Bishop Irynej Bilyk, OSBM

Triple dimension of the holiday on the Jasna Mountain in Goshiv

On the 14^th of January there was hold a Holy Service in the church of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Jasna Mountain in Goshiv. The Service was honored by the presence of His Eminence Iryney Bilyk, OBSM, Canonic of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

Bishop Iryney led the Holy Service in this church first time after the return of the monastery to the true owner � the Order of St. Basil the Great, on the holiday of the Three Saints, February 12, 1990. At that time the church and the monastery were ruined after the atheistic communist disaster. The original frescos were destroyed, walls rent and the roof holed.

Weak beams of the sun were falling on the temporary altar through the wide cracks in the walls and ceiling during this first postwar Service. There were broken windows and no doors in the church and because of the terrible draught monks wore capuches while shriving. On that historical day father Nykodym Gyralyk, OBSM and father Matey Gavryliv, OMSB were serving together with the Bishop. The Basilian Order and our multisuffering Mother-Church were going out of the catacombs to meet new expectations and hopes.

As it used to be before a lot of palmers from the near and far places are coming to Jasna Mountain to for the Holy Service. The restored church, newly painted and penetrated by the prayers is attracting numerous believers by its spirituality. People arrive to the renewed glory of the Queen of the Carpathian Mountains on Jasna Mountain with various needs and requests. They return home spiritually stronger, their souls fulfilled with happiness.

Feast of Epiphany in the church of the Birth of the Most Holy Mother of God

On the frosty morning to honor the feast of Epiphany in the church of the Birth of the Most Holy Mother of God there arrived Bishop Iryney Bilyk, OBSM, Canonic of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

His Eminence Iryney greeted all the present with the glorious feast of Epiphany and emphasized that the Holy Mother Church appeals to us to live this event through first of all spiritually. The event which happened over two thousand years ago on the bank of the river Jordan, when Father of Heaven Himself presents His beloved Son and calls to listen to Him. Bishop has also reminded the words of the Pope Benedict XVI Homily on Feast of Christ's Baptism in the Basilica of Saint Peter: �And if Christmas and Epiphany serve above all to make us capable of seeing, to opening our eyes and hearts to the mystery of a God who comes to be with us, the feast of the baptism of Jesus introduces us, we could say, to the everydayness of a personal relationship with him. In fact, through the immersion in the waters of the Jordan, Jesus united himself to us. Baptism is, so to speak, the bridge that he has built between him and us, the road by which he is accessible to us; it is the divine rainbow over our life, the promise of the great yes of God, the gateway to hope and, at the same time, the sign that indicates the road we must take in an active and joyous way to meet him and feel loved by him.�

CONGRATULATIONS ON 17 th ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE OF UKRAINE

�The people that have the LORD as their God will be very happy.
They are the people that he chose to be his own.� (Ps. 33, 12).

We remember these inspired words of the Kind David, Singer of Psalms on the occasion of the extraordinary historical event, which we are celebrating today. This is the 17^th anniversary of the independent existence of the Ukrainian nation, which after the long centuries of slavery, oppression and murder of its people can at last feel the taste of the sweet freedom, which is now shining over the whole Ukraine like the sun.

All Christian Ukraine on the 17^th year of the renewed independence has declared its burning desire to go with the firm pace to the independent life, freedom and liberty, which is mentioned in the words of St. Peter the Apostle: �for you brothers were called to freedom� and not to slavery or arbitrariness, but to freedom to serve each other in brotherly love. So let us thank our Lord for this precious gift of the State Independence. Only in the free Ukraine that is given like the Promised Land to us, sons and daughters of the Ukrainian people, we can build our own house, if it will stand on the hard rock of the God�s truth, peace, mutual respect, patience and love.

God gives everyone the undeniable right and task to build freedom with the help either of words or deeds and this right should be guaranteed by the state. Our national prophet Taras Shevchenko wrote: �in your own house you will see true justice, strength, and liberty�

That�s why we should ask the Lord to enlighten souls and minds of our state and national leaders and all Ukrainian people, so we could develop our national Ukrainian state on the strong foundation of the Christ�s faith and in the spirit of Lord�s commandments and would be able to overcome all difficulties and problems that are oppressing our people, remembering that �if we do not built the house of our state with God, the work of his builders is in vain�.

We can take as example many European nations and easily make sure that a country, which has a strong Catholic Church, has the corresponding high level of freedom and civilization.

While visiting Ukraine in 2001, Pope John Paul II underlined that the real civilization is measured not by the material things, but first of all by the human, moral and spiritual development of the nation and the Catholic Church is the prime institution which takes care of this. So let us build strong, civilized and flourishing Ukraine on the strong foundation of the Catholic Church.

God our Lord, bless our people and hallow those, who believe in You. And You, the Most Holy Mother of God, don�t let us be ashamed, because �it was never heard, that you haven�t helped in the miseries of this earthly life!�

With Archiereyal Blessing

�Bishop Iryney Bilyk, OBSM

Summer period gives all of us possibility to find more time not only for rest but also for our spiritual and physical renewal, so every person can pay more attention to praying, going to church and visiting of holy places, thus receiving many beautiful impressions. On these nice warm days when a soul feels the presence of our God Jesus Christ especially keen, it goes far away from all the earthly problems and is captured by God�s kindness becoming closer to it. This beauty created by the Lord is revealed to us in a very special way by the Holy Mother of God, which �has not left us after the Assumption to Heaven�. She invites all of us to come under the Protection of Her Divine Love to become a living sign of love and witness of God�s Mercy.

GRATITUDE

16.08.2008 year of God

GRATITUDE

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who greeted me and prayed for me on the occasion of the 19^th anniversary of my bishop�s ordination. First of all I send the words of gratitude to His Eminence, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law and His Eminence, Cardinal Thomas Spidlik, also to the The Most Reverend Archbishop Myroslaw Marysyn, Collegium of Canonics and all Reverend and Right Fathers, Monks, Nuns and all believers from Ukraine and beyond its borders!

I would like to give my special gratitude to the Clergy and Believers of the Buchach Diocese, who in the times of making and development of the diocese were praying and working together with me for the glory of Lord and endured in their strong faith till the end. In spite of all visible and invisible malicious contrivances of humans� souls, the Christ�s vineyard of the newly created Buchach diocese continues to develop and bring generous fruits for the sake of Christ�s Church and Ukrainian Nation!

With Archiereyal Blessing

�Bishop Iryney Bilyk, OBSM
Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major,
Rome-Vatican

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