Church cornerstone blessed in Zarvanytsia (08/17/97)

Church cornerstone blessed in Zarvanytsia

by the Rev. Roman Hankevych

ZARVANYTSIA, Ukraine - The cornerstone for the Cathedral of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia was blessed here on May 11, which also happened to be Mother's Day. The village of Zarvanytsia is located in Berezhany county in the Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine.

Bishop Mykhail Sabryha, together the pastor of Zarvanytsia, Mitred Archpriest Vasyl Semeniuk, Mitred Archpriest Vasyl Ivasiuk of Zboriv, the Mitred Archpriest Mykola Matychak visiting from England, and numerous other clergy, officiated at the ceremony in the presence of government and district representatives Bohdan Boyko and Ivan Boychuk and 15,000 pilgrims.

It was 750 years ago that a pious monk, fleeing the Mongol invasion and the ruins of Kyiv, fell asleep by a little creek on the shores of the Strypa River in the village of Zarvanytsia. While soundly asleep, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary holding a baby in her arms. In the morning he found an icon of the Virgin Mary holding a baby - the same as in his vision.

News of the miraculous icon spread, and the first church was build by the renowned Ukrainian Prince Vasylko Terebovelsky, brother of King Danylo. The shrine was closely tied to the fate of Ukraine and endured enemy attacks along with the rest of the country. During these times the church suffered, as did the monastery, which became a refuge for local inhabitants. The loyal children of the Mother of God would rebuild the ruined shrine, and She, in turn, protected them.

Through the years metropolitans, bishops, priests and the faithful streamed from every corner of Ukraine to Zarvanytsia with gratitude for the graces obtained and with prayers for help. Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, after his release from Siberia and arrival in Rome, recreated the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia and sent copies of it to his faithful around the world for veneration.

The people never forgot the miraculous icon nor the healing spring water of Zarvanytsia. The rebirth and construction of Zarvanytsia began in 1988.

The first person to celebrate the divine liturgy in Zarvanytsia on the occasion of the millennium of the baptism of Rus'-Ukraine was Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk. Later, Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk, Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky and hundreds of thousands of faithful visited Zarvanytsia.

In response to the call of Cardinal Lubachivsky and the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, a million faithful gathered in Zarvanytsia in 1995 to participate in the renewal of the "Consecration of the Ukrainian People to the Most Pure Virgin Mary," which was first proclaimed by the great Kyivan Prince Yaroslav Mudryi.

At the gathering, it became evident that Zarvanytsia needed a new church. The idea of building a grand church to the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia surfaced. Upon the initiative of the pastor of Zarvanytsia, the Rev. Semeniuk, and the proposal of Bishop Sabryha, the bishops participating in the sobor and Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Lviv turned to all people of good will with the entreaty to help with this grand project. This plea was directed largely to Ukrainians in the diaspora due to the fragile economic state in Ukraine. The recreation of the church is impossible without help from abroad.

A contest for the best design for the church also has been announced. It has been endorsed by the Union of Architects and Artists of Ukraine, as well as the National Institute for the Rebirth of Ukraine. First place was awarded to Mychailo Nehrebniak from Ternopil.

The church will be constructed on the side of the mountain over the miraculous spring. According to tradition it will face east. The magnificent sobor will have two sanctuaries. It will also contain crypts for the interment of outstanding ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries. The upper church will accommodate 2,000 faithful. A stairway will link the shrine and the miraculous spring.

Even the smallest offering will be recognized by a personal certificate, and the names of bigger donors will be inscribed on a commemorative plaque in the shrine.

Please send donations to: Cathedral of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia Building Committee, 15 St. Olga St., Hamilton, Ontario L8L 6R3; make your checks payable to Sobor Zarvanytskoyi Materi Bozhoyi."

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