OTTAWA – Patriarch Sviatoslav, father and head of the worldwide Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, recently blessed icons of Venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.
During its fall 2015 fund-raising direct mail campaign, the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute Foundation had offered a special gift to benefactors who donated $500 or more: a mounted icon print of Metropolitan Sheptytsky, blessed by the metropolitan’s current successor, Patriarch Sviatoslav. The patriarch blessed the icons at his residence in Kyiv on January 21.
In 2015, Pope Francis proclaimed Metropolitan Andrey to be a man of heroic virtue, who is now to be titled “venerable.” His beatification is expected in the not too distant future, since a healing miracle from the United States attributed to Metropolitan Sheptytsky, and certified by an ecclesiastical commission, has already been submitted to a panel of physicians who advise the Vatican on whether there is any possible medical reason for the healing. Since it is believed that there is indeed no medical explanation for the healing of the child suffering from cancer, many believe that beatification will soon follow.
Unfortunately, the process has on several occasions fallen prey to outside interests who have lobbied against the beatification for reasons that are much more political than theological.
Sheptytsky Institute founder Father Andriy Chirovsky called on people of good will to continue to pray for the cause of beatification: “Truth is on our side. Many of us have seen the fruits of and personally experienced the heavenly assistance of Metropolitan Andrey. Perhaps the delay in his beatification and canonization is meant to challenge us to be more like the saintly metropolitan and pray more consistently. Metropolitan Andrey especially asked for us to pray daily for the gift of Divine Wisdom.”
“Now that we have icons of Metropolitan Andrey, that should facilitate our prayers and serve as a reminder to us of his heavenly care for us,” Father Chirovsky added.
The Sheptytsky Institute and its foundation can be contacted at [email protected], or by calling toll-free, 800-637-6859, ext. 2648. The institute’s website is at www.sheptytskyinstitute.ca.