On Wednesday, July 15, 2020 four Redemptorist brothers, preparing to take their final vows, together with Bishop Mykola Bychok and father provincial Andriy Rak, made a bicycle pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia which is a holy pilgrimage site in the Ternopil region, Ukraine.
The starting point of this journey was the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Ternopil). In 6 hours, the pilgrims covered a distance of 64 kilometers. In Zarvanytsia we stopped at the Redemptorist retreat house. We planned to return to Ternopil and Lviv the next day.
Arriving at the destination, the pilgrims received a blessing from His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Vasyl Semenyuk, and then prayed the Holy Liturgy in the parish church of the Holy Trinity and the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin, where the miraculous icon of the Zarvanytsia Mother of God is located.
Spending time together in this place, intertwined with prayer, talking together and preparing our meal, filled our hearts with joy and gladness.
We thank God for this time and the Mother of God for accompanying us on the pilgrimage!
brother Mykola Romaniv CSsR
translated by fr. Taras Kchik CSsR
