Most Reverend Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops, Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Venerable Religious and Monastics, Beloved Brothers and Sisters, in Ukraine and throughout the world Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of […]
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Christmas Traditions
by Brent Kostyniuk O, Most merciful Lord and You, Son of Righteousness We greet you with holy Christmas Last year You gave us a harvest, You gave us goodness, You gave us health, You gave us wealth Then help us this year so that it will be better. Given Ukrainians’ love for ritual and symbolism, […]
Fr. Andriy Chirovsky Speaks About Ukraine and About the Meaning of Christmas
On December 16, 2014 The “Daily Double” radio program on Tucson, AZ, radio station KVOI 1013 AM featured an hour-long conversation with the founder of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI), Fr. Andriy Chirovsky. The program, hosted by Chris DeSimone, features a daily extended interview with one guest. Fr. Andriy has been the […]
Christmas Epistle of His Beatitude Sviatoslav
Christ is born! Hearing the voice of the angel which could be heard by the shepherds in the dark night, we are hurrying today to the poor stable in Bethlehem. Here in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we see the Son of God who came into our world as a human being. Together […]
Christmas Pastoral Letter of UGCC Bishops of Canada 2013-2014
2013/2014 PASTORAL LETTER OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF CANADA ON THE OCCASION OF THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD To the Reverend Clergy, Religious Women and Men, Monastics, Seminarians and Laity Christ is Born! Let us Glorify Him! Welcoming the Stranger in Our Midst! The birth of Jesus. Luke’s Gospel records the birth […]
Christmas Pastoral Letter of Vladyka Ken, Bishop of New Westminster
Office of the Bishop New Westminster Eparchy Christmas Pastoral Letter of 2013 Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Dear Sisters and Brothers, Thanks to the wonders of electronic communication, reaching people around the world and sharing news, trends and events is possible at the touch of a keyboard or the tap on a smartphone screen. In […]
Byzantine Christmas: Feast of Recreation
St Gregory of Nazlanzus sums up the Eastern Christian view of Christmas in his famous statement that the Nativity of Christ “is not a festival of creation but a festival of recreation.” The birth of Christ, although a historical event, is not an end but a means to the renewal, sanctification, and recreation of the […]
Pastoral Letter on St. Philip’s Fast
Pastoral Letter of the Ukrainian Catholic Hierarchy of the USA Behold, I am about to do something new!Now it already springs forth; do you not see it?(Is. 43:19) Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We are commencing the Fast of St. Philip, embarking on a journey that culminates in the contemplation of an indescribable mystery […]
The Fast of the Dormition – Spasiwka
From the book, A Byzantine Rite Liturgical Year, by Fr. Julian Katrij, OSBM, translated by Fr. Demtrius Wysochansky, OSBM. Christians of the first centuries always prepared themselves for great feasts with fasting and prayer. Gradually shorter or longer fasts developed from this sacred practice. The Great Fast before the glorious feast of the Pasch occupies […]
St. Nicholas
by Brent Kostyniuk Of all the saints commemorated in the Byzantine liturgical year, one of the most beloved surely has to be our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra. Although not exclusively a Ukrainian saint, he has won a special place in the hearts of Ukrainians. In Canada alone, there some two dozen […]