Joining the voice of our Patriarch, we exhort all clergy, religious, and faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolia in the US to participate devoutly in this day of fasting and prayer, and to intensify personal and communal intercession. We urge all to offer private prayer on August 14 and to participate in the Divine Liturgies for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos celebrated in their parishes. We hereby direct all priests of the Metropolia to include a special petition for a just peace in Ukraine in the festal Liturgy of the Dormition.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has urged all the faithful to join wholeheartedly the worldwide Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace on August 14, noting that it coincides with important negotiations about Ukraine scheduled to take place in Alaska on August 15th, the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. “We believe that those who fast, pray, and work will be heard by the Lord,” said His Beatitude.
Our Ukrainian people, of every confession, have been praying for years for an end to the unjust brutal war and the establishment of a just peace. In the tradition of our Eastern Catholic Church, at every Divine Liturgy we lift our prayers to the Lord for the healing of the wounded, the repose of the departed, the liberation of captives and abducted children, the conversion of the aggressor, and the bestowal of wisdom and courage upon leaders to do God’s will.
Joining the voice of our Patriarch, we exhort all clergy, religious, and faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolia in the US to participate devoutly in this day of fasting and prayer, and to intensify personal and communal intercession. We urge all to offer private prayer on August 14 and to participate in the Divine Liturgies for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos celebrated in their parishes. We hereby direct all priests of the Metropolia to include a special petition for a just peace in Ukraine in the festal Liturgy of the Dormition.
The International Union of Superiors General (UISG) has proclaimed Thursday, August 14, 2025, the eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a worldwide Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace. The faithful throughout the world are invited to unite in fervent supplication, to call for justice, and to engage in concrete works of charity and solidarity aimed at ending the many armed conflicts afflicting our world—from Gaza to Sudan, from Ukraine to Myanmar, from Haiti to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria.
+Borys Gudziak, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the US
+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, Eparch of Stamford
+Вenedict Aleksiychuk, Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago
+Bohdan J. Danylo, Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma
Prayer for peace in Ukraine
To be prayed at the end of all Liturgies on August 14-15, 2025
(on the dayи of the fasting for peace and the meeting of the Presidents of the USA and Russia)
Deacon: Let us pray to the Lord
Choir: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: Heavenly Father, Your Son taught us: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” You are the source of true peace, and we become peacemakers when we listen to and abide in Your word.
Therefore, today, we ask You that those who work for the end of the war and the restoration of peace in Ukraine may be filled with Your Holy Spirit, so that they may seek to do Your will and restore justice and security. May they be guided by the sincere desire for peace, and but not by pride and greed. May they always be mindful of the lowly and suffering, and may their ears be open to the voices of the victims of this unprovoked aggression. Guide their steps that a just and lasting peace may be restored to the land of Ukraine, and prisoners and abducted children may return to their families.
We also beseech You: in this time of war, sustain the people of Ukraine by the work of Your Holy Spirit and teach them to be devoted to justice and peace. Grant them wisdom and prudence, strength and perseverance to defend their land from foreign attacks.
We implore You: comfort the afflicted, heal the wounded, free the captives, and convert those who foster aggression and war. Receive and accept the souls of those who have given their lives for their brothers and sisters, the innocent who have been killed, and all the faithful departed into Your Heavenly Kingdom.
Help us all to live according to Your Divine Will. Through the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God and Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Ukraine, grant that those who promote peace persevere in goodness, and those who hinder it find conversion from evil.
For You are the King of Peace and we give glory to You, with Your only-begotten Son, and with Your most Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and for ever and ever.
Choir: Amen.