IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
22 March, 2020
TO: ALL CLERGY AND FAITHFUL OF THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE USA AND DIASPORA
RE: FULL CLOSING OF ALL PARISH CHURCHES DURING THE COVID19/CORONAVIRUS THREAT
Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in our Lord,
CHRIST IS AMONGST US! IS AND ALWAYS SHALL BE!
The continued and worsening threat of the COVID-19/CORONAVIRUS continues to affect the lives of each and every one of us. We have asked our clergy since the beginning of this threat to serve Divine Liturgy in their churches with the assistance of a cantor or reader. We have directed that ALL of our faithful 65 years of age and older MUST NOT participate in these Divine Liturgies and we have strongly urged that ALL OUR FAITHFUL REMAIN TO PRAY AT HOME. We have suggested to all our faithful that many parishes are live streaming the Liturgy on Facebook and they should contact their priest or parish board about whether or not their parish is one of these.
Today’s statistics – Sunday 22 March – about the people hospitalized with the virus are astonishing. They clearly exhibit that the virus is a threat NOT just to the elderly. 40% of those hospitalized are under the age of 55. 20% of those hospitalized are under age 20! Having spoken with many of our clergy today, we have learned that just too many of the faithful have not taken our directives and urgings to heart and decided to attend Divine Liturgy on this third Sunday of Great Lent. We realize that they – you – did so out of a sincere desire and need to participate in the Divine Liturgy, glorifying God in the Holy Trinity, offering gratitude for the blessings in their lives and beseeching protection from this virus threat for themselves, their families and all mankind. However, because there were simply too many of you present in some of our churches – words we could not have imagined coming forth from our mouths, let alone our hearts prior to these days – we are obliged to direct that all our churches are now closed for public worship for the duration of this threat to all of us. We make this decision also in consideration of the ever-increasing restrictions being announced daily by federal, state and local government bodies. We are headed into the most dangerous part of the coronavirus threat and we all must be extremely careful.
We do permit our clergy to celebrate Divine Liturgy in their churches – behind closed doors – with at least a cantor or reader to assist them. We ask these clergy to use their own good sense, in particular about their own health and the health of the cantor or reader when making a decision about whether to serve or not. Please Fathers, follow your own conscience in making your decision. Be certain about one thing, however – NONE OF THE FAITHFUL FROM YOUR PARISH OR FROM ANYWHERE ELSE MAY BE PRESENT IN CHURCH FOR THE LITURGY. This permission is granted so that the Eucharist and our special prayers may be offered in “behalf of all and for all” our faithful and all mankind.
We understand that the desire to be at Divine Liturgy is to receive the Holy Eucharist – the Blood and Body of our Lord – in Communion from the Holy Chalice as the source of all healing. We learned something else today, however, that has not been expanded upon in the media and it heavily influenced our decision announced here. The fact is that those who have this day been diagnosed with the virus were actually infected last week or the week before. This means that they probably spread the virus to others for a week or two without experiencing any symptoms of the disease. It is what we might be carrying upon ourselves or within ourselves – without our knowledge – that may hurt others by simple proximity. Hence, this letter.
All our faithful can be assured that they will be prayed for during the live streamed Liturgy from St. Andrew Memorial Church each Sunday. The stream on this third Sunday of Great Lent had almost 400 people present for the entire Liturgy and as these words are written, over 13,500 others have viewed or watched the video of the Liturgy in just the four hours after the Liturgy completed and Facebook data tells us that in total 26,000 people were reached by the video. We invite you to join us on the Sundays ahead. As we explained in an earlier letter, dearly beloved, you certainly will not suffer any spiritual penalty during this crisis. Our Lord’s compassion goes far beyond our comprehension and He will certainly embrace us at all times as we pray in our individual homes or as we watch the live streaming of Divine Liturgy on Facebook and YouTube.
Morning Prayers at 7:30 a.m., Evening Prayers at 9:00 a.m. with special prayers for those afflicted with the virus and for our medical professionals are already live streaming from Three Hierarchs Chapel on St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary’s Facebook page. Sunday Divine Liturgy will continue to be live streamed from the Memorial Church at 10:00 a.m. on both the Seminary Facebook page and the Facebook page of our Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. It also appears that a live stream will also be possible on YouTube. Please go to our Church website – www.uocofusa.org – to learn how to connect to both streams and to read any further updates from us throughout this difficult time for all.
We love you all, our dear spiritual children. God has entrusted you all to our spiritual care and we have agonized over all the continually increasing restrictions we have had to issue in that care. We assure you of our endless prayers for each and every one of you – not only during crisis times. We are people of faith and that faith will continue to bring upon us the embrace of our Loving Lord. Pray each day the powerful words: “The Father is my Hope, the Son is my Refuge and the Holy Spirit is my Protection.” The Grace inspired into our lives through each of the Mysteries/Sacraments will enable us to remain faithful. Allow that Grace to work within you each moment of your life so that it will flow forth from you into the lives of all around you. Christ IS amongst us – eternally!
In the All-Encompassing Love of our Lord,
+ ANTONY
Metropolitan
+ DANIEL
Archbishop
+ JEREMIAH
Archbishop
