Metropolitan Borys Celebrates Divine Liturgy in Senlis on the Feast of Saints Borys and Hlib

July 25, 2025

On July 24, to mark the feast of the Holy Passion-Bearer Princes Borys and Hlib, Metropolitan Borys celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saints Borys and Hlib in the French town of Senlis. The church was purchased by Metropolitan Borys in 2013 while he was serving as bishop in France.

In his homily, the archbishop focused on how to live one’s faith in today’s world, which he described as once again pagan—similar to the time when the sons of Prince Volodymyr, Borys and Hlib, received baptism and met a martyr’s death. He reflected on the freshness of Gospel witness.

“Our feast is a testimony to the freshness of experiencing the Gospel in a pagan context. Imagine a pagan ruler, Volodymyr—a conqueror who had hundreds of concubines. And then he encounters the Gospel. We don’t know exactly how it happened—there is no diary of faith, since Volodymyr was probably illiterate—but we have the testimony of his sons, who were so captivated by the faith that they followed Christ radically. They are not martyrs for the faith, but martyrs for brotherly love, who bore radical witness to God’s love.”

He invited those present to reflect on the radical nature and freshness of the Gospel in a country where the Church is often seen as outdated.

“On the contrary—the life of the Church is young. In a pagan context, one must have steadfast faith and love for one’s neighbor,” the Metropolitan emphasized.

As an example, he recalled the sacrifice and service of Ukrainian soldiers who are currently giving their lives on the front lines, particularly Illia Pidhainyi, a graduate of the Ukrainian Catholic University’s Law School, who was recently killed in combat. He was just shy of his 28th birthday.

Metropolitan