In a statement issued on March 19, 2020, we stated that, due to the problem of the COVID-19, the Churches of the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea will remain closed to the public until Saturday of Lazarus, April 11.

Unfortunately, however, we are very saddened to announce that the restrictive measures will be extended even further until we receive new instructions from the authorities of our country.

Therefore, all morning and evening Services of Holy Week and Easter, will be held at our Churches with the participation only of our Priests and their assistants. We ask you to please, for the sake of protecting your health and that of others, stay at home in prayer, and we urge you to follow the Holy Services, which will be broadcast live from St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul, in order for you to participate in the Holy Passion and the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord. We also encourage you to study the daily Bible readings of each day, as they appear on the Calendar of our Metropolis.

God willing, we hope that we will all be able to celebrate Easter together at our Churches on the night of May 26th. On this day, forty days after Easter, during the Restitution of the Resurrection, we hold  exactly the same Service, according to the Typicon of our Church, as the one at the night of the Resurrection and we chant the paschal hymn “Christ is Risen” for the last time.

The mass baptisms, which were scheduled for Lazarus’ Saturday, will take place on Pentecost.

We reiterate the plea that anyone who is in difficulty because of health problems and does not have someone close to him to help him, please reach out to the Metropolis or your Parish.

Let us not lose hope in these difficult times, but let us listen to the Psalmist’s exhortation that we should have hope in the Lord all day long “from the watch of dawn until the night.” (Ps. 129: 6)

We hope and pray that the terrible ordeal that we are all facing will soon be gone, and through the furnace and fire of sorrows, the Lord may bring us “to a place of recreation and comfort.” (Ps. 65:12)

Happy Easter!

From the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea

April 3, 2020