BEATIFICATION OF FOUR UKRAINIAN REDEMPTORIST MARTYRS
Pope John Paul II recently beatified thirty Servants of God in the city of L'viv in Ukraine. Among them are four Redemptorists, all from the former Vice-Province (now Province) of L'viv: Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, Bishop Basil Velychkovsky, Father Zenon Kovalyk and Father Ivan Ziatyk.
It is surely no coincidence that the day on which our confreres are to be officially invoked as "blessed" is the Feastday of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, an icon and a title so dear to all Redemptorists, but particularly to our Ukrainian confreres. From even a brief glance at the history of the Redemptorists in Western Ukraine, their devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and their development under her care, are patently obvious.
The first Redemptorists arrived in Ukraine on November 13th, 1913, at the invitation of His Excellency, Archbishop Andrew Sheptytsky, Metropolitan of L'viv. They were led by two Redemptorists, Fr. Joseph Schrijvers and Fr. Hector Kinzinger of the Belgium Province. Within a short time they were engaged in the work of parish missions at the request of bishops and priests. They were particularly concerned to spread devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help wherever they went.
On December 22nd (the Eastern-rite feastday of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin)1927, a confraternity of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was established at the Redemptorist church in Stanislaviv. This was raised to the dignity of an Archconfraternity by Pope Pius XI on September 12th, 1932, with the faculty of affiliating to itself other confraternities of the same kind. From that time on, devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help made wonderful progress amongst the faithful. Such confraternities were established in about 200 parishes, often on the occasion of a mission. By 1938 the total membership of these confraternities was approximately 100,000. By means of these confraternities, the parishes evangelised by the Redemptorist missionaries better preserved the fervour of the mission.
Nicholas Charnetsky was the first Ukrainian Redemptorist to be made a bishop. On the occasion of his episcopal ordination in our church of Sant' Alfonso in Rome on February 8th, 1931, he spoke about the icon of Perpetual Help as follows:"At a time of great turmoil, namely the inroads into Christendom of the Turks, the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help was brought here to the See of Peter. For three centuries it bestowed its gracious favours most lavishly on this City and on the world. Afterwards, entrusted to the care of the sons of St. Alphonsus, that great champion of the Mother of God, it began to shine with a new brilliance. But now, with the furious onset of Bolshevism, this icon is being taken back to the East by the sons of St. Alphonsus in order to save souls from spiritual ruin. May the motherly goodness and mercy of the most Holy Mother of God be the consolation of all our missionaries. May the sweet name of the Mother of Perpetual Help be my consolation; may it be for me also a refuge in the adversities and the difficult situations which await me. Through the intercession of the Mother of Perpetual Help, may the name of our Most Holy Redeemer and King be forever blessed".
A witness at the death of Bishop Charnetsky attested:"Bishop Nicholas's last words on earth were addressed to the Blessed Mother of Perpetual Help whom he deeply loved and honoured during his whole life".
The loving care of the Mother of Perpetual Help over this Vice-Province is evident from its rapid development within the short space of 25 years. By November 13th, 1938, the state of the Vice-Province was as follows:
6 houses, 51 priests, 20 professed students, 34 professed brothers, 4 choir novices, 8 novices for the brothers, 2 postulants, and 115 juvenists, Unfortunately, with the beginning of World War II in 1939, and the arrival of the Russian communists in Western Ukraine, the whole Vice-Province was eventually disbanded and its members gaoled, killed or scattered.
With Ukraine's declaration of independence in recent years, after the fall of communism, the Vice-Province of L'viv was raised to the status of a Province by the General Curia on 8th of December, 1989. At that time the statistics for the newly erected Province were as follows:
6 houses, 3 bishops, 43 priests, 25 professed students, 5 brothers, and 10 novices.
"Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest"(John 12:24).
K. A. Carroll, C.Ss.R.
