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07.05.2008, [11:23] // UGCC // RISU.ORG.UA

The new iconostas (icon-screen) for the Church of the Holy Spirit at Holy Spirit Seminary in western Ukrainian Lviv was blessed on 4 May 2007. Archbishop Ihor Vozniak of Lviv blessed it before the Liturgy. Singing for the Liturgy was the Byzantine Men’s Choir from Utrecht, Holland.

Prof. Myroslav Antonovych in 1951 founded the choir, which spreads in Holland and the world the culture of Ukrainian liturgical and folk singing. Members of the choir also made financial donations for the iconostas, which is not only a work of high art but also helps in liturgical prayer.

Present at the service were Antonia Willemsen, who organized the collection of donations; Oleh Rishniak, head of Western Ukraine Restorations Projects, who supervised the preparation of the iconostas; Myroslav Senyk, head of the Lviv Region Council; Ihor Ozhyivskyi, representing the Lviv mayor; Maria Zubrytska, pro-rector for academic work of Ivan Franko National University in Lviv; Yaroslav Nakonechnyi, honored consul of Austria; Fr. Borys Gudziak, Ph. D., rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University; and other honored guests and friends of the seminary.

Archbishop Vozniak also unveiled a memorial table to Fr. Werenfried van Straaten, founder of Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charitable organization that provided funds for the building of the new seminary premises.

After the Liturgy, Fr. Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ph. D., rector of the seminary, thanked the donors and announced that the day’s event was significant not only for the seminary but also for the city of Lviv and all Halynchyna [Galicia, far Western Ukraine]. “Today our city is enriched by yet one more artistic treasure,” said Fr.Shevchuk.

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