by Brent Kostyniuk “Wow!” That was the reaction of a friend of mine when she first stepped into a Ukrainian Catholic church. Although a life-long Catholic, and, indeed, a religion teacher in our city’s Catholic school system, this was her first encounter with the Byzantine tradition. She had not yet heeded St. John Paul II’s […]
by Brent Kostyniuk If you drive along the Yellowhead Highway between Edmonton and Winnipeg, you will be passing through the Borsch Belt—a vast region of fertile prairie favoured by Ukrainian homesteaders in the last years of the19th century and the early decades of the 20th century—a lasting legacy of those pioneers are the churches they […]
by Brent Kostyniuk Ukrainians have a deep devotion and love for the Mother of God. In fact, along with other Byzantine traditions, they have a unique title for her – Theotokos. The term Theotokos is a compound of two Greek words: Θεός (Theo) meaning God, and τόκος (tokos) meaning childbirth or offspring. A literal translation […]
by Brent Kostyniuk As adherents to Byzantine tradition, Ukrainian Catholics place great emphasis on commemorating relatives and friends who have passed from this life. We pray their memory will be eternal, both on this earth and in God’s love. We do this in a variety of ways beginning with the moment of a loved one’s […]
by Brent Kostyniuk Of all the saints commemorated in the Byzantine liturgical year, one of the most beloved surely has to be our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra. Although not exclusively a Ukrainian saint, he has won a special place in the hearts of Ukrainians. In Canada alone, there some two dozen […]
by Brent Kostyniuk It is said the most popular theme for songs is love. That is probably true. All You Need is Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bye Bye Love, and of course, Muskrat Love (go ahead, Google it!). The same goes for movies. What would Christmas be without watching Love Actually? Love is […]
by Brent Kostyniuk At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter […]
by Brent Kostyniuk In certain ways, it is easy being Ukrainian Catholic in a city like Edmonton. Ukrainians form fourteen percent of the population and have been there since the first Ukrainian pioneers arrived in the 1890s. The city is the seat of one of Canada’s five Ukrainian Catholic Eparchies and boasts nine Ukrainian Catholic […]
by Brent Kostyniuk Some years ago, a new priest in our parish caused a great stir when he delivered his first sermon—he brought a Bible with him to the pulpit. Not only did he bring a Bible, but he also quoted passages from it as he preached. “What’s going on here? Is he trying to […]
by Brent Kostyniuk A youngish man gets woken up by his wife on Sunday morning. “Time to get ready for church.” “No! I’m not going today.” “Give me three good reasons why,” his wife replied. “It’s always the same. The sermons are boring. Besides, I went last week. Give me three good reasons why I […]
