CHICAGO – Father Andrij Hlabse, SJ, a Ukrainian Catholic from Parma, Ohio, was ordained a Jesuit priest on July 15, following nearly a decade of Jesuit formation. The ordination was performed according to the Byzantine Rite and took place at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Parma.
“Thanks, in the first place, are owed to God — who made me, called me and, above all, sustained me with his faithful love through the various stages of our lengthy formation,” said Father Hlabse. “God has been utterly faithful to the trust I have placed in him walking this path on which he called me.”
Father Hlabse grew up in Brecksville, Ohio, and his family attended St. Josaphat in Parma and St. Basil the Great in Brecksville. He is a graduate of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, where he first began to discern a vocation to the priesthood. He later attended the University of Notre Dame and earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance as a jazz saxophonist and in Romance languages and literature. He performed regularly as a professional musician during college and was involved in liturgical ministries at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus. He also assisted with liturgical music at Notre Dame’s Log Chapel.
In 2006, Father Hlabse returned to St. Ignatius as part of the Alumni Discernment and Volunteer Program, working in Christian service, campus ministry, and the jazz and liturgical music programs. The next year, he entered the Society of Jesus as a novice.
“My heartfelt thanks go to my family, my first teachers in the faith, and to my Jesuit formators who helped me to learn the Jesuit way of life,” said Father Hlabse. “I also give thanks to our benefactors who made possible the various studies and experiences that will enable me to live my priesthood in a truly Jesuit way.”
Those various studies and experiences included two years in the novitiate in Berkeley, Mich., a master’s degree in philosophical resources from Fordham University in the Bronx, three years teaching Spanish and religion at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. While in Rome, Father Hlabse served as director of the choir of the International College of the Gesù at the Church of the Gesù.
“Among the chief blessings of the Jesuit vocation is that I will spend my life helping others to recognize and live God’s call through sacramental ministry, intellectual research, and spiritual direction,” said Father Hlabse. “Thanks be to God that I am blessed not only to live this call myself but to help others do the same.”
Following his ordination, Father Hlabse returned to Rome to begin a licentiate in patristic theology at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Father Hlabse is one of five Midwest Jesuits to be ordained in 2018 and one of 27 from the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, is a religious order of priests and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church. For more than 475 years, the Jesuits have served in the spirit of St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the order in 1540. Jesuits serve throughout the United States and the world, in educational institutions, parishes, retreat centers, social justice ministries, international ministries and intellectual apostolates.
Source: Jesuits USA Midwest Province