The youth from the UGCC Deanery of Zaporizhzhya reflected over the holy sacraments of the Church in Carpathians

The camp for the youth from the Zaporizhzhya Deanery of Donetsk and Kharkiv Exarchate of UGCC started operating on the 30^th of July 2012 in the Retreat House of Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Saint Vincent in Dor. The camp was organized at the initiative of Father Igor Dmytryshyn, who is the Dean of Zaporizhzhya Deanery. 35 people from the cities of East Ukraine: Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Dniprodzerzhynsk and Krivyi Rig took part in it. This was reported in the press service of Donetsk and Kharkiv Exarchate of the UGCC. The camp participants prayed each day during the Divine Liturgy and Vespers. Moreover, they proceeded to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist. It should also be mentioned that some of the camp participants did it for the first time. "The most valuable treasure for young people, were the sciences, provided by the Sisters Servants Lyudmyla Panasyuk and Olena Hnidets" – pointed out one of the camp participants Diana Belova, who came from Kryvyi Rig. The topics of such meetings were linked to the Holy Sacraments in the life of a Christian, thus, everyone had the possibility to get to know more about the truth of Christian faith. “The God’s grace for all the camp participants was the participation in the All-Night Vigil on the occasion of the all-temple feast in the Studite Monastery of Prophet Elias in Dor, as well as, in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, which was led by His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), who is the head of the UGCC", - recollects the camp participant Diana. Such spiritual holiday did not prevent the youth from enjoying the beauty of Ukrainian Carpathians. For instance, while staying in the camp, the majority of its participants reached the first mountain peak in their life; it was the Khomyak Mountain, on which the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is established. “The prayer and the will to reach the top of the nountain assisted in overcoming the long and difficult ascent as well as physical fatigue” – Diana shares her memories. – We were so glad, that we could not refrain from embracing each other, and while holding each other by the hand we embraced the statue of Mother of God. From this peak, just at a glance, we could see Bukovel, the Montenegrin Mountains, Hoverla and Petros". The Christian camp for the youth came to an end with the retreats that were held at the Basilian Fathers Seminary in Briukhovychi, in Lviv, from 6 until 9 of August 2012. The Retreat Sciences were led by Father Joshaphat Haymyk and Father Ivan Shkolyk.

UGCC Department of Information