St. Volodymyr's Parish

30 years ago, a longheld dream came into being – the first stone was laid for a Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canberra.

The parish celebrated the occasion with Divine Liturgy and Parastas for all deceased parishioners; Great Vespers with Lytia and a blessing of new church's icon of St. Volodymyr on Saturday 28 July.  On Sunday 29 July 2012 Divine Liturgy with Renewal of Baptismal vows and Minor blessing of water were held, followed by a lunch at the Ainslie Football Club.  A special thank you to Bishop Peter (Stasiuk) who led all prayers during these days as well as to Monsignor John Woods, Administrator of Canberra & Goulburn Archdiocese and  Fr Simon Ckuj from Sydney, Fr Felix Figurek and deacon Edward Kostraby from Melbourne who co-celebrated Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. The community was also joined by Sisters Konstantyna and Anisia from Sydney; Mr Stanislav Stashevsky, Charge D’Affaires with the Ukrainian Embassy in Canberra and Third Secretary Mr Olexandr Fomenko, as well members of the Ukrainian Community in Sydney and Melbourne.

With Peter Lutak as MC there was never a dull moment. Father Andriy and Andriy Liszczynsky, Ivan Miljenovic, Irene Pellegrino and Peter Lutak entertained the crowd with rousing renditions of traditional Ukrainian songs which had the room singing along- and the Club staff wondering what they had let themselves in for!  In good Ukrainian tradition there was a raffle with prizes generously donated by members of the parish community. A special mention goes to "Spiroski foods” and General manager Mr Eugene Hawryszko for their generous first prize raffle donation of a selection of continental delicacies.

Fr Andriy and the Parish Council would like to thank everyone who attended and supported the event.  We look forward to seeing you at our worships and next function!

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