The Long Awaited Update Part 3: Pochayiv, Spring of St. Anna, Zarvanytsya

Dear Readers,

Last weekend, I went to three of the most important holy sights in Western Ukraine. I went with Petro, Natalia, Hanusia, and Roxolana to Pochayiv, the Spring of St. Anna, and Zarvanytsya.

We left for our first stop, Pochayiv (pronounced Po-CHAI-yiw) on Saturday afternoon at 4:00, and arrived there at 6:30. Pochayiv is a city about an hour drive north of Ternopil, but it is famous for the Monastery situated there. It is the holiest sight in Western Ukraine for Orthodox Christians. There the Virgin Mary appeared during a Turkish invasion in the 15th century and returned the Turkish fire against the Ukrainian Cossacks and destroyed the Turkish army (or so one of the stories about the place goes). Her footprint is still visible in the rock where she stepped down. Today, it is under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church (which is by no means non-controversial), however in the past at different times it has also been under the control of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The main church is absolutely gorgeous. I was there during the Saturday evening Vigil service, so I attended some of the service. That too was incredible. The monks are amazing singers! And the church was packed, jammed packed! Something I found really interesting was that I was able to understand much of the service, even though it was in Slavonic. At least I was able to understand as much Slavonic as I can understand Ukrainian used in Church.

We slept in the house of one of the locals Saturday night. My host cousin Marichka happens to know them, so we had a contact. They were really great people too. Nothing like Ukrainian hospitality!

On Sunday after breakfast, we drove to our next stop, the Spring of St. Anna. Along the way we stopped for Liturgy at a nearby Greek Catholic Church. There are no Greek Catholic Churches in Pochayiv because the Soviets destroyed them all, so we had to drive half an hour to the nearest one. It was a lovely little church, and the Liturgy was very beautiful.

After Liturgy, we went to the Spring of St. Anne. This spring is known for miracles which have occured there. It stays very cold all year long, and people go there to pray and to dip themselves in it three times. There were hundreds of people dipping themselves and swimming in this freezing cold 8 degree water! It was really something to see (don't worry, I have photos of all of this). There was also a really great icon shop and book store, so I went shopping! I didn't buy that much though. In case you were wondering, this monastery is also controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church.

We then went to a museum dedicated to Major Archbishop Josyf Slipyj. He was head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from 1944 to 1984. For many of those years, he was tortured in Siberia. After nearly 20 years in Siberia, the United States government negotiated with the USSR to release Major Archbishop Slipyj in return for a Soviet spy caught in the United States. The Soviet authorities thought he would die soon because of what he did with them, but instead Slipyj lived another 19 years in Rome, and reunited a shattered Ukrainian Catholic Church. It had been liquidated by Stalin in Ukraine, and the rest of the Church around the world was in shambles. Major Archbishop Slipyj united the bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and even was able to form a Synod. Right now his case for canonization in Rome is open.

Our final stop was the famous Zarvanytsia monastery. This one is Catholic. There are also miraculous springs there and there is a miraculous icon of our Lady. The Soviets did everything to destroy this place. They destroyed the churches, and they tried to pave over the spring, but it didn't work! The spring bursted through the concrete. The church there is rather new, but also very beautiful.

The weekend was an incredible experience. These four places are all so important, and it was amazing to be able to visit all of them. They all represent so much of the hard ship that Ukraine has suffered, but still say there is hope.

I must now go. Tomorrow is the feast of St. John the Baptist and I will not be able to go to Liturgy, so right now I'll go to one of the big churches in the City Centre for Vespers.

Until next time,
Michael