BALTIMORE – The parishioners and guests of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Baltimore joined the Rev. Vasyl Sivinskyj and the beautiful 10 first confession and communion recipients in an uplifting liturgy on Sunday, May 17.
Afterwards all the families gathered for a luncheon attended by over 150 invited guests in the church hall. The joyous event saw the largest group of first confession/communion children in more than 20 years.
After the liturgy, the Rev. Sivinskyj gave each child a prayerbook, rosary and icon as remembrance of the holy event. The preparations of the children with weekly classes for the last few months were diligently conducted by Maria Kaczaniuk and Olia Kalivoshko, with the final session as an introduction to the liturgy, confession and communion conducted by Father Sivinskyj. The children also were prepared by Halya Zezlo and gave a joint presentation at the luncheon that was greatly appreciated by everyone.
The expansive luncheon buffet tables with seemingly limitless selections of various foods were prepared by Valentyna and Taras Stelmach, assisted by their team of cooks. The entire day was a memorable event for the children, their brothers and sisters, and friends and families.
From the contributions of the parents to cover the luncheon expenses, Ms. Stelmach and her team donated $400 for the Victims of the War in Ukraine recuperating from devastating injuries in Ivano-Frankivsk. In addition through a “pyrohy prep” and other donations, over $2,500 was raised for the cause to be immediately delivered to Ukraine.