On May 31st, our Orthodox Church celebrated a great feast in the history of humankind — the Feast of the Holy Trinity. On this same day, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity — the Holy Spirit — opened itself to man. On the fiftieth day after Christ’s Resurrection, at the Saviour’s instructions, all the Apostles, the Theotokos and other disciples of Christ gathered in Jerusalem. Suddenly came a rushing sound from heaven, resembling that of a storm, filling the whole building. The Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. When the Apostles emerged from the upper room, people who had come to Jerusalem for the feast, heard each their own language from the lips of the Apostles. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles was the beginning of preaching the Gospel of Christ through all the nations of the earth. That is why the Feast of the Holy Spirit is often accepted as the birth of Christ’s Church on earth.
It was on this same festal day that His Grace, Andriy — Bishop of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, made an Archpastoral visitation to Holy Trinity parish in London, Ontario. Head of the parish council, Mrs. Vera Olynyk, together with the congregation joyfully greeted the ruling Bishop with bread, salt, and also with warm words of greeting. Parish Priest, Very Rev. Archpriest Vasyl’ Fediv welcomed Bishop Andriy into the temple. Bishop Andriy thanked him for the greetings and said that it was with profound joy that he arrived in our parish on the parish’s feast day.
The Holy Divine Liturgy was led by Bishop Andriy. At the Liturgy — the parish choir, under the direction of Mrs. Oksana Metulynsky, sang uplifting hymns with extraordinary and prayerful enthusiasm; the Apostol was read in Ukrainian by Professor Viktor Venhrzhanovsky and in English by Michael Drul. Near the end of the service, His Grace Bishop Andriy turned to the faithful with an archpastoral homily on the Acts of Grace of the Holy Spirit. Also on this day, a number of parishioners were honoured to accept Holy Communion. The Divine Liturgy ended as according to the ustav — with the Mnohaya Lita.
After Liturgy, a communal lunch, with everything prepared through the efforts of our sincere parishioners, was held in the church hall. Bishop Andriy warmly and movingly greeted all present with the feast of the temple and the Feast of the Holy Spirit. During the celebratory lunch, greetings were presented His Grace by the following:
• President of Holy Trinity Parish, Mrs. Vera Olynyk,
• Parish Vice-President, Mr. Ivan Danylchenko,
• President of the London Branch, Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Mrs. Daria Hrytskiv,
• President of “Golden Years” Mrs. Vera Choma…
…and others.
Also on this great and joyous day, Holy Trinity Parish greeted its long-serving members with beautiful song. The Divine Liturgy served by Bishop Andriy truly became a spiritual celebration for all those fortunate enough to pray this day in Holy Trinity church in London. The joy and uplifted spirits at this meeting with the Bishop of the Eparchy will remain in the memories of parishioners for a time to come. We express our sincere gratitude to Bishop Andriy for his visitation to our parish, his prayer and archpastoral blessings.
— Very Rev. Archpriest Vasyl’ Fediv, Parish Priest, Holy Trinity, London ON
