UGCC Head wished the students of the Kyiv Spiritual Seminary “strength of the Holy Spirit, perception of God’s mysteries and the gift of the word.”

On February 11^th, the Feast of the Three Saints:  Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, the UGCC Kyiv Spiritual Seminary of Three Saints celebrated its feast day.

On that day, His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) led the Pontifical Liturgy in the  chapel  of the seminary.  Concelebrants were: Bishop Volodymyr  (Viytyshyn), Bishop Stefan (Meniuk)Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk, Bishop Joseph (Milan), Donetsk-Kahrkiv Exarch;  Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh ),  Secretary  of the UGCC Synod of Bishops, head of the administration of Patriarchal Curia; seminary rectors and a large number of clergy.

At the beginning of the sermon (audio) His Beatitude Sviatoslav greeted the seminarians, their families, representatives of region and city officials with the feast of the chapel of a “special place of God – the seminary.”  He continued, “Today we see all three bishops - saints represented on one icon.  While each one was different, they were all the same in that they were filled with the one and the same Holy Spirit.”  According to the words of the Church Primate, Basil the Great was a courageous defender of faith, a capable administrator  and archbishop of  Caesarea of Cappadocia, a theology scholar and a great teacher of his time;  Gregory the Theologian was very sensitive to God’s presence and deeply immersed himself in the life of the Holy Trinity and could present the sacrament of God’s presence in his sermons;  John Chrysostom  was a caring  pastor who could feel the concerns of the souls of those people to whom God sent him and courageously strengthened their souls with God’s Word.  “Together these three saints comprise the icon of the Church, since it is God’s people who are gathered in the name of the Holy Spirit and together form the Body of Christ,” stressed the Head of the Church.

The Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishop explained the meaning of a seminarian community.  “A seminary is not a building or a curriculum, but a community of communal work, prayer and study of the Word of God.”  At the end he added that the chapel in which the service was held is the most important classroom.

“I wish you the strength and courage of the Holy Spirit with which Basil the Great burned; the depth of  relating to God and discovering His mysteries, according to which lived Gregory the Theologian, and the gift of the word through which John  Chrysostom built the hearts of the faithful,”  UGCC Head greeted  the seminarians.

Then Bishop Stepan (Meniuk) and Rev. Petro Zhuk, rector, addressed the seminarians.

On February 11^th, the celebrations began with Great Evening Vespers with a litany and  Utrennia, attended by His Beatitude Archbishop-Emeritus, Lubomyr (Husar).  In his greetings, His Beatitude Sviatoslav urged the seminary students to contemplate on how one should be as a priest.

UGCC Department of Information