www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Metropolitan Sheptytsky Icon

Someone suggested on a previous thread that the Basilian Press in Toronto might have icons of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. I contacted them and unfortunately they do not. Does anyone have any other ideas of where I could find one?

God Bless,
David

Dear DBUR,

There is an icon of Metropolitan Sheptytsky on the cover of the biography, "METROPOLITAN ANDREW SHEPTYSKY (1865-1944)by Cyril Korolevksy; translated, revised and edited by Father Serge Keleher". It is a very good icon of him. You can purchase the book and then have the cover enlarged to a desired size to serve as an icon.

In June, I visited St. Philip's Byzantine Catholic Church in Sacramento, CA and saw the same icon on a wall of the church. The icon contained a reliquary with a few strands of Metropolitan Sheptytsky's hair.

You should be able to get Cyril Korolevsky's book and copy/scan the front cover if it is for personal use. They should have that book at Basilian Press in Toronto. They also usually carry it at Icon and Book Service in Washington, D.C.

There are two good hand-written icons of St. Andrey, one at Mt. Tabor Monastery in California and one in Palatine, Illinois at the Ukrainian Catholic parish there. Perhaps you could contact Abbot Joseph at Mt. Tabor and see if he would be willing to copy theirs or call Father Michael Kuzma in Palatine and ask him?

Diak and Griego Catolico,

Thanks for that information! I've been wanting Korolevsky's book for a while now and this is a good time to purchase it.

God Bless,
David

Happy Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Nikolaj of Volhynia!

DBUR,

You can order "Metropolitan Andrew" by the Russian scholar Fr. Cyril Korolevsky from Eastern Christian Publications. The iconographer was trained at Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville New York. The icon has a Russian style. With the administrator's permission, here is a link:
http://www.ecpubs.com/index2html

Holy New Martyr Nikolaj, pray to God for us.
Holy Russian Orthodox-Catholic New Martyrs and Confessors, pray to God for us.

Is this the icon to which everyone is referring? (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)

http://www.uaoc.org/metsheptytsky1.html

A very nice representation. It reminds me of the paintings of our own Blessed Theodore and others, circulated before his beatification.

Is it really right to refer to the image as an icon, before it has been properly brought into Church at a glorification ceremony? We pray that Metropolitan Andrej will be glorified, but is it wise to call his image an icon at this point?

Was some of his family really Polish or were they like a lot of Ruthenian/Ukrainian families of that era who just became "Polinized" for politics sake?

Ung-Certz

Ung, Metropolitan Andrey's family were polonized Galicians. Since they were nobility it was "politically correct" and fashionable to be Polonized. When young Roman (Andrey was his professed monastic name) first wanted to pursue formation for the Greek Catholic priesthood, it created quite a rift within the family. Of course later on his brother Klementy follwed his lead. He did later reconcile with his father.

This is a different icon on the UAOC site than that on the cover of Korolevsky's book. This icon is similar to the one at Mt. Tabor and Palatine with the gold background. The one on the cover of Korolevsky's book has a light blue background.

Are you suggesting we wait for formal canonization from Rome, Fr. Elias? Amongst many of the UGCC faithful he is already canonized.
I would hope we return to the practice of the particular churches recognizing their own saints and hope Rome would recognize that as a sign of respect for their particularity and the holiness of their people. You will notice there is no korona as yet around his head, indicating canonization has not yet occurred.

Dear Diak,

In reply to Ung-Certez, you mentioned that Greek-Catholic Metropolitan Andrej Sheptytsky of L'viv was a Polonized Galician, who, because of the Polish noble status of his family, claimed Polish nationality, thus "COUNT Metropolitan Sheptytsky."

Not to cause controversy here, but my very elderly mother-in-law (now in her 90's), a retired psychiatrist and graduate of the University of Lwow Medical School (as was my late father-in-law, a dermatologist), claims to this day that Metropolitan "Andrzej Szeptycki" was a Galician Pole to the core, but with a special affection for the Galician Ukrainians. The Metropolitan, according to my obviously biased mother-in-law, was probably as Ukrainian as some claim for Pope John Paul II!

In Europe, anything can happen. Polish Roman Catholic relatives (whose family estate was near Kaunas, i.e., Kovno, Lithuania) on my father's side claim that their title of lesser nobility was confirmed by no less than three Russian Tsars, and they have the documentation to prove it!

OrthodoxEast

That's interesting, OE. And it's true that every ethnic group has its own take on this or that celebrity.

But considering that Bishops Varlaam Sheptytsky, Athanasy Sheptytsky, and Lev Sheptytsky were all Greek Catholic hierarchs of the 18th century the Rus' Greek Catholic origin of the family is well documented. Bishop Athanasy Sheptytsky began construction of St. George's in L'viv and Bishop Lev completed it, the main cathedral of the Ukrainain Greek Catholic Church.

According to most accounts, the Sheptytskys accepted Roman Catholicism over Greek Catholicism or Orthodoxy in the later 18th century, which seems to have peaked when Hieronymus Sheptytsky became Roman Catholic and was appointed a Roman Catholic bishop.

That icon of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky which adorns the cover of his biography by Fr Cyril Korolevsky is, of course, a reproduction; the original is in Saint Demetrius Church, Toronto - where it was blessed by the then Apostolic Nuncio to Canada for public veneration. Saint Demetrius Church may or may not still have reproductions of the icon available. Incognitus

Andrew Sheptytsky became Metropolitan during the Pontificate of Leo XIII, who reposed in the Lord one hundred years ago, July 20, 1903. John Paul II remembered Pope Leo on Sunday.

20-July-2003 -- Vatican Information Service

HOLY FATHER RECALLS CENTENARY OF DEATH OF LEO XIII
VATICAN CITY, JUL 20, 2003 (VIS) - Following the recitation of the Angelus with the faithful who had gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic palace at Castelgandolfo, the Pope recalled the death, 100 years ago today, of his predecessor, Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIII reigned for 25 years and five months, making his the third longest pontificate in history. Pope John Paul's is the fourth longest.

The Holy Father noted that Leo XIII, "remembered above all as the Pope of 'Rerum novarum', the encyclical that marked the start of the modern social doctrine of the Church, developed a broad magisterium; in particular he relaunched Thomistic studies and promoted the growth of the spiritual life of the Christian people. In this year of the Rosary, we cannot forget that Leo XIII dedicated 10 encyclicals to the Rosary. Today we fervently thank the Lord for this great Pontiff."

Dear John Two Lungs,

And the Holy Father, while in Ukraine, noted that Saint (oops, I shouldn't be putting words into His Holiness' mouth, shoud I? ), Met. Andrew Sheptytsky was a co-consecrator of the Bishop who ordained him to the Priesthood!

Patriarch Josef Slipyj liked to remind Pope John Paul II about the "canonization of his fellow countryman, Andrew Sheptytsky . . ."

Whatever works . . .

Alex