A Traveller in Carpathia

This next song by the seminary choir of the Eparchy of Mukachevo is the Cherubic Hymn (Іже Херувими). Be sure to check the schedule for when they will be visiting your church, or a church near you, as they tour the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and Eparchy of Passaic between Sept. 11th to Oct. 2nd! Don’t forget to share the information with your friends and family. This will be an event not to be missed!

For more information check out the following link;

These are photos only from the first day of the pilgrimage from Khust to Tyachyv, but it continued for a second day onto the vilage of the birthplace of Bl. Bishop Teodor Romzha. There were hundreds of youth present for the pilgrimage, many priests, as well as both Bishop Milan Šašik (Eparchy of Mukachevo) and Bishop Kurt Burnette (Eparchy of Passaic). The pilgrimage stopped at several churches along the way for rest. Priests were seen hearing confessions the whole 20km route. At the end of the day a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated.

Today we had an opportunity to listen to the seminary choir of the Eparchy of Mukachevo practice before their upcoming trip to the United States with the Orientale Lumen Foundation. They will be visiting parishes and sites in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and also the Eparchy of Passaic between September 11th and Oct 2nd. In anticipation of their trip, and as a way to raise awareness of this event, we will be posting soundbites of their beautiful singing over the coming days.

Pascha in Mukachevo in 1947. From left to right Fr. Mykhaylo Bendas, Fr. Evmeniy Dulishkovych, Bishop Teodor Romzha, Deacon Myron Beskyd, and Fr. Mykhaylo Shuba.

Пасха в Мукачеві 1947 року. Зліва дулішкович: о. Микайло бендас, о. Євменій Дулішковіч, єпискор Теодор Ромжа, диякон Мирон Бескид, о. Микайло Шуба.

In February 1990, a delegation of Ruthenian Catholic Bishops and Priests travelled to Uzhhorod shortly after the legalization of the Church (1989) to celebrate with the Ruthenian faithful of the Eparchy of Mukachevo this momentous event in the life of the Church. It was to be, practically speaking, the first major Divine Liturgy celebrated since the suppression of the Greek Catholic Church in 1947.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Greek Catholic Church in Tsehol’nya (Church of the Transfiguration) on February 18th, 1990 by Bishop Ivan Semedi (Eparchy of Mukachevo), Metropolitan Stephen Kocisko (Archeparchy of Pittsburg), Bishop Michael Dudick (Eparchy of Passaic), and Bishop Thomas Dolinay (Eparchy of Van Nuys), as well as priests and deacons from both the United States and the Eparchy of Mukachevo.

This is just one of the many women though whose prayers our Church has been sustained from time immemorial through the graces and mercies of Christ.

They are the women who rise early to go to Divine Liturgy, no matter the time nor the day.

They are the women who are seen bringing beautiful and freshly cut flowers to adorn our Temples and the icons of Our Lord and the Theotokos.

Yesterday, at the Church of the Annunciation in Uzhhorod, a panachida was celebrated for priest-martyr, Fr. Danil Bachynsky who suffered for the faith in prison in 1951. The panachida was celebrated by both Bishop Milan Sasik, Bishop Nil Lushcak, as well as Mitered Archpriest Mikhail Banick and Fr. Olexiy Nebesnyk.

Interestingly enough his son, also named Fr. Danil Bachynsky, was the one who heard Blessed Theordore Romzha’s last confession before he was martyred, and would also be arrested and sent to the gulag during the suppression of our Church.

I’m writing this quick note from a small village called, situated not terribly far from воловець (see map). We drove out here this evening, and a beautiful drive it was. I wish I could share pictures now, but alas I didn’t bring my computer. Anyways, I digress. The drive was about two hours from Uzhhorod and after arriving here we had dinner and I was informed that we would have Vespers with Litya tomorrow evening at 8pm; 6pm local time. Excuse me? I felt like I was watching TV for a moment when they would tell you the time of the programming for central time zone. Evidently I’ve travelled far enough away from the big city to discover something called “час місцевий” or, essentially, local (or village) time. Village time, you see, is two hours different from Kyiv time and does not partake in Daylight savings. After the initial shock of the concept passed I gotta say I love the principle of it – I wish we could all dump Daylight savings as well. Something has to be said for life in these villages. It may he a hard life but these people are some of the most amazing, gracious, and hospitable people I’ve ever met. Yea, they’ve got their quirky ways, but maybe they are onto something because I think, at times, we’ve lost entirely too much touch with this old world charm. Anyways, word to the wise, if you travel into the Carpathians be sure to know what time zone you are operating in.

Yesterday in Lyakhivtsi at the Church of the Holy Trinity a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Bishop Nil Lushchak, the auxiliary bishop for the Eparchy of Mukachevo, as well as the first solemn communion of three children. While the Church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and celebrates it’s patronal feast on Holy Trinity Monday, it also celebrates a feast in honor of their altar patron on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

(Note: Photos were primarily taken in black and white due to the green reflection coming from the gazebo in which it the Divine Liturgy was celebrated beneath. As mentioned in an earlier post the community here is in the process of building a new Church).