It is the practice in Ukrainian Catholic Parishes to have a “Lenten Mission” during the course of the Great Fast, during which the Faithful can hear inspiring sermons and reflections and have the opportunity to make their “Easter Confession”*.
It is not always feasible for each individual parish to invite a special preacher for such a Lenten Mission/ Therefore, sometimes they may collaborate with a neighbouring parish or simply rely on a nearby parish to provide a Mission for the region. This was the case with St. Mary’s (Pokrova) Parish in Vancouver, under the pastoral care of the Basilian Fathers. The parish arranged with Redemptorist Missionary, Fr. Dmytro Dnistrian, C.Ss.R. to preach a three-day mission, including their Sunday Divine Liturgies.
Father Dmytro preached and heard Confessions at the Vancouver Parish Church from Friday March 21 through the Liturgies on Veneration of the Holy Cross Sunday March 23. Besides the parishioners of St. Mary’s faithful from other parishes in the “lower mainland” area of British Columbia attended.
Among the attendees were the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate who have a house in New Westminster near the Eparchial Centre. Sr. Angelica (Hodowansky), SSMI, noted that it was an “excellent turnout” of people in attendance, and she very much enjoyed the “many stories from his own personal life” that Fr. Dmytro used, rendering the points that he was making memorable. The people attending – especially the newcomers – also very much appreciated that Father Dmytro, on occasion, preached in Ukrainian.
The Pastor of St. Mary’s, Rev. Joseph Pidskalny, OSBM is happy with the mission and the number of people that made the effort to come to the talks and services over the three days.
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* Although the number of faithful availing themselves of the Sacrament of Confession every month (as it is offered by most clergy prior to every Eucharist Liturgy) if quite strong throughout the Eparchy, people also traditionally make the effort to make a special Confession in preparation for their parish feast (praznyk), for Christmas and Easter. Easter Confession often takes on the character of what some call a “general Confession” where one makes an assessment of his/her year or even entire life.
