Can you leave food on the graves of relatives? Explanation by the priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Priest Oleksiy Fil'yuk, who serves in the Ternopil Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, has urged believers not to leave food on the graves of the deceased. He explained that the deceased cannot make use of this food and appealed to people not to do this. The priest also noted that leftover food can attract birds and dogs, which scatter everything around. He called for food to be given to those who really need it, for example, to a nursing home.

Oleksiy Fil'yuk is a well-known priest who began leading his social media with sermons back in 2016. In his interview with the publication 'Hlavkom', he mentioned that he is able to communicate with his parishioners through the internet, and this does not undermine his authority. Moreover, he shared some examples of superstitions he heard from his parishioners and emphasized that many of them arose under the influence of the Russian Orthodox tradition.