NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Following his pastoral visit of the Philadelphia Archeparchy during the weekend of May 10-12, Patriarch Sviatoslav accepted the invitation of Supreme Grand Knight Carl Anderson to celebrate the divine liturgy on Monday, May 13, in New Haven, Conn.
The patriarch traveled with his staff by train from Philadelphia to New Haven. The divine liturgy was celebrated together with his staff and area clergy of the Stamford Eparchy in the chapel of the Knights of Columbus building. The service was attended by members of the Supreme Council and some 150 managers and employees. The entire divine liturgy was sung in English according to traditional Galician chant.
Concelebrants of the divine liturgy were Msgr. John Terlecky, the vice-rector of Holy Spirit Greek-Catholic Seminary of Lviv when the patriarch was a student there in in 1992-1994; the Very Rev. Andriy Maksymovych, moderator of the Patriarchal Curia; the Rev. Volodymyr Malchyn, vice-chancellor of the Kyiv Archeparchy as well as national spiritual director of the Knights in Ukraine; and the Rev. Ihor Iatsiv, communications director of the Curia.
Bishop Paul Chomnycky assigned the Rev. Ivan Mazuryk of Bridgeport, Conn., to handle preparations needed for the divine liturgy. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Terlecky of Stamford, Conn., and Spring Valley, N.Y., provided an introduction to the Byzantine liturgy to those in attendance; the Very Rev. Archpriest Edward Young baked the prosphora bread.
In attendance also were the Rev. Iura Godenciuc of New Haven and the Rev. Stefan Yanovski of East Haven, Conn. Congregational singing was beautifully led by three seminarians of St. Basil Seminary in Stamford, Markian and Nazar Dmyterko and Roman Kuzmiak, and the Rev. Mikhailo Myshchuk of Watervliet, N.Y. Vestments were provided by St. Basil Seminary. Close to 100 of those present received Holy Communion (perhaps for the first time) according to the Byzantine rite.
In his homily, Patriarch Sviatoslav focused on the Gospel reading of the paralytic at the Bethesda pool. He addressed the man’s lonely character and how the glory of God touched him through the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He also spoke about the Knights of Columbus organization and how it addresses so many needs of the world’s population and how it reveals the glory of God and His mercy.
At the end of the liturgy, Patriarch Sviatoslav presented the signed antimension used in the service to the supreme grand knight as his contribution to the noted Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven.
[An antimension is a cloth in the design of a small “plashchnytsia” that is necessary by liturgical law in order to celebrate the divine liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. It usually is placed on the altar beneath the Gospelbook. The antimension is consecrated and signed by a bishop, which empowers a priest to celebrate the liturgy for the faithful. In this case, the antimension was signed by Patriarch Sviatoslav and entrusted as a museum piece to the Knights of Columbus.]A fine luncheon was provided to all the clergy by the Grand Council and followed by a private audience of the patriarch with the supreme grand knight. The Knights of Columbus provided limousine service to the patriarch and his staff to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for an evening flight to Ukraine.
Patriarch Sviatoslav is a founding member of the Knights of Columbus Kyiv Council. The Knights of Columbus are the most active Catholic men’s society in present-day Ukraine.