www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News New Shrine - Blessed Bishop Velychovsky, CSsR

Shrine of Blessed Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovsky, C.Ss.R
St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Blessed Bishop and Martyr Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovsky, C.Ss.R. was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Lviv, Ukraine on June 27, 2001. After suffering at the hands of the Soviet Atheistic Regime, he was released from their prison camps and exiled to the "free world" in 1972. Providence has it that a year later on June 30, 1973, he fell asleep in the Lord, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After the beatification, the Vatican gave permission for his holy relics to be transferred to St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, which is served by the Ukrainian Catholic Redemptorists. Presently a shrine is being prepared for these holy relics. The relics will be transferred to St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church on Sunday September 22, 2002.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.yorktonredemptorists.com/Shrine.htm
Email: shrine@mts.net

Bless me a sinner, Father Dmytro!

How wonderful that a Shrine will be established in honour of this New Martyr!

Blessed Basil is a descendant also of an Orthodox Saint, Paissy Velichkovsky, the teacher of the Jesus Prayer who is mentioned in the Way of the Pilgrim and who was glorified an Orthodox saint in 1988.

I like to think that this Shrine will be a place of devotion to them both!

Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing,

Alex

Dear Friends,

I also wanted to add that Bl. Basil Velichkovsky, although a Redemptorist, that is, an Eastern Rite member of a Western Order, was completely "Byzantine" and dedicated to Met. Andrew Sheptytsky's vision of an Eastern Catholic Church renewed in the Eastern traditions.

In his writings and his admonitions to his colleagues, he promoted actual liturgical veneration of Orthodox Saints.

He forbade any Catholic to "make fun" of them (sadly, that was sometimes the case). He said they were HOly people, sanctified by their holy deeds and prayer. He said such behaviour on the part of some Catholics was unbecoming human beings, let alone Christians.

He also promoted the wholesale acceptance of ALL local Orthodox traditions and he was a great lover, for example, of the Orthodox three-bar Cross that he held in his hands and wore as his pectoral Cross when he was a Redemptorist Priest (unheard of until then).

His dedication to the Eastern traditions of our Church attracted the attention of some Orthodox.

Two Orthodox priests joined him in union with Rome as did three former Orthodox monks of Pochaiv.

All five were martyred by the communists. When Bl. Basil returned from exile, he introduced their Cause for beatification at Rome. Their names and lives are written up in the Redemptorist book about Bl. Basil.

He was injected with a slow-acting poison by the KGB before his release from imprisonment.

Blessed and Venerable New Martyr Basil Velichkovsky and St Paissy Velichkovsky, pray unto God for us!

Alex

Father, bless! It is wonderful to hear of the new shrine to Blessed Vasyl. He was a true hero of the Kyivan Church under the godless Communists.

And his successor as Metropolitan was that other great Redepmtorist (and hopefully also soon to be beatified) Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk.

Patriarch Josyp consecrated Blessed Vasyl in 1963 in the Hotel Moskva the day before Patriarch Josyp left for Rome after being released from the gulag in Mordovia. Kyr Vasyl consecrated Kyr Volodymyr in 1964 in order to succeed him in the event of arrest, which was prophetic. Kyr Vasyl was arrested in 1969, at which point Metropolitan Volodymyr succeeded him.

Bishop Vasyl was Titular Bishop of Lutsk, as I recall. I've read that he was subjected to all sorts of physical tortures, including electroshock and bizarre drug treatments, in an attempt to force the names and whereabouts of the Greek Catholic clergy and prominent faithful.

Although, Alex, with Blessed Mykola Charnetsky preceeding him, I wouldn't go so far as to say "noone before him" amongst the Redemptorists wore pectoral crosses...in fact I have seen photographs of both Blessed Mykola Charnetsky and his student Blessed Zenon Kovalyk in full klobuk with pectoral crosses, back in the late 1930s...

I wonder why we don't refer to him as "Archbishop" as he acted in such a capacity after being consecrated by Patriarch Joseph prior to his departure in 1963? That was a very difficult time for our Church, with Patriarch Josyp in Rome and essentially isolated by Ostpolitik, difficulty of communication between Patriarch Josyp, Kyr Vasyl the underground Church in those days...threat of arrest, seizure, etc. always prominent...

I would love to be in Winnipeg in September...

Through the prayers of the holy confessor Kyr Vasyl Velychkovsky, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on and glorify your holy Kyivan Church.
Subdeacon Randolph, a sinner

[ 06-15-2002: Message edited by: Diak ]

All this is so cool! To think that there will be a shrine to a neo-martyr of our church in North America! How fascinating! what joy for all of us in the "new world"!

I would think that he would be placed in Ukraine somewhere. Maybe Holy Spirit Seminary can take a "field trip" for this event. How far away is Winnepeg from Ottawa?

Do think that such a factor might help to introduce crypts and graves within our churches in N. America.

ALoty

ALity said "How far away is Winnepeg from Ottawa?"

Far. Winnepeg is somewhere between North Dakota and Minnesoooooota.

Now back on topic, is his body preserved therefore having somewhat of an open shrine like St. Josaphat in St. Peter's? or would it be like in the crypt in St. George's in L'viv?

Right, UC - think of driving from New Hampshire to North Dakota...something like that...even from here in Kansas it is a straight shot north but it's still 12-15 hours or so...it's a big country...we're seriously thinking about going...

[ 08-14-2002: Message edited by: Diak ]

Dear Diak,

Yes, thank you for that bit of history.

Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk was my paternal grandmother's first cousin and I met him just before his death here in Canada.

I didn't say that none before him wore pectoral Crosses, - they all did, of course.

It is just that Bl. Basil made it a point, while still a priest, to wear an Orthodox three bar Cross with the full attire of an Orthodox priest while he was a missionary in Volyn.

A bishop in our Church does not wear a three bar Cross, but a single bar Cross to indicate his authority, a rule set down by the Kyivan Church in the time of St. Peter Mohyla.

That was my only point, Blessed Basil's closeness to the Orthodoxy of the people.

I remember with great fondness kissing Met. Volodymyr Sterniuk and hugging him that day in my aunt's apartment.

When asked to say a few words of greeting on behalf of our entire family, I thought about it for a moment and then began with, "Dear Uncle/Hieroconfessor, we are not worthy that you should come under our roof..."

God bless,

Alex

Glory to God for all things!

Dear friends,

Perhaps you could answer two questions about our New Martyr, St. Vasyl.

1) Was he injected with slow acting poison before he left the USSR?

2) Was he given a drug to supress his memory before he left the USSR?

I suppose that the Communists did these things to prevent Bishop Vasyl from becoming a second Patriarch Josyf. One of the ideas behind Hieroconfessor Josyf's 1963 "pardon" and release was that he could quietly spend his few remaining years in peace. Just the opposite happened. Our patriarch rallied the diaspora Greek Catholics. Our churches ( Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Carpatho-Rusyn ) became the focal point of opposition to the Soviet regime.

Presviataya Bogoroditse Fatimskaya, spasi nas.
RusOrthCath martyrs and confessors, pray for us.

[ 06-27-2002: Message edited by: PaulOrthCathConfessor ]

Dear Paul,

Yes to both of your questions, in accordance with the KGB papers that were later released (or sold?) with respect to his police file.

There was some tremendous international pressure to have him released. The Soviet Union agreed so as to show itself as "cooperative."

He died in Winnipeg quite unexpectedly, although he certainly expected to die soon and his prayer beads did not leave his hands, day or night!

Alex

You're right, Alex, and I've heard he really never expected to leave the USSR alive at all, like many of our faithful.

Interesting point, Paul, Kyr Vasyl through his suffering and silence and Patriarch Josyp through his vocal support and forward leadership guided our Church through some of its darkest times.

The release of Patriarch Josyp was quite a propaganda move for the USSR - Krushchev (who himself was Ukrainian) posed this to the outside world as kind of a proto-Glasnost, freedom of conscience. Not to detract, however, from the interventions of Pope John XIII, President Kennedy and Norman Cousins for his release.

But inside the USSR after the release of Patriarch Josyp the continued and in some ways heightened persectution of our church was a reality manifested in the heroic life of Kyr Vasyl.

Dear Diak,

Right you are!

Winnipeg is the seat of both the Ukrainian CAtholic AND Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.

I like to think that it will be a shrine to the two Velichkovsky Saints, Blessed Vladika Basil and St Paissy Velichkovsky, his ancestor.

Alex

Dear Fr. Dmytro,
Thanks for alerting to me to the material on Blessed Velychkovsky.

Hope to see you in Winnipeg on September 22.

o. Petro

Is Blessed Basil really related to St. Paisi Velychkovsky?

Dear Daniil,

"Yes" is the short answer.

This is written up in the book about Blessed Basil published by Redeemer's Voice Press way back when.

The fact of his biological ties to St Paissy Velichkovsky, who was venerated by the Orthodox for years before his formal, church-wide glorification in 1988, was what made so many of our Orthodox people feel comfortable with him.

That same book contains an article by Blessed Basil in which he names five Orthodox converts to Eastern Catholicism, including three Monks of Pochaiv, who died as New Martyrs for union with Rome.

Alex