On 27 July 2001, at Lviv, Saint Pope John Paul II beatified Bishop Mykola Charnetskyy and twenty-four companions who were martyred during the decades of suppression of the Ukrainian Catholic Church by the Soviet state following 1945. The modern Ukrainian martyrs included bishops, priests, religious, and also lay faithful.
In November 2019, relics of Blessed Bishop Charnetskyy and two other martyrs, Blessed Tarsykia Matskiv, a nun of the order of Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate, and Blessed Volodymyr Priyma, a lay cantor, will be translated to Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster.
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To the Very Reverend, Reverend Fathers and religious and lay-faithful of the Eparchy of New Westminster and to people of good will.
Chancery Office, Eparchy of New Westminster
18 October 2019
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear Friends,
This year, as our entire Church commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s emergence from its clandestine/underground existence we remember the times of persecution and martyrdom for the Catholic faith, but equally we celebrate and honour the witness of the faith of many martyrs of the Ukrainian land who have been proclaimed blessed by Saint John Paul II during his historic visit to Ukraine in 2001. At that time, as I was working as the head of the press office for the Catholic churches in Ukraine in preparing the visit of the Holy Father to Ukraine, I witnessed the beatification of the Blessed Martyrs of Ukraine. Perhaps many of you, my dear brothers and sisters, were not only witnesses of those times, but together were raised in faith with the martyrs of the Ukrainian land.
That is why I would like that the veneration of the New Martyrs and our growth in faith, through their testimony, continued and grew in our Eparchy. On this occasion, I invited His Grace Metropolitan Volodymyr Viytyshyn, Archbishop of Ivano-Frankivsk to our Eparchy to pray with us, to share his testimony about the times of the underground Church, and with me to bless the side Altar of Holy Eucharist Cathedral, which will be dedicated to the New Martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. With the blessing of the Head of the Church, His Beatitude our Patriarch Sviatoslav and the consent of the members of the Permanent Synod of Bishops, the relics of three new martyrs will be placed for veneration on November 2, 2019 in our Cathedral: Blessed Hiero-Martyr Mykola Charnetskyy, Blessed Martyr Tarsykia Matskiv and Blessed Martyr Volodymyr Priyma.
I cordially invite our whole Eparchy to the veneration and glorification of the Blessed New Martyrs so that, through their prayers, we may grow and build our parish communities here in British Columbia. A special event for the consecration of the side altar and the display of relics will take place at Holy Eucharist Cathedral (501 4th Ave, New Westminster) on November 2, 2019 as follows:
11:00 - Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
12:30 - lunch
1:30 - Times of persecution of Ukrainian Catholic Church Presentation by Metropolitan Volodymyr Viytyshyn
3:00 - Moleben to the New Martyrs
As we grow in faith, venerate, and glorify the New Martyrs of the Ukrainian land, we not only ask God for His graces for ourselves, our family, our parish, and our community, we are also inspired by the heroism of their lives and witness, which allows us to overcome the difficulties and challenges we face daily, and helps us to carry the Word of God to all people.
May the Lord bless us all through the intercession of the Blessed New Martyrs of Ukraine!
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
✙ Ken
Eparch of New Westminster