls hear the prayer.

We pray that the liturgical life shine in the Metropolitan St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
Saving St Sophia, which today celebrates its 1000th anniversary is a common cause of the church and the state, a joint ministry of the reserve staff and clergymen. It is with such thoughts and prayers that we enter the second millennium of the Cathedral of Kyivan Metropolitans and a prominent landmark of architecture of world importance – the Cathedral of St Sophia the Wisdom of God.

† Volodymyr
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine,
Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Source: