Homily by Bishop Mykola Bychok on the First Day of the Pilgrimage in Canberra

Beloved in Christ,

This is the 2^nd year in a row that we are gathering at St. Volodymyr’s Church in Canberra for a national pilgrimage, to unite together through common prayer and ask Almighty God for His graces for us personally, as well as for the Australian and Ukrainian nations. The motto of this year’s pilgrimage is the words from the prayer: “Holy Mother of God, save us.” For me, these words have a very great and deep meaning, because the Holy Mother of God has always been shoulder to shoulder on the way of my spiritual life. Even after my election as a bishop, the Mother of God continues to be a powerful intercessor and patroness in the episcopal ministry. That is why these words “Holy Mother of God, save us” are indicated on my episcopal coat of arms, as a sign of special piety and at the same time a prayer to the Mother of God for the Melbourne Eparchy of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.

In today’s epistle to the Philippians, the apostle Paul gives us certain advice for the beginning of our pilgrimage, saying: “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2, 5). In the course of a day, a person can have a dozen, and sometimes even a hundred different thoughts. However, are these thoughts the Lord’s? Everything in our life starts with thoughts, where we make certain plans, think about different things, etc… And later our thoughts become reality. When we have the same thoughts that Jesus Christ had — we will never make a bad choice in our life — because we are with Him.

Pilgrimage is a time of special communication with God in the community of the faithful who join together in prayer for growth in the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love. This is a time to reflect on your life, not be afraid to see your mistakes and, as a result, try to change something for the better. This is the time to realize that we are not alone on the way to eternity — we are heading together in the community of the faithful, which is called the Church of Christ. That is why the time of pilgrimage is the time of God’s incredible grace.

St. Volodymyr’s Church in Canberra has several spiritual treasures. First of all, these are the relics of Blessed Volodymyr Priyma, patron of the laity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the relics of the blessed 13 Pratulin Martyrs and a copy of the miraculous icon of the Pochaiv Mother of God, which is located on the left side of the church near the iconostasis. When you look at this icon, you can see the Mother of God with the Baby Jesus on her right hand. On top of the icon, near the face of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we see the inscription in Greek “Mary the Virgin”. Whereas, on the right side near the Savior’s face, we see the inscription in Greek “Jesus Christ”. Also, on the icon on the sides are depicted the prophet Elijah, the martyr Mina, the first martyr Stephen and the venerable Avraamiy; below them holy women are depicted: Paraskeva, Catherine and Iryna the Virgin. Angels are depicted on the four sides of the icon.

The origin of the icon of the Pochaiv Mother of God is still unknown. However, there is a certain assumption that this icon was written in ancient Byzantine script, so it could have been created either in Byzantium or in Bulgaria. In 1597, the wealthy widow of the Lutsk judge Anna Goyska, who owned Pochaiv in the second half of the 16^th century, presented this icon to the Pochaiv monastery. It is assumed that in 1559 this icon was presented to Anna by the Greek Metropolitan Neofitus, who later became the Patriarch of Constantinople. This gift was as a token of gratitude for the cordial reception in Pochaiv, through which he passed on his way back from Moscovia. Since then, the icon has been in the house of Anna Goyska.

When we look at the persons depicted on the icon, we see a big difference in time of several hundred years between these figures. Therefore, on this basis, scientists believe that the original could have been the family icon of Metropolitan Neofit, as if it were his ancestral relic.

An ancient tradition tells us that pious Anna asked the Blessed Virgin to heal her brother Philip, who was blind from birth. As an answer to her fervent prayers — a miracle happened — he received his sight. After this miracle, Anna Goyska, accompanied by a large procession, carried the icon to the mountain of Pochaiv for public worship and handed it over to the monastery. It is this icon that is credited with protecting the monastery from the Tatar attack that took place in 1675. Although the monastery itself was very poorly protected from the attack, the attack was still repelled.

From 1713 to 1832, the Pochaiv monastery belonged to the Order of St. Basil the Great. During this period, one can find in the monastery chronicles records of 539 cases of miraculous healing attributed to the icon of the Holy Virgin of Pochaiv. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV sent two crowns of pure gold for the icon: one for the Virgin Mary, the other for little Jesus. The coronation ceremony was conducted by Lutsk Bishop Sylvester Rudnytskyi. The original icon disappeared in 1830, when they wanted to take it to Moscow. According to ancient traditions, the Basilians hid the icon in an unknown place. Unfortunately, the original of this icon has not been found to this day.

Since ancient times, the icon of the Mother of God of Pochaiv has been addressed for healing from blindness, incurable diseases, for the liberation of captives, as well as for all other purposes. Today we also turn to the Mother of God of Pochaiv in all our requests with which we came to this pilgrimage, as well as for peace in Ukraine and in the whole world, protection against enemy invasion, for the liberation of captives, for the healing of the wounded, for the recovery of the sick, for the comfort of the lonely and for conversion of sinners.

O Immaculate Virgin, we have no other help, we have no other hope, apart from You. Give us your help! In you we hope, and in you we glory, for we are Your servants. May we not be put to shame. Amen.

See also

October 8 Bishop Mykola Bychok Meets Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I October 7 Media Release. Bishop Mykola Bychok proclamed a Cardinal October 7 Bishop Mykola Bychok: “I understand how much responsibility this appointment entrusts to me.”