In Kyiv personal things of His Beatitude Lubomyr exhibited for the first time

For the first time, the Beatitude’s personal things, presented by the Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav, were presented to the general public. It became part of the larger exhibition "UGCC - the time of trials," the main items of which are personal belongings of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, Bishop Volodymyr Sterniuk and Father Klymentiy Sheptytsky.

The Head of the UGCC, accompanied by Bishop Bohdan (Dziurah), Secretary of the Synod of the UGCC, opened the event. Many fans of His Beatitude Lubomyr were present. Opening the exposition, the Head of the UGCC noted that those, who in their hearts keep his image, may not yet fully experience what it means to preserve the memory about him for people because we remember him personally. Everyone has his own experience of communicating with His Beatitude Lubomyr.

"By this exposition, we aim to speak to the general public both in Ukraine and in the world about His Beatitude Lubomyr, who was called the “father” by many people," explained the Head of the UGCC.

"We really need a “father” today to embrace all of us, no matter which church we go to, in which language we communicate. We need to feel that we are loved, regardless of our experience of God. We all need such a father that would be the mirror of our Heavenly Father's love. Therefore, it is so important today that we allowed our Beatitude Lubomyr to hold us close in his arms . Apparently, this is the gesture that he prepared for us today," said the Head of the Church.

"I was honored to accept under my responsibility all the personal things of His Beatitude Lubomyr. And the first thing we did was to hand these things over to this museum. And so, the first exhibition of His Beatitude Lubomyr made its appearance," added the Head of the UGCC.

There are different things here. "Perhaps everyone will recognize something. Here is the cane, on which His Beatitude solemnly lay upon when visiting various kinds of public gatherings. Someone will recognize his watch, which he always listened to to know the time. And he wanted many other blind people in Ukraine to have such watches. Someone may recognize his Scout scarf or his cap, which he often used in life ... I guess, by these things, we can really recognize our father Lyubomyr," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

"Let this minute," wished the Head of the Church, "be a minute of memory and a minute of the meeting for us, but also the moment of prayer and examination of conscience. The moment when we make vital decisions for ourselves."

According to him, this exposition naturally became a part of a wider exhibition devoted to the heroes of the underground Church. "We see here the whole genealogy, the inheritance among the great figures of our Church. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, who put his hands on the head of Patriarch Joseph, giving him episcopal dignity and service. We have Patriarch Josyph, who put his holy hands on the head of His Beatitude Lubomyr. And here we stand, whom, in turn, His Beatitude Lubomyr put His hands on. And we feel that this story, which is written by the Holy Spirit in the body of our people, is not completed. It continues. It leads to life. And, perhaps, this is the main message of this vivid figure of His Beatitude Lubomyr аnd his word to us," stressed the Head of the Church. In the end, His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked everyone  who prepared this exhibition.

In turn, the director of the Museum, Ivan Kovalchuk, expressed his gratitude for the fact that the staff of the museum was entrusted with the personal things of His Beatitude Lubomyr. "When I was little, my parents and grandparents often repeated: be a human being. You know, the stages of the formation of a person vary in each case. But you need to learn how to become a person. It is necessary to give a lot, to do a lot to "be a man", a good example of which was great Lubomyr (Husar). I advise everyone to watch the film "Lyubomyr." There is something to think about," said Mr. Ivan Kovalchuk.

Department of Information of the UGCC