Eastern Rite - Feasts of 2 April AM 7530

Today is All Souls Saturday and the Feasts of Our Venerable Father Titus the Wonderworker and the Commemoration of the Passing into Eternal Life (1959) of Blessed Hieromartyr Mykola (Nicholas) Charnetsky, Exarch of Volhynia.

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Saturday is the day that the Church has set aside for the commemoration of Right-Believing Christians who departed this life in the hope of resurrection and eternal life. Since the Divine Liturgy cannot be served on weekdays during Great Lent, the second, third, and fourth Saturdays of the Fast are appointed as Soul Saturdays when the departed are remembered at Liturgy.

In addition to the Liturgy, kollyva (wheat or rice cooked with honey and mixed with raisins, figs, nuts, sesame, etc.) is blessed in church on these Saturdays. The kollyva reminds us of the Lord’s words, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). The kollyva symbolizes the future resurrection of all the dead. As Saint Simeon of Thessalonica (September 15) says, man is also a seed that is planted in the ground after death and will be raised up again by God’s power. Saint Paul also speaks of this (I Cor. 15:35-49).

It is also customary to give alms in memory of the dead. The angel who spoke to Cornelius testifies to the efficacy of almsgiving, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4).

Memorial services for the dead may be traced back to ancient times. Chapter 8 of the Apostolic Constitutions recommends memorial services with Psalms for the dead. It also contains a beautiful prayer for the departed, asking that their voluntary and involuntary sins be pardoned, that they be given rest with the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles in a place where sorrow, suffering, and sighing have fled away (Isaiah 35:10). Saint John Chrysostom mentions the service for the dead in one of his homilies on Philippians and says that it was established by the Apostles. Saint Cyprian of Carthage (Letter 37) also speaks of our duty to remember the martyrs.

The holy Fathers also testify to the benefit of offering prayers, memorial services, Liturgies, and alms for the dead (Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint John of Damascus, etc.). Although both the righteous and those who have not repented and corrected themselves may receive benefit and consolation from the Church’s prayer, it has not been revealed to what extent the unrighteous receive this solace. It is not possible, however, to transfer a soul from a state of evil and condemnation to a state of holiness and blessedness through the Church’s prayer. Saint Basil the Great points out that the time for repentance and forgiveness of sins is during the present life, while the future life is a time for righteous judgment and retribution (Moralia 1). Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Gregory the Theologian, and other patristic writers concur with Saint Basil’s statement.

By praying for others, we bring benefit to them, and also to ourselves, because “God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love which you showed for His sake in serving the saints...” (Heb. 6:10).

Troparion — Tone 8

Only Creator, with wisdom profound, You mercifully order all things, / and give that which is needed to all men: / Give rest, O Lord, to the souls of Your servants who have fallen asleep, / for they have placed their trust in You, our Maker and Fashioner, and our God.

Kontakion — Tone 8

With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Your servants, / where there is neither sickness nor sorrow, and no more sighing, / but life everlasting.

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Saint Titus the Wonderworker displayed zeal for the monastic life from his youth. He pursued asceticism in the ninth century at the Studion monastery near Constantinople. By his deeds of fasting, purity of life and mild disposition, Saint Titus gained the love of the brethren, and at their request, he was ordained priest.

Fervent of faith, the saint stood up for the Catholic veneration of icons during the Iconoclast persecution. Because of his virtuous life, God granted him the gift of wonderworking. The saint was translated to the Lord in his old age.

Troparion — Tone 4

Dedicated to the Lord from childhood, / you lived in the world like an angel; / you received grace from God to work miracles; / you were a guide of monks and a wise steward, O Titus. / Fervently pray to Christ our God for the world.

Troparion — Tone 4

You forsook the tumult of life; / you lived your life in tranquillity, O wise one. / You have passed over to God, / venerable wonderworker, Titus our father.

Kontakion — Tone 8

You purified yourself through prayer and abstinence. / You were radiant with grace and virtue. / You bring joy to us who sing: / Rejoice, O Titus, / Adornment of the fathers!

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Blessed Mykola (Nicholas) Charnetsky was born to a large and pious peasant family on the 14th of December 1884 in the Western Ukrainian village of Semakivka. Mykola was the eldest of nine children. He received his primary education in the village of Tovmach and then entered St. Nicolas gymnasium (grammar school) in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk).

Charnetsky discovered his vocation to the priesthood at a young age and soon declared his intention of becoming a priest. In 1903 bishop Hryhoriy Khomyshyn sent him to Rome for studies. During Charnetsky’s short visit to Ukraine, Bishop Hryhoriy Khomyshyn ordained him a priest on the 2nd of October 1909. Fr. Mykolay then returned to Rome to continue his studies and received the degree of Doctor of theology.

From the autumn of 1910 Fr. Charnetsky was the Professor of Philosophy and Dogmatic theology at the Stanislaviv seminary. He was also the Spiritual Director in the same seminary. Deep in his heart, however, Fr. Mykolay longed for the monastic life. Hence, in October 1919 he joined the Redemptorist novitiate in Zboiska near Lviv, and one year later, on the 16th of October 1920, he professed his vows as a Redemptorist.

Filled with eagerness to work for the reconciliation of Christians and to convert the spiritually abandoned people, in 1926 the Redemptorists of the Lviv Province founded a missionary centre at Kovel in the Volyn region. Fr. Charnetsky, being an ardent missionary, was sent there. Very soon he gained the utmost respect of the local people and even that of the Orthodox clergy. Having opened a monastery and a church in Kovel, Fr. Mykolay did his best to preserve the purity of the Eastern Liturgical rite. In 1931, taking into account Fr. Charnetsky’s devoted work, Pope Pius XI appointed him titular bishop of Lebed and an Apostolic Visitor for the Ukrainian Catholics in the Volyn and Pidliashsha regions. These regions became the field of Charnetsky’s activity – first as a missionary, then as a bishop – for almost 14 years.

As the first Ukrainian Redemptorist Bishop, he experienced persecution from the very outset of his activity. During the Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine in 1939 the Redemptorists were forced to leave the Volyn region, and bishop Charnetsky moved to Lviv, to a Redemptorist monastery in Zyblykevycha (now Ivana-Franka) Street.

After the revival of the Lviv Theological Academy in 1941, Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky joined the faculty of the Academy as a professor of Philosophy, Psychology, and Moral Theology. His calmness, based on a strong and unshakable faith, his spirit of obedience and prayer gave his students good reason to consider their professor a saint. Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky was for them an exemplary figure of both a monk and a virtuous person.

In 1944 the Soviet troops entered Galicia for the second time. This marked the beginning of bishop Charnetsky’s Via Dolorosa. He was arrested on 11 April 1945. He was held in the prison of the Soviet secret police in Lonskoho street. There, the bishop suffered many afflictions: interrogations in the middle of the night, cruel beating and torture. Later Bishop Charnetsky was transferred to Kyiv, where he spent another year of suffering – until his case was taken to court. Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for the crime of being a “Vatican agent”. He served this term together with the Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj first in the town of Mariinsk in the Kemeroc region (Siberia), then later at a number of other prison sites as well.

According to credible sources, during the period of his imprisonment (from his arrest in Lviv in April 1945 until his release in 1956), Bishop Charnetsky spent altogether 600 hours under torture and interrogation, and at different times was imprisoned in 30 prisons and prison camps. Despite all these sufferings, the bishop always managed to find a word of consolation for his fellow prisoners. He supported them morally and he knew all of them by name. It is no wonder that bishop Charnetsky was very popular among the prisoners, as he was the only source of consolation for them.

Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky spent the last years of his imprisonment in a prison hospital in Mordovia. In 1956 his health declined to the extent that the doctors did not have any hope as regards his survival. A special robe, in which the prisoners were buried, had already been sewn for bishop Charnetsky. Taking into account the hopeless condition of the bishop and that the Soviet regime could avoid the blame of causing the bishop’s death, the prison administration decided to release him and send him to Lviv. After his return to Lviv in 1956 and due to his contracting hepatitis and a number of other diseases, Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky was immediately hospitalized. Everybody was sure that Bishop Charnetsky would soon die. But, the Lord had a different plan: He decided to prolong the life of a man whose faith and work was so valued and needed by the Ukrainian Church. Soon the bishop recovered and moved to an apartment in number 7 Vechirnia Street together with Br. Klymentiy, C.Ss.R. There, Bishop Charnetsky continued his apostolate of endurance and prayer. He spent most of his time praying and reading. Those who visited the bishop in that period witnessed to have often found him in a state of ecstasy. During his stay in Lviv, Bishop Charnetsky remained faithful to his mission of a Good Shepherd: he supported his confreres spiritually, prepared candidates for the priesthood and ordained more than ten priests.

Unfortunately, Bishop Charnetsky’s “miraculous” recovery did not last long. On the 2nd of April 1959, the bishop died in a state of holiness. His last words were a cry calling on the aid of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. The funeral of Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky took place on the 4th of April 1959. The description of the funeral kept in the archive of Yorkton Province of CSsR (Canada) ends with the following words: “We all think that the day of his canonization will come – for he was indeed a saintly bishop”.

Everybody who knew Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky gave a unanimous testimony of his sainthood. It was no surprise then that immediately after his death many people started addressing their prayers to Bishop Charnetsky. One finds this impression of sainthood and of a powerful intercession before God during prayers at the bishop’s tomb in the Lychakiv cemetery. Numerous people visit the place of Bishop Charnetsky’s burial to obtain his intercession when praying to God for various favours. One woman, whose arm was about to be amputated, applied soil from the bishop’s grave to her arm, which resulted in complete healing. Since then, people have been taking soil from his grave to remedy various diseases.

Taking into account the testimonies of Bishop Mykolay Charnetsky’s virtuous life, and particularly his endurance, courage and faithfulness to Christ’s Church during the period of persecution, the beatification process was started in 1960. On 2 March 2001, the process was completed on the level of the eparchy, and the case was handed over to the Apostolic See. On 6 April 2001 the theological committee recognized the fact of Bishop Charnetsky’s martyrdom, on 23 April his martyrdom was verified by the Assembly of Cardinals, and on 24 April 2001 Most Holy Father John Paul II signed a decree of the beatification of Bishop Mykola Charnetsky, a blessed martyr of Christian faith.

Troparion

In life and death, Blessed Bishop Martyr Mykola, you exemplified the words of Our Lord, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Through your virtuous life and heroic death, you have attained the martyr’s crown of glory in the Heavenly Kingdom. O Healer of Souls, we beseech you, hear our prayers and intercede for our needs. Heal our physical and spiritual infirmities through your intercession with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Supreme Physician of our bodies and souls.