Choir of St. Andrew Parish is performing a song on Shevchenko Day.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 July 2008 16:20 )
Ambassador Oleh Shamshur Visits Boston
Written by Vsevolod Petriv
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 12:41
On May 18th, an especially beautiful sunny Sunday, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oleh Shamshur together with the Holodomor torch escorted by General Consul Mykola M. Kyrychenko and Consul Andrii Olefirov visited Boston. They participated in a Boston community tradition, a joint Moleben and Sviachene (Community Pascal) dinner that each year serves to unify the community, commemorate the past and sets the tone for the coming year. Their presence this year greatly enhanced this event. Atty. Paul Rabchenuk, chairperson of the Boston Committee to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor, Zenovy Prots, Chairman of The Ukrainian Congress Committee – Boston Branch and Vsevolod Petriv, External Communications Officer, where largely responsible for coordinating the visit to Boston by the Ambassador and his party.
Orthodox worship is different! Some of these differences are apparent, if perplexing, from the first moment you walk in a church. Others become noticeable only over time. Here is some information that may help you feel more at home in Orthodox worship—twelve things I wish I’d known before my first visit to an Orthodox church.
1. What’s all this commotion?
During the early part of the service the church may seem to be in a hubbub, with people walking up to the front of the church, praying in front of the iconostasis (the standing icons in front of the altar), kissing things and lighting candles, even though the service is already going on. In fact, when you came in the service was already going on, although the sign outside clearly said “Divine Liturgy, 9:30.” You felt embarrassed to apparently be late, but these people are even later, and they’re walking all around inside the church. What’s going on here?
St. Andrew’s Jr. UOL of Boston has had a busy six months. In September 2007, we elected officers and helped out at our annual Parish Fall Picnic. In October we participated in our first ever Youth Sunday. Jr. UOL members did everything from holding candles and leading our Deacon around the church as he censed before the beginning of the Liturgy to making the collection. We raised charity funds by hosting a Sunday Coffee Hour and holding a Candy Sale on St Nicholas Day. Our charity projects included appealing for new books for the Boston Children’s Hospital from our generous parishioners and most recently asking for donations for St. Andrew’s Society Soup Kitchens in Ukraine on Souper Bowl Sunday. Co-presidents Allie Teper and Anna Walling of St. Andrew’s Jr. UOL organized and collected donations for Super Bowl Sunday on February 3, 2008.
On May 18th, an especially beautiful sunny Sunday, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oleh Shamshur together with the Holodomor torch escorted by General Consul Mykola M. Kyrychenko and Consul Andrii Olefirov visited Boston. They participated in a Boston community tradition, a joint Moleben and Sviachene (Community Pascal) dinner that each year serves to unify the community, commemorate the past and sets the tone for the coming year. Their presence this year greatly enhanced this event. Atty. Paul Rabchenuk, chairperson of the Boston Committee to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor, Zenovy Prots, Chairman of The Ukrainian Congress Committee – Boston Branch and Vsevolod Petriv, External Communications Officer, where largely responsible for coordinating the visit to Boston by the Ambassador and his party.
Orthodox worship is different! Some of these differences are apparent, if perplexing, from the first moment you walk in a church. Others become noticeable only over time. Here is some information that may help you feel more at home in Orthodox worship—twelve things I wish I’d known before my first visit to an Orthodox church.
St. Andrew’s Jr. UOL of Boston has had a busy six months. In September 2007, we elected officers and helped out at our annual Parish Fall Picnic. In October we participated in our first ever Youth Sunday. Jr. UOL members did everything from holding candles and leading our Deacon around the church as he censed before the beginning of the Liturgy to making the collection. We raised charity funds by hosting a Sunday Coffee Hour and holding a Candy Sale on St Nicholas Day. Our charity projects included appealing for new books for the Boston Children’s Hospital from our generous parishioners and most recently asking for donations for St. Andrew’s Society Soup Kitchens in Ukraine on Souper Bowl Sunday. Co-presidents Allie Teper and Anna Walling of St. Andrew’s Jr. UOL organized and collected donations for Super Bowl Sunday on February 3, 2008.
