The Head of the UGCC prayed in Uzhhorod for the repose of Bishop Ivan (Semediy)

On January 14, 2009, on the day of the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, at the Cathedral Church of the Mukachiv Greek-Catholic Eparchy in the city of Uzhhorod, on the fortieth day after the death of Bishop Ivan (Semediy), a Divine Liturgy in his memory was celebrated. The service, in concelebration with Bishop Bohdan (Dzyurakh), Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, was celebrated by Bishop Milan (Sasik), Apostolic Administrator of the Mukachiv Greek-Catholic Eparchy. A participant in the general prayer was His Beatitude Lubomyr, Head of the UGCC. In his sermon the Head of the UGCC drew the attention of the participants of the joint prayer to the endurance in the faith of the deceased hierarch: "Today we gather on the fortieth day after the death of Bishop Ivan (Semediy). But this prayer is not a simple divine service on the fortieth day for a deceased person. Today we recall the memory of the confessor of faith, one who in the hardest times of persecution was a leader of our Church. What is striking in his life is his faith," His Beatitude Lubomyr said. Then the Head of the Church recalled the first visit of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops to Rome, noting: "With what deference and love His Holiness John Paul II welcomed the bishops of our persecuted Church!" "Today all of us want with our whole hearts to thank God that He gave us such bishops, that He gave us such people who in the worst times of persecution kept the faith. This is God’s great gift for our Church... We want to thank also all those people, and today especially Bishop Ivan, for accepting the divine grace and holding fast in the holy faith. If they had not kept the holy faith, we would not be here and the Catholic Church would not exist in our land. But they were able to accept the divine grace and hold fast in the holy faith. We want to thank them very much for this," the preacher noted. Upon completion of the prayer Bishop Milan thanked His Beatitude Lubomyr for his personal presence. And as a memorial of his visit to the Mukachiv Greek-Catholic Eparchy, he presented him with a copy of a miraculous icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.

Information Department of the UGCC