On October 12, 2025, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), celebrated the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral Church of St. George the Great Martyr at Xenophontos Monastery on Mount Athos.
Concelebrating with the Primate were Metropolitan Apostolos of Miletus, representative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations, Bishop Damaskinos, vicar of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Archimandrite Alexios, abbot of Xenophontos Monastery, as well as members of the Ukrainian pilgrimage delegation and the monastic brotherhood in holy orders.
Among those present in prayer was Alkiviadis Stefanis, the Civil Administrator of Mount Athos.
Following the Divine Liturgy, all the faithful were invited to a festive monastic meal.
At the conclusion of the visit, the Ukrainian delegation toured an exhibition of contemporary iconography, for which the monastery’s workshop is renowned. Among the iconographers working there is Father Loukas, the artist who created the original parchment of the Tomos of Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
During a closing address, Archimandrite Alexios thanked Metropolitan Epifaniy for his visit and liturgical service, emphasizing that Ukraine and its Church — and especially its Primate — remain in the hearts and prayers of the monastery’s brotherhood. As a token of gratitude, he presented the Metropolitan with a hand-painted icon of Christ the Savior, created in the monastery.
In his thanksgiving address, delivered in Greek, Metropolitan Epifaniy reflected on the spiritual significance of the three-day pilgrimage to Mount Athos. Over the course of the journey, he visited the Holy Epistasia and Protaton, six monasteries — Esphigmenou, Pantokrator, Iviron, Stavronikita, Simonopetra, and Xenophontos. During the pilgrimage, he led two Divine Liturgies, an Evening Service, a Moleben before the miraculous Iveron icon “Portaitissa”, and several prayers of thanksgiving.
Metropolitan Apostolos, on behalf of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, congratulated Metropolitan Epifaniy on the successful completion of his pilgrimage, marked by humble prayer, veneration of the holy relics, and fraternal fellowship with the Athonite fathers.
As a gift of remembrance, the Primate of the OCU presented the monastery with a liturgical lamp, a hand-crafted priestly vestment, and Ukrainian-language liturgical books published by the Kyiv Metropolis, as well as a cross for Archimandrite Alexios.
At the monastery’s shore, Archimandrite Alexios and the brethren bid a warm farewell to the Primate and the Ukrainian pilgrims, wishing them a blessed journey home.
