SOUTH BOUND BROOK, N.J. – Nearly 2,000 visitors arrived during the weekend of May 4-5 to mark the annual St. Thomas Sunday pilgrimage at the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. Despite the rain and wind, many congregated to remember their deceased loved ones with graveside memorial services.
Archbishop Daniel, the ruling hierarch of the Western Eparchy and president of the Consistory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., greeted thousands of pilgrims during the hierarchical divine liturgy on Bright Saturday morning, May 4.
As the early morning sunlight shone upon the Metropolia grounds, the first pilgrims started to arrive in order to share the joy of Pascha (Easter) with each other and the faithful of the Church buried at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery.
Yaroslav Bilohan
Archbishop Daniel leads a graveside memorial service.
Each pilgrim was welcomed to the Metropolia Center by the members of the Ukrainian Orthodox League (UOL) that for the past several years have served as a welcoming committee of the faithful to their spiritual center. The property management crew of the Metropolia Center, under the leadership of Petro Rudyy, made sure that visitors smoothly approached the parking facilities of the Metropolia Center. Special shuttle buses were available between St. Andrew’s Cemetery and the Consistory offices of the UOC-U.S.A. Each day of the pilgrimage began with a hierarchical divine liturgy.
In the late afternoon on Saturday, guests had a chance to tour St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary and later joined the seminarians of the Church for a picnic at the seminary, which was sponsored by the Seminary UOL chapter. Visitors were treated to hot dogs and hamburgers grilled by student-seminarians. Both hierarchs – Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel – joined the picnic to learn about the culinary skills of the student body and to taste the delicious foods.
The picnic concluded with vespers served in the Three Hierarchs Seminary Chapel.
Yaroslav Bilohan
Hierarchs and clergy, joined by Ukrainian American Veterans, lead the memorial service inside St. Andrew Memorial Church.
On Sunday morning, May 5, Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel concelebrated divine liturgy. The hierarchs were assisted by the clergy from the Mid-Atlantic states surrounding New Jersey, and some from beyond that area. As the bells of St. Andrew Memorial Church pealed, the bishops walked in a procession to the church, an impressive monument commemorating the victims of the genocidal famine directed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his Communist regime against Ukraine in1932-1933 resulting in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians. The choir, under the masterful direction of Dr. Michael Andrec, prayerfully sang the liturgical responses.
Archbishop Daniel centered his sermon on the scars on Christ’s body and on His mystical body – the Church. The archbishop reflected on the pious traditions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians of visiting the graves of their loved ones in order to share with them the news of the Resurrection of Christ. Archbishop Daniel reflected also on the tragic events of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster that occurred almost 33 years ago on April 26, 1986.
Lev Khmelkovsky
Ukrainian American Veterans pay tribute to their fallen brethren.
The archbishop also spoke of the innocent some 15,000 Ukrainian men, women and children who lost their lives due to the barbaric behavior of politically motivated militants in eastern Ukraine and throughout the region where people continue to experience Russian aggression. His sermon included the various historical, political and Church-related scars of modern-day Ukraine and the United States of America, and called upon the faithful gathered to be true witnesses of the Risen Lord in the world that is so thirsty for a word of love, hope and mercy.
At the conclusion of divine liturgy, both hierarchs spoke to the faithful, greeting mothers with the annual observance of Mother’s Day and offering payers for the nurturers and tender caretakers of traditional families.
Due to the rainy weather conditions of the weekend, the traditional Memorial Service for all those interred in St. Andrew Cemetery and Mausoleum, all the hierarchs and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the members of the Fisher Family – original owners of the estate where the Metropolia Center is located, was conducted inside the memorial church.
Yaroslav Bilohan
Archbishop Daniel and Metropolitan Antony enjoy the Seminary picnic.
Ukrainian American Veterans formally entered St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Memorial Church, thus paying tribute to countless number of Ukrainian Americans who have sacrificed their lives in military service of the U.S.A. During the memorial service, the hierarchs of the Church commemorated the 10 million victims of the Holodomor, the millions of victims of the Soviet repressions in Ukraine, the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster and all those who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of Ukraine and the U.S.A., the victims of abortion, numerous natural disasters and terrorist acts throughout the world, especially the suffering Christian communities in Sri Lanka and African nations. Special prayers were offered this year for the victims of the ongoing aggression against Ukraine in the Donbas region.
Saturday and Sunday were filled with the selling of traditional Ukrainian food and folk crafts like pysanky, original oil paintings, ceramics, jewelry, ecclesiastical vestments and vessels, music CDs and videos in the cultural center. Some of the Consistory Offices of Ministry and central organizations of the UOC-U.S.A. offered exhibits about their ministries in our communities: The Offices of Youth and Adult Ministry, Public Relations, Publications, the Ukrainian Orthodox League, St. Andrew Ukrainian Saturday School and St. Andrew Society.
Yaroslav Bilohan
Members of the Ukrainian Orthodox League welcoming and parking crew.
During the weekend the Ukrainian History and Education Center of New Jersey emphasized its own presentation in its temporary exhibition space with an exhibit titled “Rushnyky – Ritual Cloths of the Cossack Lands of Ukraine” that was skillfully prepared by its curators and the staff.
The big side room in the cultural center was also the site for a youth ice cream social hosted by the Consistory Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. This was an opportunity for youth from all over the country to meet with each other and with hierarchs of the Church.
Much gratitude was expressed to all those who made the weekend the success: the Consistory Office staff members and property management staff under the direction of Mr. Rudyy, the Cultural Center staff, Pokrova Sisterhood members, the St. Andrew Memorial Church choir and the members of the UOL who handled the sometimes difficult parking program.
Memorial services served by the hierarchs and seminarians of the Church’s Seminary for Metropolitan Ioan (Theodorovich) and other hierarchs of the UOC-U.S.A. concluded this year’s pilgrimage.