Thursday, February 27, 2014

Club guests will share their trip to Western Ukraine


    Members of the Greater Boston chapter of the Friends of Ukrainian Catholic University will report and show slides about an unforgettable seven-day journey to Western Ukraine at the monthly membership meeting of the Ukrainian American Club of Southwest Florida at 6 p.m. tonight at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Religious and Cultural Center (Oseredok) in North Port. Presenters are Ulana Sos, Alicia Szendiuch and Tania Vitvitsky.

    The itinerary of their Sept. 15-21, 2013, trip included the UCU in Lviv, cultural capital of Western Ukraine, with its magnificent churches, monasteries, museums, Ploshcha (Place) Rynok, opera, and cafes; Krekhiv
Monastery, the oldest in Western Ukraine, and the Renaissance city of Zhovkva; ancient castles in Volyn region, Lesia Ukrainka Museum near Kovel, and icons in Lutsk, Dubno (city featured in Gogol’s “Taras Bulba”) and Ostroh.

    At the UCU, the trip participants had the opportunity to interact with UCU students and faculty, tour the new campus, and participate in the unveiling of the Boston Seminar Room
plaque (the focus of the fundraising project of the Greater Boston Chapter of the Friends of UCU). They were housed in the Sheptytsky Collegium on the new UCU campus located next to Stryysky Park.

    The presentation will follow a brief business meeting which will include the mandatory reports of President Daria Tomashosky, other officers and committee chairs, and other business matters.

    At the conclusion of the presentation, there will be a reception including coffee and home-baked pastries.

    Mr. Alexander B. Kuzma, Chief Development Officer of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, Chicago, Ill., will be a
special guest.

    All are welcome.

 Special Prayers for the Heroes of Maidan.

    At the conclusion of last Sunday’s Divine Liturgy (mass) at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Port there were special prayers for the fallen heroes of Maidan in Kyiv, Ukraine, and for their families. The Rev. Dr. Severyn Kovalyshin, pastor, read the names, ages and home cities/ towns of the known 82 individuals killed by police sharpshooters during what began as the peaceful demonstration against the corrupt and dictatorial pro-Russian regime of (now former) president Yanukovych.

    One of the altar servers rang a bell after each name and two
other children lit candles on the “tetrapod” (an altar in the middle of the church).

    After all names were read, Rt. Rev. Mitrate Archpriest Wolodymyr Woloszczuk, pastor- emeritus, and The Rev. Dr. Kovalyshin celebrated “Panakhyda” (special requiem service) for the repose of souls of all murdered heroes, with the church choir under the direction of Lubow Ingram singing beautifully responses. After singing “Veechnaya Pamyat” (eternal memory), the Rev. Dr. Kovalyshin led the congregation in special prayers for the bereaved families of the murdered heroes.

 Upcoming Events

    The monthly membership meeting of “Soyuz
Uikrayinok” will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 4.

    The monthly membership meeting of Post 40 of the Ukrainian American Veterans will be held at 3 p.m., Friday, March 7, at the Military Heritage Museum at Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda. Please note: This is a one-time only change from the regular meeting place at the Oseredok.

    The festive assembly to commemorate the 200th birthday of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s outstanding poet, artist, revolutionary and prophet will be held Sunday, March 9.

    Atanas Kobryn covers the Ukrainian community for the North Port Sun. He can be emailed at atanask@aol.com.








Our Neighbors — The Ukrainians
by Atanas Kobryn

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