April 2nd, 2018: Страсний понеділок/Holy Monday
10:00am Утреня/Matins
April 4th, 2018: Страсна середа/Holy Wednesday
11:00 a.m. Літургія Єлейопомазання/Liturgy of Anointing
April 5th, 2018: Страсний четвер/Holy Thursday
10:00am Вечірня з Літургією св. Василія Великого/Vespers with the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great
7:00 p.m. Утреня страстей (читання 12 євангелій)/Matins of the Passion
(reading of the 12 Gospels)
Continue reading
Today marks the mid-point of Great Lent and we venerate the Holy Cross. The Cross is a reminder of the immensity of God’s love demonstrated in the person of
Jesus Christ who accepted death on the Cross, but through God’s love was raised on the third day.
Ця неділя, хрестопоклонна знаменує собою середину Великої Чотиридесятниці (Посту). І в цю неділю наша увага звернена на превелику Божу любов котра виявилася в особі Ісуса Христа котрий віддав своє життя за Божу правду та водночас любов Отця воскрес Його на третій день!
This year, our liturgical calendar fairly catapults us from one season to another.
Christmas lights still liven our streets after dark, last Sunday we shared our Parish Kutia, and today we begin the first of four Sundays that prepare us for the upcoming Great Fast before Easter. From the loud and lively festivities surrounding Christ’s birth — God with us — we turn to a period of quiet introspection: what can it mean—God with me?
Once again, in this depth of winter, while celebrating the awesome mystery of God becoming human, of bringing light to our darkness, we welcome the new calendar year!
In our Ukrainian tradition, calendar dates cannot escape our notice, since we have an assortment of official calendars to follow! January 1st marks the start of the Canadian new year (Gregorian calendar); January 14th is the “old new year”, according to the Julian calendar; while September 1st is the start of the Church new year, which we celebrate on September 14th, “old calendar”. Confused or not, we can celebrate all these beginnings.
The girls in Petryky Internat received our gifts on St. Nicholas day!
В день св. о . Миколая дівчата в інтернаті в Петриках отримали дарунки від нас!
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED MAKE THE LUNCH AND CONCERT IN HONOUR OF ST. NICHOLAS SO WONDERFUL!
ЩИРА ПОДЯКА ВСІМ КОТРІ ПРИСЛУЖИЛИСЬ ДО УСПІХУ НАШОГО ОБІДУ ТА КОНЦЕРТУ НА ПРИВІТАННЯ СВ. О. МИКОЛАЯ!
The following is from an interview with Fr. Oleh Kindiy, Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv
People who attend Church don’t always consider themselves a part of a community. It’s easier for them to think of the Church as the priest or choir, ie: something beyond themselves. Doesn’t this remove personal responsibility?
I often ask people what percentage of the Church is made up by the clergy: priests, monks, bishops etc. The answer is between 30-50%, suggesting that lay people are only a segment of the Church that is primarily constituted by clergy. They are surprised when I tell them that clergy make up less than 1% of the Church. Lay people do not realize that they are the majority; they expect the priest to do everything: gather people and assign jobs for each to accomplish.
In spite of the demands of wartime, Canada’s Ukrainian Catholic women established the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League of Canada in 1944.
Three years later, recognizing the wisdom of a national organization, the women of our Parish decided to establish a UCWLC branch in Kitchener and join this impressive and unprecedented initiative.
This week, we honour their 70 years of service to our Church, our parish, and the Kitchener-Waterloo community.
What if at Liturgy there are 200 or 300 strangers around me? How am I supposed to celebrate?
One might disagree, but I say that at Liturgy it makes no difference if people know each other or have anything in common – because the fact that they are present for the Divine Liturgy forms the link between them. This is what we have in common.
We may not recognize this because we usually emphasize psychological aspects of relationships. In order to relate to someone, to show love and kindness, I need to know that person pretty well. Certainly. But the Liturgy leads us to a higher level of awareness of what it is to be human, and what it means to relate to each other. We are united by the ineluctable fact of our humanness, our baptism, our being loved by God.
People often complain that they don’t understand what is going on during the service. Here are two suggestions:
For example, during the Divine Liturgy the priest says, “We hand over our life and hope to you, Lord, Lover-of-humanity”. This phrase is brimming with significance!
But are some sections of the Liturgy more important than others?
No. Absolutely not. I’m not a fan of the (sadly) popular approach of dividing the Liturgy into more or less important segments. Because the Liturgy is a totality in itself and every separate section makes sense only in relation to the whole. If you fragment the unity then everything falls apart, shatters, and we cannot understand what is there.
The Gospel reading, the offering of the gifts, the eucharist, the dismissal, as much as the singing, the incensing of the priest—everything—is absolutely essential.
And for that matter, that we celebrate the Liturgy …
(Supposed to be celebrating)
Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Transfiguration 