Faith

The Final Goodbye – at least for a while

The Final Goodbye – at least for a while

by Brent Kostyniuk It has become fashionable to call funerals “Celebrations of Life.” The rationale for this seems to be a desire to enhance the memory of the deceased person and keep it fresh. In a subtle way, however, a Celebration of Life can be an attempt to deny reality. While we all want to remember loved ones who have passed, we also need to accept the fact they have left this earthly life. All of us grieve in our own way. We cry, we despair, we struggle with thoughts of what might have been, we overindulge to ease to…
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Watch Now – A Faith Under Siege

Watch Now – A Faith Under Siege

Just released for online viewing! From their website: Russian occupation authorities formally banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and Catholic humanitarian groups in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, labeling them “foreign intelligence” entities. All Greek- and Latin-rite Catholic priests have been expelled or fled, leaving “not a single Catholic priest” serving in the occupied territories, according to UGCC leadership. Russian forces have killed nearly 70 clergy and destroyed over 630 places of worship in Ukraine, with occupation authorities central to the repression. Catholic churches and properties have been seized and rededicated for the Russian Orthodox Church, described by UGCC leadership…
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2025 Christmas Pastoral Letter of the UGCC Bishops of Canada

2025 Christmas Pastoral Letter of the UGCC Bishops of Canada

To the Very Reverend Clergy, Monastics and Religious Sisters and Brothers,Seminarians and Laity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada Christ is Born! Let us Glorify Him! She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,because there was no room for them in the inn. [Lk. 2:7] Dearly Beloved in Christ! A mother hugs her infant child and sets him down to sleep. The child, filled with anxiety and fear, clings to his mother for comfort. This is not his usual bed; but rather it is a makeshift bundle of blankets on the Kyiv subway floor. The…
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Christmas Pastoral Letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav

Christmas Pastoral Letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav

Вих. ВА 25/313 ENG Most Reverend Archbishops and Metropolitans,God-loving Bishops, Very Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics,Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters,in Ukraine and throughout the world And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babywrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.(Luke 2:12). Christ is born! Glorify Him! Beloved in Christ! Today the whole universe welcomes the Savior born among us: angels sing, shepherds worship, kings travel with a star. The peace of God descends upon a confused and troubled humanity, which receives the light of hope that shines over the whole world from lowly Bethlehem! Christmas…
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Guardian Angels

Guardian Angels

by Brent Kostyniuk Angel of GodMy guardian dearBy whom God’s love entrust me hereEver this dayBe at my sideTo light and guardTo rule and guide. I do not remember a time when I did not know this prayer. Presumably either my mother or father taught it to me at a very young age, when I would kneel beside my little cot and say a nightly prayer. On the wall above my bed was a picture of a very little boy and his dog, both kneeling by their bed, invoking the simple prayer of, “Please.” Although I did not have a…
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Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God

Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God

We sing your praises, O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of Christ our God, and we glorify your all-glorious patronage.Hymn of Praise from the Sixteenth CenturyAmong the Marian feasts listed in our Liturgical Year, the feast of the Patronage of the Most Holy Mother of God deserves special consideration. The cult of the Mother of God as the Protectress of our nation reaches like a golden thread from the times of the Kievan princes to the present day. The secret of honouring the Mother of God as a Protectress lies, perhaps, in the fact that we are dealing here not with…
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The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

We extol you, O Lifegiver Christ, and honour your venerable Cross,by which you saved us from the slavery of the enemy.(Hymn of Praise in the Matins Service of the Feast) “The veneration of the Holy Cross of the Lord,” – says the Servant of God Andrew Sheptytsky in his pastoral letter on the Holy Cross – “is one of the most significant aspects of the worship of the God-Man... Signing ourselves with the sign of the Cross is one of the oldest customs of Christians.” The Holy Cross is an ever-living symbol of God’s everlasting love toward us sinners, a…
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How Our Liturgical Year Developed

How Our Liturgical Year Developed

by Fr. Julian Katrijtranslated by Fr. Demetrius Wysochansky, OSBMIn the Old Testament we read about the mysterious tree of life, which God had planted in the garden of Eden. Although this tree no longer exists, the Lord has planted a new tree of life in the supernatural garden of the Church. This tree flourishes before our eyes, blossoming every year with new freshness and vigor; ever renewing itself, and bringing forth abundant fruit for eternal life, - and that mystical tree is the Liturgical Year.The development and growth of the Ecclesiastical Year can be aptly compared to the growth of…
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Our Liturgical Year

Our Liturgical Year

by Fr. Julian Katrijtranslated by Fr. Demetrius Wysochansky, OSBMO Author of all created things Who has establishedthe seasons and the years, bless the crown of the yearwith your goodness, O Lord.Troparion of the Indiction Our Eastern Rite is a priceless heritage and treasure of the Eastern Church and our Ukrainian people. It is noted for its venerable antiquity, its profound content, its mysticism, symbolism, and magnificent liturgical ceremonies. Developed by the greatest and most gifted of the faithful of the Eastern Church of different ages, countries and peoples, it has been sanctified by the prayers, tears, and sacrifices of the…
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The Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom

The Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have laboured long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in no wise be deprived therefore. If…
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