www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization A successful Vidpust!

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was our parish's vidpust/pilgrimage to Our Lady of Zhyrovitsi, St Vladimir's UGC parish in Thornhill, Ontario.

A full to capacity turn-out with Vladyka Cornelius Pasichny in attendance and three priests!

We also marked 100 years of service to our Church in Canada by the Basilian Fathers and the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate.

Vladyka blessed the new icon of Our Lady of Zhyrovits behind the altar and a new icon of Blessed Josaphata Hordashevska.

We then had a procession with a copy of the icon to the Grotto outside where the main Icon is.

Since this icon was discovered in a pear tree, I suggested that a bushel of pears be blessed for the people to take home with them.

The parish council agreed and there was a mad rush for the pears just as soon as the bishop blessed them!

(I took two . . .).

The bishop explained that the monastery of Zhyrovitsi was under the care of the Basilians from the time of St Josaphat and this became the patronal icon of the Basilian Order since that time.

Also, something really interesting happened.

An elderly couple came to the church. The woman had never been there, but said she had a dream about a country church on a hill. She felt drawn to come inside, and when she did, she saw a beautiful icon of Our Lady that beckoned her to come forward . . .

She asked her husband to find out if there were any Ukrainian Churches like that, country-style, on a hill.

They came to ours, not knowing this was the patronal feast of Our Lady of Zhyrovitsi - yesterday.

As she came in, she brushed alongside me and then started to cross herself in tears, saying out loud: "That is the icon I saw in my dream! It is her!"

They will try to come out to the parish more frequently from now on.

I really do believe that the Mother of God will do great things at that parish and it will become a centre for devotion to her Holy Icon with miracles to follow!

Alex

How wonderfully awesome Alex!

Sounded like an absolutely glorius day.

I wonder do you know if the people were Catholic or Orthodox at all?

Rose

Dear Rose,

Yes, our parish has Orthodox Christians from Ukraine and Belarus who attend (two are from the Belarusyan city of Zhirovitsi where the original icon is venerated!).

Also, the icon-writer is Orthodox, the one who did all the icons for the entire Church, the iconostasis and the icon of Our Lady behind the altar.

He was sitting up front yesterday and the Bishop mentioned him by name and praised most highly his work - thanking him on behalf of the entire Eparchy.

He then went to stand with the bishop as the bishop blessed his work.

Orthodox Christians also helped organize the banquet and also we have a teacher who is Orthodox who organized the children to do poems and songs in honour of Our Lady of Zhirovitsi and the Basilian Order in the Church Hall.

Our Catholic parish simply wouldn't be what it is today without our Orthodox parishioners!

God bless them indeed!!

They also love St Josaphat and are convinced, the ones I've talked to, that he was killed by very bad people . . .

Their Orthodox priest once came by and actually told me (are you sitting down for this?) that he venerates St Josaphat privately as a local Ukie saint . . .

What is going on in the Church these days ?

Alex

Dear Friends,

By way of update, the Basilian Fathers are taking the experience of the woman I describe above seriously and it will be mentioned publicly in the sermon this coming Sunday - I've been asked to write it up for the Basilian monthly.

Also, devotion to Our Lady of Zhirovitsi is really taking off - more processions with the icon are planned and the prayer association will be going ahead where people will daily pray a Marian prayer of their choosing for the Church and its growth.

Eventually, they plan to give every member of this group a plastic pear as a symbol etc. (My idea . . .).

This icon, as it turns out, is connected to St Josaphat since he visited Zhyrovitsi and brought the Soltan family, the family that built the first chapel on the site of the icon's appearance, into communion with Rome.

The Basilians looked after the monastery with the icon until 1839 when it became Orthodox again.

And in September of 1730, the ancestor of Met. Andrew Sheptytsky, Metropolitan Athanasius Sheptytsky, crowned the icon with a papal crown sent by Pope Benedict that year.

There is also a miraculous copy of this icon in Rome at the Basilian monastery there venerated by the Italians especially and called, by them, "Madonna di Pascuolo."

Alex

Plastic pear, Alex? That sounds a little cheap. How about a nice metal pear lapel pin, maybe with a little "ж" engraved on it? Or, even better, a pear shaped medal! Heck, I'd join with that kind of incentive! heh

The pear blessing idea is great, too.

There is another otpust, err, I mean, "vidpust" in Olyphant, PA (my neck of the woods!) for Our Lady of Zhyrovitsi. They have a small booklet printed with the icon's history and miracles and such. You should let them know about the pear blessing, maybe you'll start a new trend.

Dave

Dear Dave,

O.K., O.K., I am well rebuked!

Pear pins with, perhaps, a Cross symbol or the "Zh" as you've suggested, medals! There's no limit here . . .

We bought a bushel of pears for Sunday and the bishop blessed them, explaining that the icon appeared on a pear tree - so many happy faces at getting a pear!

I wonder if there is a symbolic meaning to the pear in Christianity?

And they're going to plant a couple of pear trees outside next to the shrine with the Icon.

Yes, I wrote to the Zhyrovitsi shrine you mention and they kindly sent me information with copies of their beautiful icon.

I'll have to tell them about our "pear tradition."

At Zhyrovitsi in Belarus today, people take some holy water from the spring under the Altar there and also a chip of the stone that is there that is also called the "Foot-step" of the Mother of God.

The icon has brought a special devotional focus to the entire parish and, as I've mentioned, the Mother of God seems to be calling people from elsewhere to her shrine on the hill . . .

Alex

OK - enough of this - come on down to the nitty gritty.

Alex if, after all my efforts on your behalf ,you are not going to post that icon I will take my courage in both hands , take a deep breath and see if I can manage it

Dear Anhelyna,

Thank you very much for posting the icon!

Most Holy Mother of God save us!

The prayer that is in the border surrounding the icon is:

More honorable than the cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word, as the true Theotokos, we magnify you!

Alex

Oh - I have been wondering about that - but of course was unable to copy it so I could ask.

This time he's answered a question before I have had a chance to ask it.

And it's a beautiful icon too - thank you Admin for organising it for us so that it could be posted.

[BTW that was not a 'Royal' us - my husband scanned the Icon , I sent it to Alex by e-mail and he asked me to ask Admin to post it for the pair of us and the outcome was that "Admin fixed it for us" } I must admit that if I did not have my icon of Joy of all Joys for my Avatar - the Icon of Our Lady of Zhyrovitsi would be there. ]

Anhelyna

Dear Administrator,

Could I ask you to kindly place the Icon of Our Lady of Zhirovits as my new avatar?

God bless, Anhelyna!

Alex

Here is something for you, good Doctor Alex. It is the "fruits" of doodling during class this afternoon. It has it all: the pear, the "zh" and the Cross (2-bar common in Belorus).

[Linked Image]

Dear Chtec,

How absolutely wonderful!!!

I'm going to download it and show it to the people in authority over at the parish!

The fact that there is no slanted foot-rest will make it acceptable to the Basilians too!

Alex

Dear Friends,

By way of brief update, the parish is going ahead with the creation of a prayer association to Our Lady of Zhirovitsi.

I'll let you know more about it, but they're signing up people who will get a copy of the icon for framing, together with a card outlining the "conditions of membership" such as saying a Marian prayer daily for the Byzantine Catholic Churches etc.

What is amazing is how people in the parish who were formerly lukewarm about the whole idea are now great promoters of the veneration of Our Lady of Zhirovitsi.

I understand that the Ukie Church in Philadelphia, Christ the King, has a copy of this icon that was crowned with a papal crown?

Anyone know about this?

Alex

Dear Chtec,

Thank you once again for your pear design!

It is bearing much fruit in the parish even as I write this . . .

You've really fired all our imaginations!

Alex

No problem, Alex! If you ever need a better quality sketch, just let me know. I am glad it could be of help to your ministry.

Dave