On the eve of Easter, May 2, 2013, on Holy Thursday, at the Cathedral of
Transfiguration of the Lord of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Canonical, Archbishop of Zhytomyr Oleksandr, in concelebration with Bishop of Fastiv
Vasyliy and Bishop of Lviv and Uzhgorod Mykolai, celebrated the evening prayer,
reading 12 Passion Gospels, which tell about sufferings of Christ.
On Holy Friday, May 3, 2013, in Kyiv, in the Cathedral of Transfiguration of the
Lord of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical, Bishop Oleksandr of
Zhytomyr in concelebration with Bishop Vasyliy of Fastiv and Bishop Mykolai of Lviv
and Uzhgorod ministered the evening service with the rite of the Procession of the
Holy Shroud. The Holy Shroud symbolizes remembrance of the Savior's suffering and
death on the cross, His removal from the cross and burial. Christ's infinite love
for the people is testified by the fact that even when He was crucified, He prayed
for His tormentors, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".
On Great Saturday, May 4, 2013, and on Holy Sunday, May 5, 2013, in Kyiv, in the Cathedral of Transfiguration of the Lord of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical, Bishop Oleksandr of Zhytomyr in concelebration with Bishop Vasyliy of Fastiv and Bishop Mykolai of Lviv and Uzhgorod ministered a solemn Mass in honor of the greatest and the principal Christian holiday - the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
On Sunday, June 23, 2013 all the Christians of the byzantine rite celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. In the Cathedral of Transfiguration of the Lord of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical Bishop Vasyliy of Fastiv ministered a solemn Mass.
On August 19, 2013, in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical, Nicholas, Bishop of Lviv and Uzhgorod, Prykarpattia and Transcarpathian region ministered the Divine Liturgy in honour of one of 12 main Feasts of Christians of the Eastern rite - the Transfiguration of the Lord. All the present felt the specificity of the prayer in the temple, which was built in honour of the majestic event, in the temple that was built by the faithful with the sincere love and deep faith in the salvation of people, in the awakening of their Divine nature.
Aerial toll houses refers to a teaching held by many Eastern Orthodox Saints and Eastern Orthodox Christians, about the immediate state of the soul after death. The most detailed account of the aerial toll-houses is found in the hagiography of Saint Basil the New, found in the Lives of Saints for 26 March (according to the Orthodox calendar). In this rendering, Saint Theodora, spiritual student of Saint Basil, appeared to another student, the pious and holy layman Gregory. According to the story, Gregory had prayed to God and asked him to inform them of what happened to Theodora after her death. God answered his prayers (according to this account) by sending Theodora herself to Gregory; and told him, in great detail, about her journey through the toll-houses.
