NEW CHURCH CONSECRATED AT BASILIAN INSTITUTE IN UKRAINE
December 3, 2018
NEW CHURCH BLESSED AT BASILIAN FATHERS INSTITUTE FOR PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatislav, presided at the consecration of a new church in the Lviv suburb of Briukhovychi. On Sunday morning, December 2, His Beatitude Sviatoslav together with the Metopolitan-Archbishop of Lviv, Ihor (Vozniak) and many other bishops and clergy and a many faithful that filled the new place of worship to capacity, blessed the 'Sobor' of the Dormition of the Mother of God that is situated on the campus of the Basilian Fathers' Joseph V. Rutsky Institute for Philosophico-theological Studies.
The rite of consecration, that preceded the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, was rich in symbolism and based on practices that stem back to the most ancient years of the Church. In the course of the ceremony, the altar is washed with wine and then again with rose water. The relics of the holy martyrs are processed three times around the exterior of the church building and then brought inside, into the sanctuary and sealed into the altar upon which the Eucharistic sacrifice will be offered - God willing, for generations to come.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav came to lead the consecration of the new church, not only because we was invited to do so by the Basilian Fathers that have made such a great contribution to the Ukrainian Catholic Church over the centuries, but because it was erected in the heart of an important institution of higher theological studies. Sviatoslav, obtained a doctorate in moral theology in Rome and served as the dean of theology at the Ukrainian Catholic University - an institution for which he serves as the Grand Chancellor to this day. He sees great value in academic study and thus supports the Basilian Rutsky Institute as a welcome member of Ukraine's family of schools where the Faithful may delve more deeply into religious studies.
The Joseph Veliamin Rutsky Institute for Philosophical and Theological Studies is named for a saintly 17th Century Metropolitan of Kyiv. Archbishop Rutsky was a contemporary of Hieromartyr St. Josaphat and both of them steered the Church through extremely difficult times following the Union of Brest. Rutsky himself made a fascinating personal spiritual journey of study, conversions and vocational discernment.
