His Beatitude Sviatoslav: “Four centuries of monastic life in Dobromyl is a sign of God’s presence here”

Above all, the UGCC Head thanked Almighty God that he could come to this holy place, to this monastery, which for our people and for our Church has truly “became a sign of the presence of the Savior.”

“How many healings from sin and death were received by generations here, at this sacred place?  How many sins were forgiven here in 400 years?  How many opportunities to touch Our Savior?

How many times was this homestead destroyed and devastated?  Yet, how many times did it resurrect and transform our whole Church, because of the faith of those people who voluntarily vowed their poverty, pureness and obedience to Him here,” said UGCC Primate in highlighting the significance of Chernecha Hora.

His Beatitude reminded all that the Holy Father declared this the Year of Faith in the Catholic Church.  “Therefore, the entire Universal Church is attempting to awaken in its children the ability to feel and accept that God is next to them.  The Holy Father through the words of Christ is calling all of us: “I am telling you, wake up, and look at the world, on your own life with the eyes of faith.  Discover the mystery of God’s presence next to you, because without God you can do nothing and with God you can do anything.”   A hundred and thirty years of the Dobromyl Reform is a special opportunity to think about how to pass on the faith of our ancestors to the coming generations,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav, “how to make it possible that many children can feel the touch of the life-giving hand, how to act in order that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren remain Christians, remain believers.”

“The role of the monastic orders today is extraordinarily great,” thinks UGCC Head, “because the Dobromyl Reform itself was exactly concerned in how to return the whole might of the monastic feats to Christ’s Church, especially here in Halychyna, so that eternal life in new circumstances, in a new way could touch the heart of every Ukrainian.  And then this homestead shone on the whole world with its spiritual words, education, scholarship, holy life -- an example of which is Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.”

His Beatitude Sviatoslav through Christ’s words is inviting every monk, especially of the Basilian Order: “Wake up, accept in  your heart the zeal of the Holy Spirit that burned in the hearts of St. Basil the Great and the first monks who came to this mount and lived in its caves.  The Church is awaiting the word which can inspire new life and healing.”

On this celebratory day he sincerely greeted all the Basilian monastic orders, thanked them for 400 years of work and sacrifice in this place.  He thanked the priests and brothers who were the first to arrive here to a totally devastated homestead in the beginning 1990s in order to give it new life.  “We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow,  we do not know what borders will exist in the coming years, but we do know, that God is with us,” stated the preacher.

UGCC Head also expressed his gratitude to Bishop Yaroslav (Pryriz), the Sambir-Drohobych Eparch, Bishop Ireney (Bilyk), who especially came for the celebrations from Rome.  His Beatitude also mentioned the monks and the nuns of the Order of Saint Basil the Great: “I place great hopes on you.  Without you, those with religious vocations, the Holy Father will not realize his God-given task, that of awakening the soul of Ukrainians and other people.”  He also thanked all the faithful, priests and monks from many different monasteries.  UGCC Primate stated the hypothesis that if there had been no Dobromyl Reform, perhaps our Church would not have missionaries in USA, Canada, Argentina and all those countries to which the monks, renewed by God’s spirit, went to serve our people.

The Hierarch thanked the Superior General in Ukraine, Rev. Panteleymon Salamakha, who in his turn, recognized that “at this time the Almighty has called all of us here present” as well as testified his “sonly obedience, love and sacrifice.”

In addition to the two abovementioned bishops, together with His Beatitude Sviatoslav, were also praying the Superior General of the Basilian Order, Rev. Heneziy Viomar; the Protoihumen of the Provinciate of the Most Sacred Savior, Rev. Panteleymon Salamakha; the proto of the eparchy, Rev. Hryhoriy Komar; the Dobromyl deacon, Rev. Viktor Kotsemir; as well as numerous Basilian fathers from various monasteries and priests from the neighboring deaconships of the Sambir-Drohobych Eparchy. Government officials and more than 5,000 faithful participated in the jubilee celebrations.