On the blessed feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, our parish family gathered in great numbers to give thanks to the Lord for the great gift of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Heavenly Mother.
From all eternity, the Lord chose Her to be the Mother of His Only-Begotten Son, the Savior of the world. Through Her maternal love, She has also become a Mother to each one of us. On this feast, we joyfully praised God for the gift of the Mother of His Son and asked for Her maternal intercession for our families, our parish, and all who seek God’s help and protection.
After the Divine Liturgy, we solemnly blessed a copy of the miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Dubno. This sacred icon has a special meaning for our parish family, as it was given to the family of Father Roman by Father Andriy Koval, pastor of the Church of the Ascension of Our Lord in Dubno. Father Roman served in that parish for ten years.
This feast was also a day of gratitude and a heartfelt farewell to our beloved parishioner, Maria Bilous, who served our parish as a cantor for 25 years.
As Maria prepares to return to Ukraine, our parish family expressed its sincere gratitude for her many years of faithful service, prayer, dedication, and love for our church community. With prayer, words of thanksgiving, and many years, we wished Maria God’s blessing, good health, peace, and a joyful return to her homeland.
The celebration concluded with a wonderful shared dinner, bringing our parish family together around one table. In this warm and joyful atmosphere, we were reminded once again that our parish is not only a place of prayer, but also a true spiritual family — a family that rejoices together, gives thanks together, supports one another, and prays for one another.
A Brief History of the Icon of Our Lady of Dubno
The Icon of Our Lady of Dubno comes to us from the ancient spiritual heritage of Volyn, a land that for centuries was an important center of Christian faith and tradition in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
A special place in this history belongs to the city of Dubno and the Monastery of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. For centuries, the faithful came before the miraculous image of the Mother of God, bringing their prayers, sorrows, hopes, and thanksgiving.
According to ancient tradition, in 1565, a blind woman came before this holy image. She knelt in prayer before the Mother of God and miraculously received her sight. From that time, devotion to Our Lady of Dubno spread, and pilgrims came from many places seeking the maternal intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The icon belongs to the sacred iconographic tradition of Eleusa, the Mother of God of Tenderness. We see the Theotokos gently embracing the Divine Child, while the face of the Child touches the face of His Mother. This sacred image expresses the profound mystery of maternal love, tenderness, and communion between Mother and Son.
The history of this holy icon is also connected with the difficult trials endured by our Church. After the suppression and closure of the Greek Catholic monasteries of Volyn under the Russian Empire, the original miraculous icon was eventually lost. Yet the faith of the people and their love for the Mother of God did not disappear. The memory of this holy image remained alive in the hearts of the faithful.
In our own time, by the grace of God, devotion to Our Lady of Dubno has been renewed.
In 2018, a new icon of Our Lady of Dubno was painted and beautifully adorned by Violeta Tyrpich, while the wooden side altar was crafted by her husband, Andriy Tyrpich. Their family generously offered this holy image to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Ascension of Our Lord.
On May 17, 2018, the icon was solemnly blessed by Bishop Josaphat Hovera.
For us, an icon is not simply a beautiful work of sacred art. In the Byzantine Christian tradition, an icon is like a window into heaven. When we venerate a holy icon, we do not worship the wood, the paint, or its precious adornments. We honor the person represented — the Most Holy Theotokos, who always points us toward her Divine Son.
May Our Lady of Dubno be for our parish a sign of God’s presence, a reminder of our spiritual heritage, and a constant invitation to prayer.
Most Holy Theotokos, Our Lady of Dubno, stretch forth your holy veil over us and intercede before your Divine Son for our families, our parish, our Church, and Ukraine.
