Pope to crown the Icon of the Mother of God from Zarvanytsia
The original crown for the icon of the Mother of God from St Mary Spiritual Center in Zarvanytsia is blessed by Pope Roman Francis on Sunday, October 15, at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. According to the program, the Pontiff will bless them near the Pieta before the Liturgy on the occasion of the canonization of three saints and four martyrs for faith.
The court vicar of the Ternopil-Zboriv Archeparchy of the UGCC Fr. Roman Dutchak reported to journalist of RISU Volodymyr Moroz about it. He will be one of those who will accompany the icon to Rome.
“The Pope will bless the crowns for the icon of the Mother of God in Zarvanytsia, known as a copy of Petro Kholodnyy. This artist wrote the icon in 1922, when he restored its original,” says Fr. R.Duttak. “The original icons were decorated 150 years ago with the crowns blessed by Pope Pius IX. The coronation of a copy, already famous for numerous miracles, is associated with this 150th anniversary. After all, the original icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia is constantly located in the parish church in Zarvanytsia. Instead, the reports that the Zarvanytsia icon is in one or another parish are related precisely to the relics painted by Petro Kholodnyy.
Since the icon, which will be crowned in Rome, has traveled a lot across Ukraine since 1990, it has been worn out. As a result, it was restored by experts from the town of Chervonohrad, Lviv region, continues to Fr. R.Dutchak.
“We wanted the Pope to personally visit St Mary spiritual center in Zarvanytsia and invited him twice. But now the blessing of the crowns will take place in Rome, on St. Sacred Square. Peter, in the chapel of the cathedral of St. Peter, where Pieta (Pieta) by Michelangelo Buonarotti is located,” said the priest. “This will happen before the Liturgy, which the Pope will serve on the occasion of the canonization of three saints and four martyrs. The liturgy will begin at 10.00. “
Consequently, the icon and crowns will be transferred to St Sophia Cathedral - the Wisdom of the UGCC at Via di Boccea in Rome. There the crowns will be placed on the icons. In St Sophia the icon will stay for a week, and then another week will be in the church of St. Sergius and Bacchus of the UGCC in Rome. In general, the crowned icon from Zarvanytsia until December 27, 2017 will be visiting Ukrainian temples and parishes of the Republic of Italy. After that, the relic will return to Ukraine: they will it place on the altar in the cathedral of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia at St Mary Spiritual Center in a specially equipped marble and lime tree for her.
By the way, for the transportation of icons to Italy, across this country and back to Ukraine, a 120-kilogram image case was produced. The blessing of crowns for the Ukrainian icon, las well as the Liturgy on Sunday, can be viewed on the Vatican's TV.
