Week Nine

Dear Readers,

So another week has come to a close. My week began on a less positive note than most. Last Thursday (2 July) my Grandmother broke her ankle, but due to my internet issues I didn't find out about it until Tuesday. Although she suffered a rather nasty break, I hear she is recovering well. Please pray for her.

But other than that, things went well. On Monday we had our monthly 'Community Day' (День Спільнота). Every first Monday of the month, all of the l'Arche workshops in Lviv come to UKU for the usual 11:30am Divine Liturgy and then afterward we all talk about what our workshops are doing, and discuss any l'Arche news. It is really nice because it is the one time a month everyone in l'Arche here gets together. I always enjoy seeing the assistants I don't see every day.

In the evening, Petro suddenly got the idea to go swimming in a nearby lake. It is only about 10 minute drive away, but by then you're way out in the country. Lviv is nothing like the GTA. Once your exit Toronto, you just keep running into city after city after city. It never ends it seems. Here, there is Lviv, which is a city of about 700,000 thousand, and then there is nothing. Just villages along the highway. Nothing that you can call a city, or even a town really. So, Petro, Natalia, Hanusia, Danka (7 year old host cousin), and I went swimming in this lake. We were there for only half an hour, but it was still really nice. I haven't swam in a few months, and I haven't swam in a lake for a few years. This lake was really deep. Once I was 15 or 20 feet from shore, it was over my head. Petro said that the lake is 70 meters deep at some points.

Tuesday was the Feast of St. John the Baptist. In case you are confused and thought that St. John the Baptist feast day was on June 24th, don't worry because you're correct. The Ukrainian Catholic Church (and the three Orthodox Churches) in Ukraine follow the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used in the Western Church (and also 13 days behind the civil calendar used everywhere). So, according to the church calendar, Tuesday was June 24th, not July 7th. Anyway, St. John the Baptist is a major feast, so I went with my workshop to the local church for Divine Liturgy. It was a new church, not yet finished inside, but it was still very beautiful. The iconostasis was stunning, and the choir was beautiful. This made me think, again, why can't new Catholic churches in Canada (and in the United States) look like churches, and why can't Catholic church choirs sing Catholic church music? Sigh...

After Liturgy we went back to our workshop and continued celebrating. One of our assistants is named Ivanka, which is the feminine version of Ivan, which is Ukrainian for 'John'. So, it was her name day. In Ukraine, like in pretty much all Catholic and Orthodox places, name days are a big deal. In my own life, September 29th (Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) is far more joyful than October 6th (my birthday). A friend of mine once explained it quite well...your birthday reminds you of your mortality, but your name day reminds you of your immortality. Anyway...we celebrated Ivanka's name day first with a lunch a bit fancier than normal, and then we had cake, we each offered her a kind wish individually, and of course, we sang 'многая літа' (mnohaya lita-many years) for her. After that, we danced in the main room instead of our usual afternoon activity.

Wednesday was an exciting day. The founder of Faith and Light and l'Arche in Ukraine Zenia Kushpeta visited my workshop with her niece visiting from Sudbury. Zenia is actually Canadian, of Ukrainian descent. She grew up in Toronto of all places. Everyone was really excited to see her. Zenia is a hero for everyone in l'Arche and Faith and Light here, and for good reason. She came by just to say hi before she leaves. She leaves for Canada for a month today.

Later on, Kimberley and I had our final Ukrainian language lesson. So, in accordance with Ukrainian tradition, we gave our teacher flowers and chocolates. These lessons were really helpful, and I wouldn't have learned as much Ukrainian as I have without them. My host brother Pavlo said that of the three Intercordians which have stayed in his house, I have the best Ukrainian of all of them. Of course, there are several reasons for that, but my lessons here certainly helped.

Zenia's birthday is next week, but because she leaves today, we at the Emaus Centre celebrated it yesterday. It was a very nice little party, featuring the Emaus Centre staff (Roxolana, Marta, Anya, Sister Lukia, Olya, Andrij), Kimberley, and I. It was also a surprise for her. I only found out about it the morning of! Kimberley and I were supposed to go to the orphanage yesterday, but we found out last minute about Zenia's birthday party, so the orphanage visit was called off. After the visit, Kimberley came to visit my workshop. Last week I visited her workshop, and yesterday she visited mine. Her visit was nice, as visits usually are. The core-members love visitors.

That brings us to today, Friday. Like usual, workshop ended at 1:00 instead of 3:30. In a few minutes, I will go to visit the second 'Faith and Light' family: Pani Marta and her son Yurko. For various reasons, I haven't had an opportunity to visit them yet, so finally I get to visit them today.

This weekend will be very exciting. On Sunday, we celebrate the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29th...see note above about the church calendar here). This is of course a major major feast day, celebrated with great solemnity in all churches of ancient origin (Catholic and Orthodox). Sunday is also my host parents' 21st wedding anniversary! I have no idea what they have planned, but it will be a very nice day.

So, for now, that is all. I hope you all have a good weekend. No I am going to visit Pani Marta and Yurko.

Until next time,
Michael