UGCC faithful begin reading the Scriptures in preparation for 1025-anniversary of Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine

From November 27, 2011, to July 28, 2013, the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will prayerfully read the Scriptures in their families. The plan to have daily prayers with the reading of Scripture in the family was developed by the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission within the Biblical Apostolate and approved at the 54th session of the Synod of Bishops of Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric of the UGCC, which was held in Lviv-Briukhovychi on October 27-28, 2011. The purpose of the campaign is to spiritually prepare the faithful to celebrate the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine. “I encourage all the faithful to use the proposed program of daily prayer with readings from the Scripture. We know that Scripture is the most important book of every Christian. So I ask our faithful not to be afraid to read the Scriptures with faith so that they can hear the Word of God and take it to heart and live with it,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), head of the UGCC. According to Fr. Taras Barshevsky, coordinator of Biblical Apostolate of the UGCC, the plan includes reading the entire New Testament and excerpts of the Old Testament. “The New Testament will be read in order, from the Gospel Matthew to the Revelation, and the Old Testament will also be read in order but only in excerpts, except the Psalms, which we will read every day,” said Fr. Taras. In addition, the priest said that the texts of the Old Testament were chosen in view of the history of salvation, to present all its critical points. “May our common prayer be a symbol of unity with the whole Church, which with gratitude and joy prepares to celebrate 1025 years of God's great gift of the Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine,” Fr. Taras said in conclusion.  

UGCC Information Department