Festival of Ukrainian Christmas Carols held at Cathedral ... · Festival of Ukrainian Christmas Carols held at Cathedral in Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA, PA — On Sunday, January 13,

VOL. 80 - No. 2 ENGLISH VERSIONJANUARY 27, 2019

Official Publication of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia

Archeparchy News pg. 2-29 Children’s Corner pg. 30-33

Catechism pg. 34

Holidays/Feast Day pg. 35 Advertisements pg. 36-40Church News pg. 41-51

Bishop Andriy Rabiy, center, poses for a picture with the combined choir of all participants of the Festival of Christmas Carols on January 13, 2019

Festival of Ukrainian Christmas Carols held at Cathedral in Philadelphia

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Archeparchy News


P H I L A D E L P H I A , PA — On Sunday, January 13, 2019 choirs from Ukrainian Catholic churches and organizations joined together in presenting the annual “Festival of Carols” at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Philadelphia. Very Rev. Roman Pitula, Cathedral Rector, was the Master of Ceremony at the Festival of Carols.

Groups that performed included the Cathedral Choir in Philadelphia, “Soloveyky” youth and older groups, the Children’s Choir of the Ukrainian Heritage School in Jenkintown, St. Michael’s Choir and Youth Choir in Jenkintown, Quinton Choir under the direction of John Wernega,

Andrii and Yuliana Fartachuk playing on the piano and violin, Bandura ensembles “Shabli Kobzariv” and “Berehynia”, the United Baptist Choir in Warminster, PA, male

choir “Dzvin,” and the Chamber Choir “Accolade.”

Before the conclusion of the Festival, Bishop Andriy Rabiy offered a welcome and thank you to those who attended and performed at the Festival. He said, “Singing carols is not just singing a song, it’s praising God, it’s worshiping Him. Each and every carol is not just poetry; it’s an expression of what we believe. My wish and prayer is that we will continue on in this

tradition of having such a beautiful Festival of Carols at this Cathedral to keep this tradition going and to keep on praising the Lord our God.”

The Festival concluded with a Combined Choir Finale under the direction of Bohdan Henhalo. After the Festival, a reception was held at the Cathedral Hall.

(Photos: Siwak and Bilyj Family)

Watch videos on our YouTube Channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/thewayukrainian

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Choir of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchial Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Philadelphia, PA

Director: Bohdan Henhalo

Bandura Ensemble "Shabli Kobzariv"Director: Halyna Bodnar

"Soloveyky" (2 younger groups) —

Jenkintown, PA Director: Halyna Bodnar, Piano: Lyubov Shchuyko

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Children's Choir of the Ukrainian Heritage School, Jenkintown. PADirector: Halyna Bodnar, Piano: Lyubov Shchuyko

Choir of St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic

Parish, Jenkintown, PA Director: Maria Kaminska

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"Soloveyky" (older group) — Jenkintown, PA Director: Halyna Bodnar, Piano: Lyubov Shchuyko

Quinton School Chorale — grades 4-8, Quinton, NJ Director: John Wernega

Andrii and Yuliana Fartachuk Piano and Violin

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United Baptist Choir, Warminster. PA

Director: Ivan Velenchuk

Youth Choir of St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Parish, Jenkintown, PA

Director: Maria Kaminska

Bandura Duet "Berehynia"Yulia Stupen andHalyna Bodnar

Watch videos on our YouTube Channel.

h t t p : / /www . you t u be . c om/u s e r /thewayukrainian

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Male Choir "Dzvin", Philadelphia, PADirector: Nestor Kyzymyshyn

Chamber Choir "Accolade", Philadelphia, PA Director: Bohdan Henhalo

Combined choir of all participants of the Festival of Christmas Carols Director: Bohdan Henhalo

Bishop Andriy Rabiy’s Greeting

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Parish Christmas Social Projects

*Additions and Corrections to the Parish Christmas Social Project list in the January 13, 2019 issue of “The Way”

a) Centralia, Assumption parish - donated socks, gloves, scarves to the poor and donated baby items for “Birthright”

b) Mount Carmel, Sts Peter & Paul parish - their soup and sandwich project is held twice a month instead of once a month as listed in the last issue of “The Way”

c) Philadelphia, St. Nicholas parish - in the last issue of “The Way” credit was only given to “Christ the King” parish, however it was both “St. Nicholas” and “Christ the King” parishes in Philadelphia that gave candy, cookies & toys for the children of “Svitlychka”; money collection for ZUDAK (Philadelphia)

d) Simpson, SS. Peter and Paul parish - participated with the Scranton parish in making donations to the orphanage in Ukraine. They have done this for several years. In addition they participated in the “Bottles for Babies Program” sponsored by the Pennsylvanians for Pro Life during the holiday season as well. The parishioners filled empty baby bottle with cash and change to support our local Pro Life movement.

e) Shenandoah, St. Clair, Washington, and Front Royal parishes submitted pictures and an article of their Parish Christmas Social Project. A description of their project was listed in the last issue of “The Way.”

*47 out of 65 parishes participated in the “Parish Christmas Social Project”


Archeparchy of Philadelphia helps the community and less fortunate with Parish Social Service Projects!

Parishes in the Archeparchy of Philadelphia overwhelmingly responded to Bishop Andriy Rabiy’s appeal for parishes to chose social service projects that would benefit less fortunate in their own parish and local community as we prepared to celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you to all the parishioners and volunteers throughout the Archeparchy of Philadelphia who generously responded during St. Philips Fast, a time of deeper prayer, stricter fasting and generous almsgiving. Prayer renews our faith in Lord, fasting strengthens our will and self-control, and almsgiving turns our attention to our neighbor especially those who are in need, lonely and alone.

Your efforts and generosity to spread Christmas Cheer is graciously appreciated!

May God Bless You!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

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Archeparchy News


Philadelphia, PA

Father Yaroslav Kurpel gives candy, cookies and toys for the children of “Svitlychka” (Ukrainian Co-operative Nursery) that were donated from parishioners of Christ the King parish and St. Nicholas parish in Philadelphia.

Shenandoah and St. Clair Parishes

The Bishop’s Christmas Challenge inspired the parishioners of St. Michael, Shenandoah PA & St. Nicholas St. Clair PA. to expand their community food bank for the Holiday season. Their combined efforts resulted in 25 gift bags which included a holiday meal for 4, a fleece throw, additional groceries and a gift card for perishable foods.

The parishes collected items and donations in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Volunteers sorted and bagged at St Michael’s rectory and began distribution on December 21st. Gift bags were distributed at the local senior housing apartments, Trinity Academy Elementary School and local families who sought us out for help. Any additional food collected is going to serve

the community through our yearlong food bank program. Several local businesses assisted with this community outreach project.

We also collected $1,090.00 for the children of the Ukraine.


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Archeparchy News

The Cathedral Choir and Chamber Choir “Accolade” caroled for Bishop Andriy Rabiy on

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Parish Christmas Social ProjectsHoly Family and Saints Joachim and Anna Support New Life

Front Royal, VA – The Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, Washington, DC, and SS. Joachim and Anna, Front Royal, VA, joined together during the St. Philp’s Fast Charity Project 2018 to

collect items for newborns and infants. A van full of the donated goods was delivered to the Front Royal Pregnancy Center on Saturday, January 5, 2019.

The Front Royal Pregnancy Center supports needy mothers and newborns during the 9 months of gestation and after babies are born. The center relies on community support to assist moms and babies.

Photo: Fr. Robert Hitchens and Fr. Wasyl Kharuk are shown with many of the goods that have been donated to the center.

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Archeparchy News


New improvements around the Cathedral

Many new improvements happened around the Cathedral towards the end of 2018. The fence of the Cathedral was re-painted, new LED lights were installed in the Cathedral, new signs were installed with addresses for the Cathedral, Rectory, Chancery, Museum, and the Missionary Sisters and large flag poles were installed in the parking lot with the flags of the United States of America, Ukraine, and the Vatican. Now you cannot miss us!

Newly painted brown fence

Old rusty green fence that needed repainting

New light bulbs on dome

Brighter Lights

Old Bulb

New Bulbs

New Street Sign for Cathedral

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New improvements around the Cathedral(continued from previous page)

New Flag Poles and Flags

Installing New Sign for Chancery and Store

New Street Sign for Chancery The Chancery Sign lights up at night

New Sign for Missionary Sisters Convent New Sign for Cathedral Rectory

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Visiting the Treasury of Faith

Museum

The United Baptist Choir from Warminster, PA visited the “Treasury of Faith Museum” located at the lower level of the Cathedral on Sunday, January 13, 2019 before the Festival

of Carols.

They saw the ”Traditional Ukrainian Christmas Display” courtesy of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Inc, Branch 88,

Philadelphia Regional Council.

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Archeparchy News

The Bethlehem Peace Light 2018 Arrives in Washington for Christmas

Washington, DC – The Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family officially received the Peace Light on Sunday December 16, 2018 to begin the anticipation of the Birth of Christ.

At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, burns a flame at the site of Christ’s birth. This flame, kept lit for centuries, is the Bethlehem Peace Light, symbolizing peace, love, and goodness. Christian nations from around the world take turns donating the oil to ensure that this Peace Light is never extinguished. It is said that in the 12th century a crusader brought home a gift of the Peace Light for his family to share this great goodness.

The Peace Light from Bethlehem campaign was originally organized in 1986 by the Austrian Broadcasting Company - ORF (Linz) - and was part of a large charitable relief mission -Light into Darkness, for children in need in Austria and abroad. Since 1989, there has been a great deal of co-operation between Scouts and Guides in many countries,

which has allowed the light to travel throughout Europe.

Each year, a child from Upper Austria fetches the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace,

to their own countries for use at ecumenical services throughout the Continent. Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, old people homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance - to anybody who appreciates the significance of the “gift”.

Plast, the Ukrainian scouts, have been involved in distributing the Bethlehem Peace Light in Ukraine and the he United States for many years. The Bethlehem Peace Light has now become a part of the Ukrainian Christmas tradition.

The Bethlehem Peace Light 2018 was presented to Holy Family by our local Plast Scouts. Pictured left to right are: Adrian Oryshkevych, Andrew Oryshkevych, Rev. Mark Morozowich, Bishop John Bura, Rev. Wasyl Kharuk, Rev. Robert Hitchens, Yaromyr Oryshkevych,

and Marta Shmorhun.

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Archeparchy News

Christmas Eve (Julian Calendar) Holy Supper

Perth Amboy, NJ - On Christmas Eve, January 6th, 2019 the Assumption parish in Perth Amboy, NJ sponsored a traditional Holy Supper (Sviaty Vechir ) for all parishioners and guests. Many tasty meatless dishes were prepared and shared. Filled with the spirit of the carols and poetry, more than 220 people truly enjoyed traditional Christmas foods in anticipation of Christ’s birth. The parishioners shared a meal with one another while the parish choir “Boyan” and children sang beautiful carols, along with other songs of the season.

The pastor Fr. Ivan Turyk and parishioners immensely enjoyed the visit of our bishop, Most Rev. Andriy Rabiy, Apostolic Administrator for Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who joined parishioners for the Holy Supper.

After sharing a meal, His Excellency spoke thanking the choir and children for the songs and a Christmas play, commending Assumption parish for our faith and hard work, and encouraging us to spread the Christmas spirit and joy with other people.

Thank you to the Holy Name members for sponsoring this event and for cooking lenten foods for us to share during the Christmas Eve supper. Thank you to St. Ann’s Society for sponsoring baked goods for Prosfora.

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Archeparchy News

Bishop Andriy Rabiy celebrates the Divine Liturgy of the Nativity of the Lord (Julian Calendar) at Assumption Parish

Perth Amboy, NJ - On Sunday, January 7, 2019 His Grace, Most. Rev. Andriy Rabiy served the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with the Assumption Catholic Church community of Perth Amboy, NJ along with host parish priest Rev. Ivan Turyk.

As His Grace arrived to celebrate the Liturgy, he was greeted with the traditional bread by the parish, financial officer Michael Raab, Jr and Anastasia Lytvyn presented His Grace with a bouquet of flowers.

During the Christmas Divine Liturgy, His Grace spoke movingly about the meaning of Christmas and reassured all the faithful that no matter how long since their last visit, they will always find their spiritual home ready and waiting to welcome them at Assumption parish. It was really an inspiring and a beautiful Christmas Liturgy, with melodious responses sang by our Church Choir "Boyan".

Theophany Services Held in St. John’s Church, Maizeville, Pa.Archeparchy News

John E. Usalis Pottsville, Pa. Republican-Herald

Monday, January 7, 2019

MAIZEVILLE , SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA—

St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Maizeville, Gilberton borough, celebrated (Theophany) feast day with the Divine Liturgy celebrated at 8:30 a.m. by its pastor, the Rev. Petro Zvarych, with Jason Yulich as cantor.

The processional antiphon, which was chanted with other prayers during the Divine Liturgy, was repeated four times: “When you, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, worship of the Trinity was revealed; the voice of the Father bore witness to you, naming you the beloved son, and the spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the word’s certainty. Glory to you, O Christ-God, who appeared and enlightened the world,” followed by the response, “Therefore, let the house of Israel say that he is good; for his mercy endures forever.”

After the reading of the Gospel of Matthew about

Jesus’ baptism, Zvarych gave his homily on the importance of the feast.

“On the feast of Theophany, it is a Ukrainian custom to be greeted with ‘Christ is baptized.’ And the response is ‘In the River Jordan,’ ” Zvarych said. He then said the greeting and response in Ukrainian.

“In the Gospel, St. Matthew informs us that when our Lord was baptized, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit was seen descending upon him in the form of a dove, and a voice from above was heard saying, “‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,’ ”

Zvarych said. “It was God the Holy Spirit who descended upon our Lord, and it was God the Father who said from above, ‘This is my beloved son.’ When the Lord was baptized, God appeared in the Holy Trinity. Theophany is a Greek word that means the appearance of God.’ And that’s what took place at the Lord’s baptism.”

At the conclusion of the liturgy, “The Great Blessing of Jordan Water” prayer rite was held. Zvarych was assisted

by parishioners Thomas Yatcilla, Frackville; Jack Merchlinsky, Maizeville; and Michael Sweador, Frackville, who each held a trikiri, which is a liturgical candlestick with three lighted candles joined at the base. The three men held the trikiri during the service.

Zvarych read the detailed prayers as he faced a holy water dispenser holding the water that would be the blessed Jordan Water. He took the trikiri held by Sweador, made the sign of the cross with it over the water, then turned it over and put it in the font, extinguishing the candles. He repeated the action with the other trikiri. After additional prayers, Zvarych leaned forward and blew on the water three times in the sign of the cross, then dipped his right hand into the water and made the sign of the cross three

times. He also took the handcross he held during the prayers and dipped it three times into the water.

After the blessing, Zvarych walked through the church and used the Jordan Water to bless the church and everyone in it.

When the ceremony was concluded, people lined up to be anointed with holy oil by Zvarych. People brought bottles and other containers to take the Jordan Water home with them. Many followed a tradition of drinking a small glass of the blessed water in the church.

Read entire article on: https://www.s t a n d a r d s p e a k e r .c o m / n e w s /theophany-epiphany-f e a s t s - c e l e b r a t e d -i n - l o c a l - c h u r c h e s -sunday-1.2430494

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Archeparchy News

Classroom Blessing at Assumption Catholic School, Perth Amboy, NJ 2019

Perth Amboy, NJ -The Feast of the Holy Theophany is celebrated each year on January 6 and commemorates the Baptism of Christ and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity at the river Jordan. On this very special feast, people traditionally attend a prayer service where the priest blesses regular water into holy water at the blessing of the water ceremony.

After morning Liturgy ,Fr. Ivan Turyk walked around the school and blessed each room at Assumption Catholic School in Perth Amboy, NJ with a sprinkle of the newly blessed holy water. He was accompanied by a small choral group

lead by 8 grade students who beautifully sang a Theophany hymn.

In each class, Father asked students various questions about the feast

and was very pleased by their answers. The pre-k students papered a special art work depicting the scene of Christ’s Baptism. Some of the kindergarteners

had a chance to use Fr. Ivan’ sprinkler and bless their classmates with holy water.

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Archeparchy News

Saint Basil Academy Shares News of the First Semester

Saint Basil Academy, an all-girls private Catholic Academy directed by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great in Jenkintown, PA, has just crossed the mid-point of the school year, having completed midterm examinations last week. This first half of the school year has been full of exciting experiences, with Bishop Andriy Rabiy’s visitation, the establishment of new classes, welcoming of interesting speakers, excursions that foster growth, programs in school, and electrifying athletic games and tournaments.

As a previous press release described, Bishop Rabiy officially visited Saint Basil Academy on Monday, October 29, 2018, and took time to visit many classes that morning, talked with the students and faculty, and familiarized himself with the special qualities of the Academy.

A number of new courses were established this year, courses that touch on the educational needs of the twenty-first century student, that carry the curriculum forward to meet the needs of women developing into leaders,

and that look for new ways of being true to the mission and tradition of the school. The first such course is the Applied Math in Physics course, for a select group of freshmen. The course covers the Algebra I requirements by making Algebra “real,” i.e., simultaneously helping students absorb how algebraic concepts are used to solve questions of motion through the study of physics. Lots of hands-on activities, measurements, charts, and collaborative projects help prove to the students the reality of algebra and physics in our everyday lives.

The Women’s Leadership Seminar, taught by principal Connie D’Angelo and alumnae relations director Emily Domineske, gives the students an organized method of exploring the characteristics of strong leadership, the methodology of developing those traits within themselves, and opportunities for networking with successful women in leadership positions. Numerous speakers this past semester included Tamara Lashchyk, daughter of an alumna, who has been a Wall Street executive, career coach, and business

consultant. She wrote the book “Lose the Gum: A Survival Guide for Women on Wall Street, Main Street and Every Street in Between.” SBA will welcome Tamara again in the spring for a book signing and discussion. In addition, the Women’s Leadership class attended the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, held at the PA Convention Center in October. Through various workshops, networking opportunities and inspiring speeches, the students became acquainted with the


The Seniors enjoy the traditional Victorian Tea, prepared by Saint Basil Academy parents.

myriad of opportunities for women with strong leadership skills, as well as the multitude of ways that exemplify various facets of leadership.

Many Saint Basil Academy students are strongly interested in leadership and service opportunities, and are often recognized for their work through special awards. Senior Mikhala Frankunas was the SBA representative awarded the Widener University High School Leadership Award. Mikhala will join other high school students at an awards breakfast at the National Constitution Center later this year, and, in addition to a scholarship to Widener University, will also have the


experience of attending a leadership conference on the campus of Widener University in the fall. Another leadership award, the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) award will give two sophomores, Ashley Kodsi and Jennifer Mayro, an opportunity to meet students from across the state of Pennsylvania at the state HOBY Leadership Conference at Albright College this coming summer.

The Freshman Seminar, rotating weekly through various workshops to initiate Freshmen into their world as SBA students, featured three lessons specifically oriented on the history, tradition, and culture of

the school’s founders. The lessons, organized by Sister Susanne Matwiyiw, covered the arrival of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great from Ukraine to the United States and their establishment of schools, including Saint Basil Academy; the unique cultural aspects of Ukraine; and key periods in Ukrainian history. Attached to the lessons were hands-on opportunities to experience two of the Ukrainian arts: designing a pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg) and fashioning a bracelet using gerdan (beadwork) skills.

The year 2018 marked the remembrance as the 85th year after the

Great Famine in Ukraine, instigated by the Russian Stalinist regime. The Saint Basil Academy students in the Ukrainian Society and Ukrainian language class attended the Candle-lighting Ceremony and prayer at Manor College to pray for those who lost their lives during this tragic time of Ukrainian history, and to pray for the future of Ukraine as she currently continues fighting for her freedom in Eastern Ukraine.

Seniors always have a busy beginning of the school year, as it is the culmination of their college search, application process, composing of essays, and seeking financial assistance for the following year. This year’s new weekly non-credit course, “Senior Application Process,” gave the students more time with the college guidance counselors to complete the process, collaborate with their peers in meeting the challenges of the application protocols, and share emotional support in their preparation for the next phase of their lives.

(continued from previous page)

(continued on next page)On Monday, October 29, 2018, Bishop Andriy Rabiy made

an official visit to Saint Basil Academy.

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In the Music Seminar, students explore various musical topics, including music in Broadway, ballet, film and television, the history of music recording, the business of music, and “the inner game of music.” The course Portraits: Study and Practice, allows the beginning student to find her inner artistic potential by gathering skills, developing an artistic eye, and practicing with different materials, eventually leading to drawing portraits. The Introduction to Drama weekly course, an addition to the strong SBA Drama program, helps the student hone skills specific to the stage, through activities such as improvisation, monologues, and lip-syncing. The SBA community is eagerly preparing for the next dramatic presentation, the musical “Mamma Mia,” coming at the end of March.

While many Saint Basil Academy students traditionally enter medical fields, a growing number of students are developing a strong interest in engineering fields. A group of students had the opportunity to attend GEARS (Girls

in Engineering and Related Sciences) Day at the University of Pennsylvania. Through a series of hands-on activities, students learned about various forms of engineering and other sciences, and discovered types of engineering previously unfamiliar to them.

This year’s traditional Christmas Concert was followed the next week by a Festival of Bands Christmas Concert organized by Alex Schmauk. Mr. Schmauk, SBA Band Director, is also the new band director for St. Albert the Great grade school, and the founder and director of the Jenkintown Community Band.

The concert was proof of the excitement that can be generated in the musicality of even the youngest player, gave a second opportunity for the SBA Band to perform their masterful Christmas program, and for the seasoned player of the JCB to share some unique Christmas pieces. Congratulations to SBA band members and music scholarship recipients Jennifer Mayro, who was selected for the All Catholic Band


as clarinetist, and Julia Mayro, who was chosen to the All Catholic Band as first chair flutist.

Saint Basil’s is into a second exciting athletic season this school year. The soccer team led SBA into a District 1 Championship, and the winning basketball team currently stands at 17-0. Senior team member Casey Remolde just scored her 1000th point, becoming the 6th player in SBA history to do so. Casey signed with Kutztown University for next year, having been awarded a full athletic scholarship.

SBA Cheerleaders competed in the UCA Pocono Regional at Kutztown, where they took third place. This gives them the opportunity to travel to Walt Disney World for the national championships. The Saint Basil Academy track team is certainly not left behind – our runners and jumpers have been collecting numerous bronze, silver and gold medals in a variety of meets and marathons.

We at the Academy are very proud of our graduates and the mark that they make on the

world. Our doors are always open to our alumnae, and current students are excited to hear from their predecessors about their successes, challenges, and their days at Saint Basil Academy. The Broadcast Journalism class recently welcomed two alumnae guest speakers: Kimberly Donahue (’15), and Helen Starrs (’15).

Kim is a senior at Hofstra University, and has interned with NSNBC’s Morning Joe, Anton Media Group, New York 1, and ABC 7 NY. She as been News Director for WHRU Radio as well. Helen, a senior at LaSalle University, is currently interning with WMMR. Their shared thoughts, experiences and suggestions were motivating and inspiring to the current team of SBA broadcast journalists. Very soon we will be welcoming a wonderful group of Saint Basil Academy alumnae to the Annual Career Day, organized by the Guidance Department.

Submitted by: Lesia Penkalskyj


Archeparchy News

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Archeparchy News

Sister Maria Lubov Petroka, OSBM falls asleep in the LordSeptember 27, 1924 – December 26, 2018

During the night of December 26, 2018, Sister Maria Lubov Petroka, OSBM, passed from this world to eternal life. Her contemplative Sisters surrounded her with prayer during her final four days and nights in the hospital in Middletown, NY.

Sister Lubov was born on September 27, 1924 in Palmerton, PA. On September 21, 1943, she entered the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great in Uniontown, PA, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Province, where she was professed in 1951. She served for many years in various teaching assignments in parish schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On September 8, 1967, she entered Sacred Heart Monastery in Astoria, NY, the contemplative branch of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great. Between 1972 and 1975, at the request of General Superior Mother Emelia Prokopik, OSBM, Sister Lubov spent time helping the contemplative nuns in Albano, Italy, and then writing the Monastery Directory for the Astoria contemplative nuns while at the Generalate in Rome. The majority of her contemplative life was spent in Middletown, NY, where the contemplative

community relocated in 1992.

Sister Lubov loved music and would sing at any opportunity. She loved the Divine Office, and even when ill, wanted to be present to pray it. She had a deep reverence for the Holy Eucharist, as well as a great devotion to her guardian angel, the Mother of God, and all the saints, especially St. Michael the Archangel. She had a love and reverence for priests, and faithfully prayed for them. At communal prayer in the evening, she always prayed by name for the deceased Sisters from Uniontown. She had a special love for the holy souls in purgatory, and in the “Heroic Act of Charity,” offered the merits of all her prayers, works and suffering for them.

Sister Lubov struggled with many health issues in the past few years, including a number of hospitalizations and then months at a time in rehab. Yet she never complained, but always accepted the suffering as God’s will and offered it for souls. On December 26, Sister Lubov’s fervent and frequent prayer was answered as she went “home” to the God she so loved and had faithfully served during her 75 years of monastic life. She died as she had lived, seeking to pray always. Even as she struggled to breathe on Christmas Day, her whispered prayer was, “My God, my God! I love You.”

Funeral Services were held at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Campbell Hall, NY. Very Rev. Yaroslav Kostyk celebrated Parastas

on Sunday, December 30th at 4:00 p. m. On Monday, December 31st, a 10:00 Requiem Divine Liturgy and Burial was offered and officiated by Bishop Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, and Very Rev. Yaroslav Kostyk.

Eternal Memory!

Photo from November 21, 2012 when Sister Teresa Anne MarieLoscocco professed her solemn perpetual vows.

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Archeparchy News

Seminarians attend Annual Candlelight Vigil for Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

Posing for a picture in the Pryz after the candlelight vigil with the faculty adviser of the Byzantine Student Union, Fr. Stefanos Alexopoulos, and its president, Reader Ian Flanders

(Pictured left to right: Fr. Raphael Strontsitskyy, Seminarian Bohdan Vasyliv, Fr. Wasyl Kharuk, Seminarian Andrew Perrong, Fr. Robert Hitchens, Subdeacon Alex Bricki, Fr. Stefanos Alexopoulos, Reader Ian Flanders)

Article submitted by Subdeacon Alex Bricki.

Washington, DC – As we wrapped up our last week of classes this semester, we found ourselves busy preparing for final exams and finishing up research papers. We also found ourselves busy with the usual tasks this Advent season provides: writing Christmas cards, buying gifts for our loved ones, and spiritually preparing ourselves through prayer and fasting for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

In spite of the busyness of a cold and windy evening of December 6, we participated, as a seminary community, to pray for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

There is a club on campus

at The Catholic University of America called the Byzantine Student Union that has held a prayerful

candlelight vigil for this cause every year for the past five years. It is always a solemn, tranquil gathering.

After the vigil, we went inside the Pryzbyla Center on campus to warm up. Students came forward to sing hymns from their various liturgical traditions on the Feast of St. Nicholas.

We seminarians along with other Ukrainian

Catholics in the crowd sang “Tranquil Light” from our Vespers service.

To everyone reading this, we wish you a joyful Christmas and a Happy 2019! Please remember us in your prayers as we prepare for a new spring semester, and don’t forget to pray for the Christians around the world who are experiencing all kinds of hardships, especially at this time of the year.

Some of the crowd assembled for prayer outside the Pryz

Archeparchy News

Sunday After the Theophany -a Sunday of Baptismal Renewal

January 13, 2019 - The Sunday after Theophany was designated as a Sunday of Baptismal Renewal. Rev. Archpriest Daniel Troyan, Director of Stewardship of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, sent a letter to priests asking them to offer a renewal ceremony of our Baptismal vows with their parish community after the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday after Theophany. It was designed to give parishioners the chance to state their choice, to realize they are stewards of the gospel message by their baptism, and it is a life vocation we live within our Church and community.

Photo: Very Rev. Roman Pitula blesses the faithful with Holy Water during the Baptismal Vows Renewal Ceremony on January 13, 2019

A SERVICE OF BAPTISMAL RENEWAL Priest: Blessed is our God now and forever and ever People : Amen Priest: We give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity : Father , Son and Holy Spirit, for the grace we affirm this day with water and the Holy Spirit. Enable us as good stewards of the Gospel, to continue to grow in love, and faith as we look forward to the new life in the Holy Spirit which we have through Jesus who has re-newed us in his Resurrection. People: We are one Body in Jesus Christ . We stand in need of the grace which God alone can give. God has chosen us as the stewards of his Gospel and love, to provide the means of grace to everyone through our times of worship, our missions of mer-cy, and the love and compassion God offers us. In renewing our Baptismal vows today, we recommit ourselves to entering into union with Christ. Lord make us ready to renew this gift of new life in you. Lord make us ready to listen to your Word and calling. Lord help us to know and do your Holy Will. Unite us in Your love and Spirit that the world make come to know You through us.

READING : COLOSSIANS 3:1-17

Priest: My brothers and sisters do you believe you are truly called by God to be His Disciples? People: We do! Priest : We sing as believers “ All of you who have been bap-tized into Christ, have put on Christ “ . Will you endeavor to be faithful to the practice of our Catholic faith; be steadfast in prayer and willing to take up the Cross? People: We will, with the grace and mercy of God. Priest: In the Gospel and through Holy Tradition, we are exhort-ed to care for our brothers and sisters. St Paul reminds us , that as good stewards, we are to do so willingly, not for selfish gain, nor by domineering over them but by our example. Will you promise to care for the people of God by encouraging them, teaching them, counseling the troubled, and declaring God ’ s love and forgiveness? People: We will , by the grace and mercy of God.

Priest takes holy water and blesses every one present as they sing “ All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ Alleluia “ until all have been blessed with water

Priest: By the sprinkling of this Jordan water, + may you be re-newed in Spirit: in the Name of the + Father and of the +Son and of the +Holy Spirit People : Amen.

JANUARY 27, 2019 24

JANUARY 27, 2019 25

Meeting at the Chancery

Archeparchy News

Correction: In the Dec. 16 issue of The Way, the photo of the presentation of a $300 donation to the Carteret Parish Fire Fund is stated as from the National Board of the LUC. The

donation to Carteret came from ST. NICHOLAS CHAPTER OF THE

LUC, PASSAIC, NJ.

On January 23 we had a distinct honor and pleasure to welcome His Grace Daniel Zelinsky, Archbishop of Pamphilia, of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the omophor of Patriarch of Constantinople in our chancery and Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia. This is the first visit of His Grace Daniel to our chancery since Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine received Tomos. After a walk thru our new chancery and meeting chancery staff, Bishop Andriy and Archbishop Daniel had a private business meeting.

Archeparchy News

JANUARY 27, 2019 26

METROPOLITAN ARCHEPARCHY OF PHILADELPHIA

Ukrainian Catholic 810 North Franklin Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123-2005 Phone (215) 627-0143 Fax (215) 627-0377

[email protected]

No. 35/2019 O Most Reverend Andriy Rabiy This Number Should be Prefixed to Your Reply Apostolic Administrator

National Catholic Schools Week January 27 – February 2, 2019

This year the Catholic Church in the United States celebrates National Catholic Schools Week from January 27th – February 2nd. This year’s theme, “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed” is an appropriate theme, especially for all that our schools provide. We are blessed to have three elementary schools in our Archeparchy, St. Nicholas School in Minersville, PA, St. Nicholas School in Passaic, NJ and Assumption of the BVM School in Perth Amboy, NJ and one high school, St. Basil Academy in Fox Chase, PA. Our schools offer our students the opportunity to “Learn”. Today they face a world full of challenges. Our schools are meeting these challenges in order to educate its students in every area whether it is in the sciences, the humanities, the arts, technology, our Ukrainian culture and especially our faith. Our schools offer our students the opportunity to “Serve”. They have come to know that serving others builds solidarity with those in need, whether it is to help others in the classroom, in the parish, their families at home or in the community. The rewards are truly a blessing and are immeasurable. Our schools offer our students the opportunity to “Lead”. They are given the skills to be leaders not only today but for and in the future with the undertaking of various projects and activities not only in the classroom but in the community as well. The future is surely promising with what our students can do.

Archeparchy News

JANUARY 27, 2019 27

Our schools offer our students the opportunity to “Succeed”. They provide a stricter academic regimen, giving our students the tools needed to learn, to grow and to be successful not only in the grade level they are in now, but also for the future. If one were to look at the graduates of our schools and see where they are today, we would be very proud of them and for what they have and are accomplishing. We have so much to be grateful for in our schools. The students are cared for by their teachers and staff. Their dedication for the welfare and success of every student is truly a gift from God. Our parents trust that we will do everything in our power and strength to give their children all the traits and skills that we celebrate this year during National Catholic Schools Week. We thank them for their personal and financial sacrifices to give their children the best that a Catholic education can give.

Our history is rich in the field of education. With dedicated priests, Sisters of St. Basil the Great, Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, Missionary Sisters of the Mother of God and many lay people leading the way from the beginning through today and then tomorrow. We celebrate this week and every week that God bless our schools, our faculties, staff and parents, and especially our dear students who seek to know and learn more than ever before. May they learn, serve, lead and succeed!

May the good and loving Lord bless our students, teachers and principals!

Respectfully, yours in Christ!

+Andriy Rabiy +John Bura Apostolic Administrator for the Auxiliary Bishop Archeparchy of Philadelphia January 2019


Catholic Schools Week

Archeparchy News

JANUARY 27, 2019 28

METROPOLITAN ARCHEPARCHY OF PHILADELPHIA

Ukrainian Catholic 810 North Franklin Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123-2005 Phone (215) 627-0143 Fax (215) 627-0377

[email protected]

No. 38/2019 CH Most Reverend Andriy Rabiy This Number Should be Prefixed to Your Reply Apostolic Administrator

January 22, 2019

In celebration of National Catholic Schools Week and to continue to support the fine work being done in our schools, we are happy to announce the creation of the Ukrainian Catholic School Scholarship Fund. This fund will provide three annual scholarships to three students at each of our parochial elementary schools.

Can we count on your participation to make this a reality? We will be offering one of three ways to support this fundraising event for the Scholarship Fund.

(1) Raffle – planned for spring 2019. Tickets are $10.00 each with a minimum of 2,500 tickets to be sold. Cash prize winnings: 1st place $5,000.00, 2nd place $3,000.00 and 3rd place $2,000.00.

(2) Donations can be made by local businesses, organizations or individuals

(3) Sponsor a Student in any of our three schools through local businesses, organizations or individuals

Tuition costs and fees, salaries, insurance, building maintenance, heat, water, education materials, etc. are on the rise. Current tuition costs for St. Nicholas School in Minersville is $2,750.00; at St. Nicholas School in Passaic is $3,450.00 and at Assumption School in Perth Amboy is $3,800.00.

Our goal is to collect $30,000.00 which will cover scholarships for three students at each of our three schools for a total of nine scholarships.

Many students have benefited from the education our schools have provided them. Not only in these three schools but also from schools who have unfortunately had to close over the years such as Immaculate Conception Cathedral School, St. Josaphat School and St. Nicholas School in Philadelphia, Holy Ghost School in Chester, St. John the Baptist School in Northampton, Transfiguration School in Shamokin, SS. Cyril & Methodius School in Olyphant, SS. Peter & Paul School in Wilkes-Barre, and St. John the Baptist School in Newark. It is fitting to keep the legacy of what our schools have accomplished and promote the good works they are currently doing. We must remember the words of this year’s National Schools Week theme, “Learn, Serve, Lead and Succeed”.

For additional scholarship and sponsorship information, contact the individual schools or Archeparchy directly as listed.

Archeparchy News

JANUARY 27, 2019 29


Ukrainian Catholic School Scholarship Fund

Rev. Andriy Dudkevych Rev. Paul Makar St. Nicholas Ukrainian School St. Nicholas Ukrainian School 223 President Street 515 N. Front Street Passaic, NJ 07055 Minersville, PA 17954 973-779-0249 e-mail: [email protected] (570) 544-2800 e-mail: [email protected] Rev. Ivan Turyk Bishop Andriy Rabiy Assumption Catholic School Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy 380 Meredith Street 810 N. Franklin Street Perth Amboy, NJ 08861 Philadelphia, PA 19123 (732) 826-8721 (215) 627-0143 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TO: UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND Mail to: Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy 810 N. Franklin Street Philadelphia, PA 19123

With this raffle and your generous donations, we hope to keep our schools strong and vibrant so our students, and those who come after them, may benefit from an education in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. We invite you to participate in this very important endeavor. Consider participating in the raffle and or sponsoring a student in any of the three schools we have. Complete details will be forthcoming shortly. You can make a difference in a child’s life and support our schools at the same time. Respectfully, yours in Christ!

+Andriy Rabiy +John Bura Apostolic Administrator for the Auxiliary Bishop Archeparchy of Philadelphia January 2019

Children’s Corner

JANUARY 27, 2019 30May be freely printed and shared for non-commercial use. ByziMom.com

of

Official Publication of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia

On January 6, we celebrated the Feast of the Theophany. Did your family bring home some of the Holy Water which was blessed on that day? On that day we remember when Our Lord Jesus was baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan River. On that day the Holy Trinity was made known.

A special custom that has come from this feast day is having your house blessed each year. Our parish priest visits the homes of his parishioners and blesses our homes with “Jordan water,” the water that was blessed on the feast of Theophany. Since God sanctified all things through Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan River, we ask our priest to bless our homes, which are considered the “domestic church,” since this is where we live out our Faith day to day. Every family’s home should be like a little church, a community of love. It is in their home where children first learn to love and worship God.

When your priest comes to your house to bless it, the family should meet him at the door with a lighted candle. You should lead him around your house with the candle to all the rooms you would like him to bless. Help mom and dad make sure all TV.s, music, and video games are turned off. You do not want to have any distractions when Father is blessing your house. Then join Father in the Trisagion Prayers and sing the Troparion of the Feast of Theophany. A family member leads the priest through the house with the candle, while hymns are sung. Father will bless each room with a sprinkle of holy water, and then after all the rooms have been blessed, he will bless each person present.

What happens if you forget to clean up the toys in your room or if mom has dirty dishes in the sink? Nothing happens. Your priest is there to bless your home, not to see how clean your house is. When Father is finished, everyone should thank Father and ask him any questions you might have about the Church or about your faith.

The House Blessing is a beautiful way to sanctify our homes and all the activities that will take place in it!- Written By Carrie Chuff

JANUARY 27, 2019 31

Children’s Corner

May be freely printed and shared for non-commercial use. SS Joachim and Anna Ukrainian Catholic Church, Front Royal, VA ssjoachimandanna.org and byzimom.com

Бог ся рождає God Born a Morta l

( if you need to hear the music, you can f ind i t on YouTube. Just type

in the t it le in the search bar. )

Бог ся рождає, хто ж Го може знати?

Ісус Му ім'я, Марія Му Мати!

Тут Ангели чудяться, Рожденного бояться.

А віл стоїть, трясеться, Осел смутно пасеться.

Пастиріє клячуть, В плоті Бога бачуть,

Тут же, тут же, тут же, тут же, тут!

God born a mortal Who can claim to know Him?

Jesus we call him, Worship let us show Him.

Here the angels stand in awe, Of the infant in the straw.

Ox is here and trembling stands, With the ass near God made man.

See the shepherds kneeling, God made flesh revealing.

Here, yes. Here now. Really truly here.

From the Nativity icon at The Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Max Luckey

Boh sya rozhdaye, khto zh Ho mozhe znaty!?

Isus Mu im'ya, Mariya Mu Maty.

Tut anhely chudyat’sya, Rozhdennoho boyat’sya. A vil stoyit’, tryaset’sya, Osel smutno paset’sya. Pastyriye klyachut’, V ploti Boha bachut’,

Tut zhe, tut zhe, tut zhe, tut zhe, tut!

The stores have all taken down their

Christmas trees but we are still singing

about the birth of Christ

JANUARY 27, 2019 32

Children’s Corner

D ecor ated H o ly Wa ter B ott le

Did your family bring home Jordan Water on the Feast of Theophany? You can make your very own decorated bottle to use and keep it in your own room.

A recycled glass jar: one with a cap or tight fitting stopper. A picture: Printer reproduction of the festal Theophany icon, or an icon of your patron saint. You can even re-print the icon provided here. Cut it out and paste it to your jar. Decorations: Length of ribbon, craft-store jewels and gems for decorating the jar Super glue or hot glue: Have fun pasting the picture and decorations to your jar!

With mom’s help, you can make your own

Holy Water Bottle

WORKSHEETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT BYZIMOM.COM! MAY BE PRINTER AND SHARED FREELY FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. All rights reserved byzimom.com © 2018

What you will need

Maze Solution

JANUARY 27, 2019 33

Children’s Corner

May be freely printed and shared for non-commercial use. ByziMom.com

When Father was blessing your house, you forgot to lead him through your house with a candle. Now he has gotten lost. Help him find his way out.

May be freely printed and shared for non-commercial use. ByziMom.com

“Under Christian

influence, folk carols became the re-telling in song of the birth of the God-man from

the Virgin Mary

in Bethlehem.”

(Catechism #530)

Catechism of the Ukrainian

Catholic Church: Christ -

Our Pascha

JANUARY 27, 2019 34

177

circumstances in their lives, for example, the health of a sick person. Prayer-services (molebens) are also celebrated on the occasion of par-ticular events in the life of an ecclesial community. Thus they can take place during the patronal feast of a church or on saints’ feast days.

529 The variety of prayer-services (molebens) is grounded in the desire to render human activity spiritual, to engage in it with God’s help and blessing. Replete with intercessions, these services have the character of insistent, profound prayer, which unites those praying in a moving love for God and one another.

c. Christmas and Theophany Carols, Religious Hymns (Chorales)530 Indigenous original compositions of sung prayer began to appear on

the territory of Rus-Ukraine from the beginnings of Christianity there. Elements of the Old Rus culture were aptly adapted to express the Christian Good News. A particular example of such inculturation is Christmas and Theophany carols. Under Christian influence, folk carols became the re-telling in song of the birth of the God-man from the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. Recognizing the true God in Jesus Christ, “heaven and earth” and “angels and people” join in jubilation. The uni-versal joy of all creation is expressed in the images of the sun, moon, and stars, which, like all creation, come to worship the Divine Infant.

531 On the eve of Theophany, the Baptism of Christ, special carols of this feast are added to the usual Christmas carols. In Ukrainian they are called shchedrivky, from the word for generous. The Ukrainian name alludes to the fact that the Theophany in the Jordan River became the generous source of the Christian life, from which in turn flow all of God’s good gifts: happiness, health, longevity, and the like. Such, in fact, are the good wishes mentioned in these carols and the accompa-nying greetings.

532 The people’s faith in Christ and the Mother of God has also found prayerful expression in other folk-religious songs—the metric hymns, or chorales (in Ukrainian, kanty). A vivid example of such a prayer-hymn is the Song About the Pochaiv (Monastery) Mother of God. These religious songs, grouped in cycles, can be addressed to the Lord, the Mother of God, or the saints. The faithful sing them during pilgrim-ages to holy places, in churches, in their homes, and elsewhere. These songs express the authentic Christian “soul of the people,” and the bet-ter examples are veritable “folk psalms.”

Catechism

JANUARY 27, 2019 35

Presentation of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ into the Temple The Encounter - February 2nd

The Gospel of Luke and the Icon of the Presentation depict the first encounter that occurred between the Chosen People of God, the Israelites, and their Messiah, long foretold by the Prophets, the Anointed of Yahweh (God), the Savior of the world.

As was the Jewish custom, Mary and Joseph, present the boy Jesus into the Temple to dedicate Him to the service of Yahweh God. They also make the customary offering to the Temple of two turtledoves or two pigeons.

A man called Simeon was enlightened by the Spirit of God that he would not die until he encountered, met the long-foretold Messiah, The Light to the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel. Having met the Lord, Simeon prays: “Lord, now let Your servant go in peace. Your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of every people. A light to reveal You to the nations and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:27-30) This prayer we say during the Vesper service in our Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Also present in the Temple was the prophetess Anna who for many years fasted and prayed in the Temple. Simeon and Anna represent the Chosen People in encountering and receiving Jesus into the Temple, the Holy House of God.

During the Encounter, Simeon speaks, enlightened by the Spirit, to Mary, the Mother of God: “He (Jesus) is destined to be the fall and rise of many in Israel. A sign that will be opposed.” (Luke 2:34-35) These words of Simeon were regarding the future suffering and Passion of the Mother of God, Who was always one with Her Son. Mary was pierced in Her heart, was sorrowful over the wrongful, unjust treating of the All-Innocent One. Mary, suffering and sorrowful, stood by the Cross until the very end.

We too are called to encounter the Lord God, to welcome the Savior into our daily lives. We are to dedicate ourselves, our entire being, to the service of the Almighty God. This promise was made at the time of our baptism and is to continue throughout our entire life. We have been anointed with oil and holy chrism to equip us for the battle between the powers of Good and evil.

Holidays/Feast Day

This dedicated service to God is the responsibility of all Christians. Today’s frantic pace – the mall, the internet, the cell phone – can inhibit our developing relationship or encounter with the Lord God. Worldly pursuits often deter and inhibit. Selfish pleasures and desires stand in contrast to a dedicated, consecrated life. Prayer and fasting enable us to better love God above all else and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.

Pope Francis reminds us that if we encounter Jesus and our brothers and sisters (neighbors) in the everyday events of our life, our hearts will no longer be set in the past or future. Rather we live in the present, the here and now, and seek to experience the God of today in peace with anyone and everyone we meet (encounter).

Rev. D. George Worschak

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JANUARY 27, 2019 36

SPRING 2019 PROGRAM SCHEDULE Mysteries from an Eastern Perspective SATURDAYS, JANUARY 19, 26 9:00AM - 4:00PM Open House WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 6:30 - 9:00PM Faith Formation during the Great Fast TUESDAYS, MARCH 5, 12, 19, 26, and APRIL 2, 9, 16 6:30 - 8:30PM Retreat for Caregivers SATURDAY, MARCH 23 10:00AM - 1:00PM

Facilities Conference Rooms and Event Space Gift Shop Library Sacred Space for Prayer and Liturgy About Rooted in Eastern Christian Spirituality, the Center’s mission is to bring Christ's praying, healing, and life-giving presence to all God's people through our programs. Contact 710 Fox Chase Road Fox Chase Manor, PA 19046 [email protected] | (215) 780-1227 www.STBASILS.com |

Byzantine Church Supplies, Philadelphia

For religious church goods and religious gifts, icons and cards, visit Byzantine Church Supplies. You will also find gifts, cross necklaces, books, icons, crosses, Christian incense, Church supplies,

various linens and priest's vestments.

Byzantine Church SuppliesAddress: 810 North Franklin St.

Philadelphia, PA 19123Phone: 215 -627-0660

Email: [email protected]: http://ukrcathedral.com/byzsup/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/byzantineChurchSupplies/

Store Manager - Mrs. Myroslava Demkiv

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JANUARY 27, 2019 37

100 th AnniversaryBlessed Josaphata’s

April 4-7, 2019death

Details to follow

Sisters Servants - Sloatsburg, NY

RETREAT FOR CAREGIVERS

Sister Joann Sosler, OSBM, currently serves as the Vice-Provincial of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great. She holds a certificate in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and has served in chaplaincy at Jeanes, Thomas Jefferson, and Abington Hospitals. Sister Joann has served her congregation faithfully in numerous positions in education and administration as well as vocation director and co-director of the Basilian Volunteer Program that gives service annually in Ukraine.

Using scriptural models we will explore the deeper spiritual aspects of caregiving, thus gaining valuable insight to strengthen us.

Everyone will be a caregiver, need a caregiver, or know a caregiver at some point in life. Yet it is a position we seldom prepare for financially, emotionally, or spiritually. This retreat deals with the complexities of caregiving and the challenges involved.

Questions to be addressed include:• Where can we find God during illness? • How can we grow with God amidst suffering?• How can we prepare spiritually to give care?

This retreat will help you approach care-giving with new awareness and sensitivity, direct you towards new resources, and equip you with coping techniques.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23 | 10:00AM - 1:00PMFee: $30, Refreshments Served

(215) [email protected]

710 Fox Chase RoadFox Chase Manor, PA 19046

www.StBasils.com

JANUARY 27, 2019 38

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JANUARY 27, 2019 39

MYASOPUSNA 2019

A UKRAINIAN CULTURAL CELEBRATION

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2019 NOON TO 4:00 PM

TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD CHURCH HALL BLISS & CENTER STREET - - NANTICOKE

UKRAINIAN DANCE, MUSIC & SONG

Kazka Ukrainian Folk Ensemble St. Mary’s Traditional Ukrainian Dancers

The Holy Year Choir, Dr. Richard Barno, Director

DISPLAY AND SALE OF HANDCRAFTED UKRAINIAN ITEMS PYSANKY, GERDANY (BEADWORK) EMBROIDERY, GIFT ITEMS

HOMEMADE UKRAINIAN DINNER Haluptsi, Kovbasa,

Varenyky (pyrohy), Kapusta, Borscht, Black Bread & Dessert.

(Ukrainian beverages available for purchase)

Dinner Tickets— $13 In advance of 2/17

$15 Day of Event

Doors open at 12 noon; Dinner service begins with Otche Nash (Our Father) at 12:30, served 12:30-2:00 PM, followed by entertainment. For tickets, call 570-735-4654 or 570-824-3880

Transfiguration of our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church, Nanticoke, PA announces its 14th annual Myasopusna Celebration, a pre-lenten event, to be held on Meatfare (Myasopusna) Sunday, February 24, 2019.

A dinner of holubtsi (stuffed cabbage), kobasa, varenyky (Transfiguration pierogies), kapusta, blackbread, and dessert will be served at the church’s banquet hall at 240 Center Street, Hanover Section of Nanticoke, from 12:30 to 2:00pm, with borscht also available, as well as Ukrainian and other beverages.

Dinner is followed by entertainment until 4:00 from the Holy Year Choir, Kazka Ukrainian Folk Ensemble, and Saint Mary’s Traditional Ukrainian Dancers. Doors will open at noon, with Ukrainian crafts on display and for sale throughout the event. Dinner tickets are $13 if purchased before 2/17 , $15 afterwards, by calling 570-735-4654 or 570-824-3880.

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Saint Basil Academy News: 7th GRADE PRACTICE EXAM

Saint Basil Academy will offer the 7th grade practice exam on

Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 8 AM.

Register online at h t t p s : / /www . s t b a s i l a c a d emy . o r g /

admissions/.

To schedule a Shadow Day, visit h t t p s : / /www . s t b a s i l a c a d emy . o r g /

admissions/visit-us/.

For more information, please contact the Admissions Office at 215-649-9083.

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JANUARY 27, 2019 40

Church News

JANUARY 27, 2019 41

Pope Francis receives in Audience the Apostolic Nuncio

January 21, 2019

On Monday 21st January 2019, His Holiness Pope Francis, received in a private Audience H.E. Msgr. Claudio Gugerotti, Titular Archbishop of Ravello, Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine.

During the meeting the Holy Father manifested that he follows closely and with deep interest the daily events that sign the life of Ukraine, which is particularly dear to him. He dwelled upon

Pope Francis: Christian Unity is not optional

the delicate conditions of the relations within the Orthodoxy, on the contribution which the Catholic Churches in Ukraine bring to the well-being of the country, on the political and social environment, particularly the need to make every possible effort in the attempts to favour peace through dialogue, for the wellbeing of the citizens and the commitments to improve the conditions of everybody and the full exercise of religious freedom. Pope Francis

assured His constant prayer for Ukraine and imparted on its people the Apostolic Blessing.

https://nunciaturekyiv.o r g / 2 0 1 9 / 0 1 / 2 1 /pope-francis-receives-in-audience-the-nuncio/

16 January 2019

Pope Francis has appealed to Christians across the world to pray and to work for full Christian Unity.

By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis has reminded the faithful that “Ecumenism is not something optional”.

Speaking during the weekly General Audience, the Pope looked ahead to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that takes

place from 18 to 25 January.

He noted that the annual “Week of Prayer”, on the theme “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue”, kicks off with the celebration of Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on Friday.

“Again, this year we are called to pray so that all Christians may once again be a single family, according to God’s will ‘so that they may all be one’” he said.

Pointing out that “ecumenism is not something optional,” he said it aims “to develop a common and consistent witness that promotes true justice and support for the weakest through responses that are concrete, appropriate and effective”.

The annual “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” is a time in which Christians are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe” (John 17.21).

It is an occasion for Christians of different denominations to come together to pray for their unity and participate in special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services.

The theme in 2019, "Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue ..." is inspired by Deuteronomy 16:18-20.

h t t p s : / / w w w .va t i cannews . va/en/pope/news/2019-01/pope-francis-christian-unity-general-audience-appeal.html

Church News

Celebrating Christmas means to say a firm no to those who want to follow Herod nowadays, - Head of UGCC

Friday, 11 January 2019

Christmas encourages us to reveal merit and honor of a man and, definitely reject any aggression, violence and humiliation toward others. Because Son of God came to this world to grant peace and unity.

Head and Father of UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav signified delivering a homily in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ to the faithful on Monday 7, the Day of Nativity of Our Lord.

“Christmas greeting bears a big joy, a great feast and a great hope. Since Christmas annunciates a birth in a human’s flesh, an arrival of Our Lord and Savior, the birth of Jesus Christ in a poor manger in Bethlehem!”, with these words Head of UGCC addressed to laity at the beginning of his homily.

“Ask yourself: what I seek in Christmas? What guides me? What I want to perform, having found Messiah among us? Everybody needs to come up with his personal feedback. We

look for peace, sheer joy which has no finish line, and a true love which gives life and hope. Be sure, we can find it all in a person of a newborn Savior!”, persuaded Head of Church.

He added: “We can say that celebrating Christmas means to say a firm “no” to those who want to follow Herod nowadays. Celebrate Christmas means to say “no” to violence, humiliation towards to a person committed by another one. That is why the Almighty reveals merit and honor of a man, who he had abided as His own icon, a temple, a favorite child. Now let us say a firm “no” to violence in our families: men toward women, parents toward their children; and, also those who think that violence, war and aggression can work something out in this world”.

According to him, a person of Herod indicates that the one who resorts to force is, actually a faint coward because he is in fear even before the weakest: a small child who he treats as a potential threat.

“Accept Our Savior as a King of Peace, the one who can truly become a source of peace, well-being and harmony in our families and society, among our Churches and all people worldwide. For this He comes – to restore unity between God and people, win war and hostility, hatred, I mean, everything what ruins God’s image in a person – an image of paradise happiness harmony what we all seek consciously or subconsciously throughout our life path”, the leader of Greek Catholics emphasized.

At the end of the Liturgy His Beatitude Sviatoslav together with Apostolic nuncio to Ukraine

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti congratulated all faithful, Ukrainians (in Ukraine and abroad) with Nativity of Our Lord and wished all happiness and peace finishing the service certainly with a carol “Nova radist’ stala” (“New Joy Descended”). The UGCC Department for Information

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His Beatitude Sviatoslav in the Christmas greetings: Let Christmas be the source of our strength, courage,

wisdom, and victory!Tuesday, 08 January 2019

The Christmas period gives people the opportunity to once again feel God's love and unity in family and family. Moreover, it is the feast of the birth of the Son of God that helps us gain strength and hope. This was emphasized by the Father and the Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav in his Christmas greetings to all Ukrainians and faithful.

"The holiday of the Nativity is the holiday of the love of the Most High, the holiday of God and the human family. This year the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations declared the Year of the Family. We now see that the family itself,

as the primary cell of human society, is an environment, an oasis in which our Savior is born. The Creator shows us that there is no other human community that can be called a family. After all, only unity (fruitful and inseparable) between a man and a woman can conceive a new life, it is the medium of hope for the future, which includes our Lord. Therefore, we call the Christmas a family holiday," said the Primate of the UGCC in his greetings on the occasion of the holiday of the Nativity of Christ.

In his view, the news of the birth of the Son of God encourages us to rejoice and not to be afraid of difficulties, especially now that we live in a world full of anxiety and fear.

"On this day, allow me to pray to the newborn Savior for our Ukrainian families and families, who are often wounded, worried, divided or in circumstances that need support and protection. The Ukrainian family was always a home church, so it is very important that our Savior strengthen, bless and renew our families," said the Greek Catholic spiritual leader.

And then he added: "I want to sincerely wish everyone in Ukraine and in settlements, so that this Christmas became the source of our strength, courage, wisdom and victory. Let the newborn Savior, who introduces us into the heavenly family, into the unity of man with the Holy Trinity - the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - will be

the source of our hope, which is the light in our future. Let the newborn Savior give peace to our Ukraine! "

In addition, at the end of his greeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav called for joy to celebrate Christmas: "I greet everyone on this great holiday! Rejoice and carol, Ukraine! Praise God in heaven and on earth, Ukraine! Christ was born! Glory be to Him! " Department of Information of the UGCC

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Today Christ is stepping into the Jordan river to transform a man, His Beatitude Sviatoslav

Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Today God is revealing to us springs of eternal life which He left within Church. He steps into the Jordan River to transform

a man, to respond to our needs and wishes, to satisfy a longing for God. Head and Father of UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav said on his homily on the Day of Theophany of Our

Lord Jesus Christ at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv.

Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops and

bishop Josyf Milian, Bishop-Auxiliary of Kyiv Archeparchy co-served Head of Church.

According to the spiritual


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leader of Greek-Catholics Christ’s Church celebrates today one of the biggest Christian holidays – Theophany. Holy fathers used to call it an Enlightenment. As it is referred to one very important historical event – Baptism of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior in the Jordan River.

In today’s Gospel we hear a story about Jesus coming to Jordan. “After His birth Jesus Christ hadn’t been known in Israel because he was leading a silent life. And now, in His baptism He starts a public homily and mission”, the major Archbishop said.

“Thus, in Theophany we see a beginning of Christ’s complete preaching”.

Another reason for celebrating Theophany of Our Lord is that this day God exposed Himself to people. After Christ had been baptized and went up out of the water – heaven was opened. John the Baptist saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove above our Lord. And then the voice of the Father as if from heaven saying: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”.

“Today God is not just opening Heaven before a man. He opens Himself in the womb of the Holy Trinity. The voice of God declares that Son is going down to the womb of land, the Jordan River, covering with the land waters. The Holy Spirit indicates who our Savior is. This holiday is crucially important to us. As today, seeing Christ in the Jordan, Father in Son through the Holy Spirit reveals us the source of eternal life”, said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

This day God reveals us a story about our own selves. He wants us to know who we really are and for what we were born. The sense of our

vocation.

“The source of eternal life which pumps within our Church emerges from the Holy Trinity. This is the source of renewal, source of communion and eternal life. And the moment of this renewal, creation a man with the power of the Holy Spirit is Baptism, which enables us to become the participants of eternal life”, emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The event we witness today cannot be limited by any space or time. God is coming, revealing Himself, looking for a man.

“Open your heart for

God the same way how the Holy Trinity opens its womb for us. Baptized Christ may enlighten us, grants us hope and light for our Ukraine. The whole Ukraine may wash up with joy, peace, light and calmness”, the spiritual leader wished.

Traditionally, at the end of the Liturgy Head of UGCC blessed waters on the Dnipro River.

The UGCC Department for Information

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Today Christ is stepping into the Jordan river to transform a man, His Beatitude Sviatoslav


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JANUARY 27, 2019 44

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OUR SAINT SOPHIA-Letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav on the Occasion of the Centenary of the Renewal of Unity

of the Ukrainian Nation and State

Most Reverend Archbishops and Metropolitans, God-loving Bishops, reverend Clergy Venerable Monks and Nuns, beloved Brothers and Sisters, in Ukraine and throughout the world

“The wisdom of a prudent man is to discern his way.”Proverbs 14:8

Beloved in Christ!

Introduction

1. By attentively observing with the gaze of the century that has passed since the revival of the unity of the Ukrainian nation and state, we contemplate God’s pre-eternal plan for them and our holy Church. We feel that we are standing on the threshold of a new era full of unexpected challenges. These new challenges are directed to all mankind. Mankind is part of an entirely unknown—unknown and unsettling, but full of hope—phase of global transformations: religious, cultural, economic, technological, socio-political. These new challenges are especially felt by us, the children and heirs of the Kyivan Church.

2. In the modern context of our spiritual, cultural, and national existence, I

sincerely invite everyone to direct the eyes of their own heart and mind to Divine Wisdom. The pre-eternal God manifests this Wisdom at the Nativity of Christ through His incarnate Son and reveals it in the Holy Spirit. In this Divine Sophia, the Wisdom of God, we reveal the profound wisdom (phronema) of the existence of our nation and our statehood—our Sophia of Kyiv, which is an icon and incarnation of the Wisdom of God. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, came to the hills of Kyiv with Volodymyr’s baptism and laid the foundation of all of Kyivan civilization. These are the Gospel values and moral principles that illumined the culture of our ancestors and have become a solid foundation for the unification of the Ukrainian nation and the development of our statehood. Its wondrous incarnation and unshakeable sanctuary became the Cathedral of the Wisdom of God, the Sobor of Saint Sophia in Kyiv, which to this day remains an expressive symbol of the original integrity and fulness (pleroma) of the unified and indivisible Church of Kyiv.

3. During its millennial

history, this wisdom remained the foundation of the sophianic civilization of Kyivan Christianity, a source of the aspirations of statehood of our nation, a cradle of its morals. Thus, understanding our purpose and responsibility in modern times means making the Sophia of Kyiv visible, alive, and active. This Wisdom is a guide for one’s personal life, a way to exercise moral and political choices. It is by the power and actions of the Holy Spirit that it is the source of the national vigour and the answer to today’s questions and new challenges—that is, to plan and implement this Wisdom of God by our actions in new times—means to pave the way for Ukraine’s people into the future. Sophia of Kyiv: The Christian Foundation of Ukrainian National Existence

4. In His saving passion, death, and resurrection, our Saviour had the final victory over death itself and its cause, sin, and gave the world peace, which “passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). The wisdom of God’s plan was manifested in the incomprehensible beauty of the sacrificial love of the

Creator Himself. After all, through His own Son, in the Holy Spirit, He completed the mystery of salvation of mankind, freeing it from the captivity of sin and eternal death. The Church of Christ is the Mystery of God’s victory, which is called to resound with victorious hymns through the ages, reaching all times and peoples through the waters of holy baptism and life-giving grace. We, Christians, are the echo of His victory, the living image of His eternal and gracious Wisdom. The Wisdom that once and for all dwelt among men, laying out the way to the individual person and whole nations to the boundless expanse of God’s love through the announcement to humanity of the crucified Christ—“the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

5. “The Wisdom of God was unknown until the time [of Revelation] and hidden from angels and people, not as non-existent, but as hidden, to be revealed at the end of the age,” wrote Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv.[1] When, for our people, the “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) was determined by divine providence, that salvific

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proclamation echoed on the hills of Kyiv. It reached the depths of the hearts of our ancestors, enlightened their minds, and strengthened their will, from the multitude formed unity and integrity. In the baptismal waters of Volodymyr’s font, the Wisdom of God was incarnated in the body of our national existence—it became the blood and flesh of the history of the Ukrainian people. From hence generously began to beat the only source of Light and Truth for the people united by God’s grace. From this source, our ancestors drew knowledge and it allowed them to form an understanding of themselves and the world, which they transmitted to their descendants. From this source our identity was born—ecclesial, national, sovereign. Thanks to this source, the values of the organization of personal and social life were formed. They brought order to the economy, education, and the upbringing of youth. New principles defined the attitude towards the family, those in need and strangers, an understanding of justice and beauty, civic responsibility and care for the common good. Here, the spirit of the Ukrainian army was tempered and the code of values of the Ukrainian warrior—the

OUR SAINT SOPHIA-Letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav...

protector of our native land—was formed. The habitual and everyday acquired the measure of the sacred and God-revealed.

6. In the light of the Wisdom of God, embodied in the call of our people, the principles of the internal structure of Ukrainian society, the ethical principles of its institutional organization, and, ultimately, the very foundations of our statehood were formed. This is the source of our awareness of social justice and the call of the government to serve the interests of the people and protect its welfare. Our culture, our literary language, and the direction of our development were formed in the bosom of Sophia of Kyiv. The Kyivan Church was not hostage to the political interests of state power or the servant of the mighty of this world, because she did not fall into the sin of worshipping worldly authority. She remained the soul and conscience of her people, teaching them to assess earthly power according to how this power serves God’s Truth and the eternal law of the Creator. That is how, in the light of Sophia of Kyiv and the good of God”s people, the Ruskaia Pravda (Rus’ Truth [Law]) of the Grand

Prince Yaroslav of Kyiv, famously called Yaroslav “the Wise,” was evaluated. The same Church still gathers the children of the one Truth, one Wisdom, and one Sophia into one whole. Thus, on the slopes of Slavutych-Dnipro, God’s Wisdom “has built her house” (Proverbs 9:1), laid in the hearts of our ancestors the unshakeable foundations of values for ordering our present and building a common future. The Wisdom of God became Wisdom—Sophia—of Kyiv, which formed the foundations of our civilization.

7. Throughout the ages there flowed from here, by the power and action of the Holy Spirit, streams of Divine Grace that irrigated the surrounding lands. It is from here, from Sophia of Kyiv, that the life-giving beams of God’s Wisdom enlightened all the surrounding territories of the Kyivan state. Having accepted, however, the grace of baptism, not all of them became capable of being completely transformed into the depths of Divine Wisdom, and, as in Kyiv, to build their ecclesiastical identity and social institutions in its light. Even when they imitated, and sometimes occupied, the Cathedral of the Wisdom of God in Kyiv, they distinguished

their existence with the aggression of nomadic conquerors, according to the Apostle Paul, “holding the form of religion but denying the power of it” (2 Timothy 3:5). The Kyivan Church: An Icon of Divine Wisdom

8. The souls of our ancestors became the temple of God`s Wisdom, not made with hands, on the shores of the ancient Borysthenes; the throne of the Kyivan metropolitans – the heart of the sophianic civilization. The temple of God’s Wisdom, not made with hands, on the shores of the ancient Borysthenes became the souls of our ancestors, the heart of their civilization—the throne of the Kyivan metropolitans. The temple of Saint Sophia of Kyiv, the Wisdom of God, embodied the wisdom of our ancestors, illuminated by God’s truth, and became “a wonder and marvel to all the surrounding lands.”[2] For centuries, the mystery of salvation of our people was performed here. “Rivers of living water” (John 7:38) flowed from this temple to the heart and mind of every Ukrainian. Our grandparents received grace from the spiritual heritage of the holy and

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all-praiseworthy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the holy teachers of the Slavs Cyril and Methodius, the blessed Princess Olha of Kyiv. In the time determined by Providence, thanks to the deliberate will of the holy Equal to the Apostles, Grand Prince Volodymyr, our ancestors became participants of the baptismal font, the inexhaustible bounty of God’s mercy, and the radiance of eternal Truth. Since then, Divine Wisdom—the eternal Truth—enlightens our path. And the Cathedral of Saint Sophia remains a faithful witness, sanctified by this grace, of the unity of the Church of Kyiv.

9. The undivided Kyivan Church, in full communion with the ancient Churches of Rome and Constantinople, became for us the faithful path to the universal brotherhood of the Christian nations. Her birth was not obscured by fraternal division. Her mystical memory carries a permanent liturgical remembrance (anamnesis) of the first millennium, unbroken by the division of Christianity. Her mission is to faithfully embody God’s plan of human salvation among “the one nation under God in the land on the hills of Kyiv,” as His Beatitude Lubomyr reminded us,[3] and to serve the universal unity

of all Christians. Her Gospel proclamation melodiously sounded in full symphony with the voices of the ancient apostolic Churches, so that the one Truth of the indivisible Church of Christ might enlighten the whole world, faithfully fulfilling the Saviour’s command “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). For Sophia is the symbol of unconquerable unity and wisdom, which reaches high above the walls of temporary misunderstandings and divisions.

10. The Church of Sophia is a holy land of reconciliation and understanding, always open to the universal unity of the children of God scattered throughout the world. For the Wisdom of God knows no bounds; she is always the same and embraces everyone and everything, “reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well” (Wisdom 8:1). That is why today, just as a millennium ago, our Kyivan Church remains in full communion with the successor of the Apostle Peter, called by the Saviour Himself to serve the unity of His Universal Church and the integrity of the redeemed people of God. Together with the Bishop of Rome, our Church is in communion with

other Eastern Churches. This reveals the special ecumenical vocation of our Church—a witness of undivided Christianity and a martyr of our times.

11. The confessor of the faith and long-time prisoner of the Stalinist camps, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, left the immortal manifesto of the identity of our Church as the inheritor and successor to the fullness of Kyivan Christianity. This manifesto is the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Rome, whose golden jubilee of consecration we celebrate in 2019. The construction of Rome’s Sophia, together with the foundation of the Ukrainian Catholic University, is a testimony to the living and active Sophia of Kyiv, revealed in the very existence of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church—a martyr in both Ukraine and beyond its borders. Patriarch Josyf’s immortal Urbi et orbi (To the [eternal] City and to the World) message is engraved on the pediment of the university: Veritas et amor scientiae unit dispersos (“Truth and love of knowledge unite those dispersed throughout the world”). Building the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Rome, consecrating it together with Saint Pope Paul VI, that ascetic of the faith of Christ contemplated the Saint

Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv as the maternal temple of our Church in which his great predecessors prayed. Patriarch Josyf saw the Kyivan church as the visible cathedral of the invisible Sophia, its ecclesial and national wisdom, which endured thousands of years in the body and blood of his native Church, and today triumphs over the whole of Ukraine and the whole world. The Patriarchal Cathedral in Rome is an expressive symbol of the universality of Kyiv’s Sophia, an incarnation of the desire of our hearts to the fullness of unity in Christ, bestowed upon our people in the baptismal font of Prince Volodymyr. It is a sign of the perpetuity of the Ukrainian spirit, illumined by the grace of God—the same that Patriarch Josyf embodied in his own life.

12. The great confessor of the faith humbly commanded his descendants: “Bury me in our Patriarchal Sobor of Holy Sophia, but when our vision becomes reality and our Holy Church and our Ukrainian nation will arise, take my coffin, in which I will lie in rest, to my native Ukrainian land...If such be the will of God and the will of God’s Ukrainian people, lay my body in




the crypt of the renewed Cathedral of Saint Sophia.”[4] Patriarch Josyf felt that Divine Wisdom reminds us of the task of restoring the original unity of the presently divided Church of Kyiv. Only then will we see a truly renewed Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Kyiv. Until this unity exists, none of the Churches that are heirs of this Church can alone take up the ancient Cathedral of the Wisdom of God, Sophia of Kyiv. It must rather be the meeting place for all the descendants of the sophianic Church of Kyiv, to be a reminder, a call, a watchman, and a hope of our unification in Christ.

13. Through the preached word, the Wisdom of God penetrated the heart of all, forming an inseparable unity, an insurmountable community of a great family, with its gaze turned to the unshakeable sanctuary, Sophia of Kyiv. Our Church, in word and deed, taught its faithful children to boldly assume responsibility for the fate of the whole nation and for our state. She has always been sovereign and fostered aspirations for statehood, constantly emphasizing the foundational values of the functioning of state and social institutions, whose reason of being it sought much deeper—in the treasury of the Wisdom of

God. Inspired by her wise tradition, the venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky wrote: “The Church, understood as a purely national institution, embracing only one people and separating it from all others, becomes a contributor to maintaining conflicts, reinforces national passions, and helps to oppress other nations. It leads to struggle, not to peace; to separation, and not to unity. Therefore, it is not Christ’s.”[5] The sophianic thinking of our Church constantly directed her sons and daughters to overcome internal conflicts, to unite their efforts, to consolidate the Ukrainian people, gathering it around the always genuine Gospel values. Sophia is the wisdom embodied in the personal and social life of the Truth, which creates the architecture of the historical existence of the people, allows the din of generations and civilizations to consolidate the institutional design of its identity, “to build its Native Home.”[6]

14. Within the peace and quiet of the tradition of Sophia in Kyivan Christianity there formed a specific liturgical, theological, spiritual, and canonical heritage. This rich spiritual culture has, unfortunately, not been studied and

investigated sufficiently. Today, together with our Orthodox brothers, co-heirs of the Church of Kyiv, we are called to reopen this common treasure, to explore and develop it as a precious foundation for our spiritual unity. Kyivan piety is above all the attention to the human heart at its deepest dimension, in which the ability to feel and comprehend reality and to make decisions under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is concentrated. It is there that the Wisdom of God works on the restoration of the human being, whose image had become obscured. Therefore, the human heart, as well as the surrounding reality, requires development of authentic values. The ideal of an asceticism (askesis) formed under such conditions is physical labour, which allows a person to feel closer to the created world and, at the same time, prompts them to take responsibility for themselves. From the human heart—“an abyss, wider than all the waters and the heavens”[7]—the Wisdom of God reaches the entire inner world of a person made conscious by the perception of responsibility for others. Hard work becomes a valuable ideal, an instrument of social service.

15. Responsibility for

the common good and serving the needy remain two decisive features of the social dimension of Kyivan piety. We find numerous testimonies about them in the lives of the great saints of our land, including the venerable Theodosius of the Kyiv Caves and other ascetics from the Paterikon of the Kyiv Caves Monastery. This kind of piety forms the image of the person restored by the Holy Spirit, who lives in the fulness of integrity (sophrosyne) and which is particular to our spiritual culture—the holy man as a bearer and witness of Divine Wisdom. Prayer, work, fasting, and deeds of mercy allow man to become a living embodiment of the incomprehensible Wisdom of the Creator Himself. The first fruit of holiness guided by God’s wisdom is the spiritual achievement of the holy martyrs of the brothers Boris and Hlib. From the depths of this special gift for our people, Divine Wisdom paved the way to the hearts of countless martyrs for the unity of the Church of Christ—both during the persecution of the Church of Kyiv in the Russian Empire and during the communist terror of the twentieth century: their

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“martyr’s blood testifies before heaven and earth to their unwavering faith in God.”[8] In the heart in which God’s Wisdom has come to dwell, the Gospel principles become vital benchmarks for our present life, and from there, from the cell of our own heart, we go to the wide world, to transfigure it, to bring human society in line with these revealed values. For centuries, the Kyivan Church, faithful to its salvific mission, sanctifies the heart of every Ukrainian and all people with the grace of God, brightly shining a wonderful icon of Divine Wisdom before the world. Sophia of Kyiv: A Valuable Paradigm for the Construction of Statehood and Social Institutions of the Ukrainian People

16. The ethics of social relations, formed in the context of the sophianic logic of our history, defines a special place for the leader of the people. The function of state power and public leadership in the Kyivan tradition acquires the features characteristic of it. It is easy to notice in Volodymyr Monomakh’s Instruction: the grand prince is not guided in his actions only by his own intelligence and general human experience. He looks for God’s statutes,

wisely acknowledging the primacy of Divine Providence over his own will. State authority is, first and foremost, a ministry that leads to caring for the people entrusted by God, especially widows and orphans, the poor and the infirm. Laziness is perhaps the greatest of sins. Every human activity must be tireless and enlightened by God’s grace. That is why the prince appeals in prayer to God with a request to strengthen his heart with wisdom. Moral and theological virtues are at the core of his personal life and social service: “And this is for you the foundation of all: have fear of God above all else.”[9] The prince does not usurp power given to him by the Almighty to protect his native land and ensure the well-being of his subordinates. He is called to wisely dispose of it for the sake of peace and harmony in the country. In our system of values based on Sophia, God’s people remain the bearers of God’s Wisdom, and from there—a voice that is capable of reminding the prince of his sacred mission and warn against abuse of power.

17. Throughout the centuries, the light of the Gospel of Christ has abundantly enlightened every dimension of the life and ways of our

nation. The Word of God laid the foundations of social and state institutions, deepened the understanding of human freedom and dignity, the rights and duties of citizens, the responsibility of the authorities, and helped to reconcile public and economic activity with revealed truths. An important echo of God’s Wisdom in the history of the Ukrainian people in the Kyivan Church is the unquestioning respect for knowledge. Metropolitan Andrey once said: “All Ukrainians highly value science and education.”[10] The Metropolitan himself and his successors made considerable efforts to prevent the Ukrainian people from losing their desire for wisdom. After all, knowledge leads to a deeper understanding of oneself and the surrounding world, allowing a person to fruitfully interact with reality. Science and education help people protect their identity, save their own soul, and create a blossoming future. Prosperity is the key to economic development and social progress, however, only when guided by true values: “If you love profit, look for it in a decent way,” wrote Hryhorii Skovoroda.[11] By entering human reality, God’s Wisdom enlightens minds and directs the

human will to the right action, helping wisely to guide God’s creation, which has been entrusted to it.

18. In a particular way, our people and its Church became witnesses of the incarnation of the Wisdom of God in their own history in inexpressible suffering and persecution, with faithfulness and dignity inherited for the sake of Christ and His justice. We are the Church of the Martyrs for God’s Truth. The trials, which fell abundantly on the Ukrainian people, became a place of revelation of God’s power and wisdom. They created our specificity, formed our identity. For we do not preach the wisdom of this world, but in our own history we authentically proclaim “a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification” (1 Corinthians 2:7). This is the very mystery of the divine plan, which appeared to the world from the height of the cross and illuminated it with the light of Christ’s resurrection. This is the wisdom that bestows the fullness of life and overcomes death itself.

19. In his pastoral message to the clergy of our Church,

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written in the Krasnoyarsk region, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, of blessed memory, compares the history of the Church of Christ to the cross-bearing (stavrophoric) procession of the righteous and martyrs for the Truth of God: “And in this cross-bearing procession, a separate row is made up of the confessors of our Greco-Catholic Church...There you see your grandparents and great-grandparents, parents and relatives, many of your spiritual children, friends, and acquaintances...Behind those worthy, venerable, and holy ancestors, you follow with your heavy crosses, falling under them not once or twice, but repeatedly, only to rise again. They are all with you in your struggle for the Church and its unity, to bear your heavy cross with you in spirit and prayer!”[12]Sophia of Kyiv is also the wisdom of our people (phronema), which is manifested in times of suffering and gives the power to transfigure the pain and sadness of persecution into the ineffable joy of faithfulness to Christ, into spiritual victory over the forces of fear and gloom, and into the triumph of the resurrection. Our Church has always been conscious of its mission before its own people and the whole

world to proclaim the Gospel “not with eloquent wisdom of discourse,” but by the love of the cross of the Lord, which “to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:17). Sophia of Kyiv: The Hodegetria of the Eternal Purpose of the Children of the Ukrainian Church and the People

20. The righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky ends his famous “Prayer for Divine Wisdom” with these words: “grant me the wisdom that I and my people lack; grant me the wisdom of true satisfaction, true happiness.”[13] In these words, our great righteous hierarch seems to draw the eyes of his own heart toward the future, which must still be attained through the struggle of prayer and by joint hard work. Here was the whole wisdom of the Ukrainian people who, through centuries of trials, look forward and confidently strive for the fullness of their calling to be raised as “an ensign for the nations” (Isaiah 11:12), to be a people of God who, with insurmountable hope, set out on the path to the land promised to them, to the fullness of God’s love and peace. And the guide for them on this path will

be the Wisdom of God, embodied in their history—our Sophia of Kyiv.

21. Sophia of Kyiv is the wisdom of the people born in the grace-filled waters of Volodymyr’s baptism. Since then, the values of the Gospel have laid the foundation for our worldview, have become the norm of organizing the life of society. The fostering of the Ukrainian family as the domestic Church, which preserved our ecclesial life during the years of most severe persecution, the transmission of the faith of our parents to future generations as the most valuable national treasure, and even the process of state-building in our history, imbued with the radiance of God’s Wisdom. Her light teaches us to love our people and its united (soborna) state, while at the same time raising awareness that we are, according to the Apostle Paul, heavenly citizens, and here in this world we do not have a permanent place, but are humble pilgrims heading to our heavenly homeland (cf. Philippians 3:20). It is precisely this high purpose and vocation of every person that allows us to properly evaluate the earthly life and prepare well for eternity. On the way to the heavenly homeland, we are called

upon to embody God’s Sophia in our Ukrainian reality, to build a just world, to create a civilization of peace and love.

22. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Throughout our millennial history, our Church and our people have fully experienced in their bodies the experience of the Paschal Mystery of our Saviour. We have passed through difficult sufferings, have repeatedly experienced death and resurrection. We see the victory and the joy of the resurrection with our own eyes in a free, independent, and united Ukraine. Today, looking again into the eyes of the invaders, we ask the Lord: “Why did you raise us up? What is your plan (pronoia) for us?” To these questions, Divine Wisdom gives us an answer through our own Sophia of Kyiv! Today, just as a thousand of years ago, we are deeply aware of ourselves as the local and simultaneously global Kyivan Church—the Church of the Ukrainian people in unity with the successor of the Apostle Peter, as an integral part of the catholic Universal Church with the mission of uniting all Christians. We are confidently moving

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JANUARY 27, 2019 51

towards the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Our sources are our values, our way of thinking and acting, our tradition and strategy of development, our experience. Our common memory, our fully open heart and helping hand, extended to the Orthodox brethren, our way to the future, our wisdom—this is our Sophia, the Sophia of Kyiv.

23. This Wisdom of the Church and the people is the key to our victory, our passion and indestructibility. This Wisdom, in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, will lead us to a responsible choice this year, to renew and strengthen our state and to secure victory and peace, development and prosperity of the Ukrainian nation. Saint Sophia of Kyiv is the internal force that, without fear and anxiety, leads our people to the future in a particular civilizational way. By its very nature, it is universal—of great value to mankind, which helps all nations to enter a new era not with empty hands, but with the Eternal Wisdom that is at the heart of history. Our Sophia of Kyiv is its authentic reflection, the eternal radiance of Divine Providence, which reveals to us the truth about the person and its purpose in the universe.

Most Holy Theotokos, Throne of Wisdom, Orans of Kyiv and our Unshaken Wall! Lead us, heavenly citizens, on the paths of this earthly existence to our heavenly homeland!

+ SVIATOSLAV

In Kyiv, at the Patriarchal Sobor of the Resurrection of Christ on the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ and our father among the Saints, Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia1/14 January A.D. 2019

___________________[1] Hilarion of Kyiv, Sermon on Law and Grace; Іларіон Київський, “Слово про закон і благодать,“ Філософська думка 4(1988), 89–101.

[2] Ibid.

[3] His Beatitude Lubomyr (Husar), “Один Божий народ у краї на київських пагорбах: Слово Блаженнішого Любомира, Митрополита Києво-Галицької митрополії Української Греко-Католицької Церкви з нагоди започаткування повернення осідку митрополита до Києва, 13 квітня 2004 року,” in Благовісник Верховного Архиєпископа Української Г р е к о - К а т о л и ц ь к о ї Церкви Блаженнішого Любомира кардинала

Гузара (Lviv: Друкарські куншти, 2004), vol. 4, 161–168. [4] Patriarch Joseph (Slipyj), “Завіщання,” in Будьмо собою! Життя і Заповіт патріарха Йосифа Сліпого (Lviv: Видавництво УКУ, 2017), 70.

[5] Metropolitan Andrey (Sheptytsky), “Правдива віра: Пастирське послання до вірних на Буковині,” in Про Віру: Вибрані послання Митрополита Андрея та Патріарха Йосифа Сліпого (Lviv: Артос, 2013), 22.

[6] Metropolitan Andrey (Sheptytsky), Наша Державність. Як будувати рідну хату (Lviv: Артос, 2010).

[7] Hryhorii Skovoroda, “Книжечка про читання Святого Письма, названа «Жiнка Лотова». У 2-х т.,“ in Трактати, діялоги, притчі, переклади, листи, ed. Oleksa Myshanych (Kyiv: УНІГУ & НАН України, 1994), vol. 2, 34–60.

[8] Doxastikon, Tone 1, Sticheron at Psalm 140 from Vespers for the Feast of the Saints of Rus-Ukraine; Divine Office of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite (Stamford, Ct.: Eparchy of Stamford, 2014), 780.

Church News

[9] “Повчання Володимира Мономаха (за Лаврентіївським списком),” Золотеслово. Хрестоматія літератури України-Руси епохи Середньовіччя ІХ – Хстоліть., vol. 2, ed. Vasyl Yaremenko (Kyiv: Аконіт, 2002).

[10] Metropolitan Andrey (Sheptytsky), Божа Мудрість, vol. 1, in Твори морально-аскетичні, vol. XLV-XLVII (Rome: Видання УКУ імені Св. Климента Папи, 1978.

[11] Hryhorii Skovoroda, Розмова, названа алфавіт, або буквар миру (Kyiv: Наукова думка, 1983), 200–249.

[12] Patriarch Joseph (Slipyj), “Пастирське послання до духовенства «Про становище духовних та вірних Української Греко-Католицької церкви після 1946 року та закликом бути стійкими під час переслідувань»,” in Про Віру: Вибрані послання Митрополита Андрея та Патріарха Йосифа Сліпого (Lviv: Артос, 2013), 104.

[13] Metropolitan Andrey (Sheptytsky), “Молитва про Божу Мудрість,” in Молитовник “Прийдіте поклонімся” (Lviv: Свічадо, 2004), 7; https://www.sheptytskyinstitute.ca/metropolitan-andrey-sheptytsky/.



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THE WAY StaffMs. Teresa Siwak, Editor;

Rev. D. George Worschak, Assistant Editor; Very Rev. Archpriest John Fields, Director of Communication

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Established 1939

JANUARY 27, 2019 52

February 2019 - Ëþòèé 2019

Happy Birthday!Ç Äíåì íàðîäæåííÿ!

February 1: Rev. Roman PitulaFebruary 3: Rev. Evhen MoniukFebruary 6: Rev. Robert Hitchens

February 16: Rev. Mr. Donald LatrickFebruary 19: Very Rev. Archpr. John M. Fields

February 22: Rev. Uriy MarkewychFebruary 26: Rev. T. Frank PatrylakFebruary 26: Rev. Myron Myronyuk

February 28: Rev. Ivan Turyk

May the Good Lord Continue toGuide You and Shower You with

His Great Blessings.Mnohaya Lita!

Íåõàé Äîáðèé Ãîñïîäü Òðèìàº Âàñ ó Ñâî¿é Îï³ö³ òà Ùåäðî Áëàãîñëîâèòü Âàñ. Ìíîãàÿ Ë³òà!

Congratulations on yourAnniversary of Priesthood!

Â³òàºìî ç Ð³÷íèöåþ Ñâÿùåíñòâà!

February 12: Rev. Ivan Demkiv(27th Anniversary)

February 14: Bishop John Bura ordained aPriest (48th Anniversary)

February 21: Bishop John Bura ordained aBishop (13th Anniversary)

February 27: Rev. Mr. Theodore Spotts(19th Anniversary)

February 27: Archbishop-emeritus Stefan Soroka

Enthroned as Metropolitan-Archbishop(18th Anniversary)

May God Grant You Many Happyand Blessed Years of Service in the

Vineyard of Our Lord!

Íåõàé Áîã Îáäàðóº ÁàãàòüìàÁëàãîñëîâåííèìè Ðîêàìè Ñëóæ³ííÿ

â Ãîñïîäíüîìó Âèíîãðàäíèêó!

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