Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer in Ukraine
You can walk this road in 90 minutes. We have been walking it for three days. For me, this pilgrimage of the community of fathers, brothers and sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer is a moment of knowledge, grace and understanding that we are part of the Church. Such a beautiful brick, without which there will be a hole and a draught in the Church.
St. Alphonsus founded the Congregation of Missionaries to bring the good news of Redemption to the poorest and most despised. And the Fathers realized that without sisters it was a little more difficult to do so. That is why we are here.
During these three days of pilgrimage to the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Kokhavynsk, we prayed together, asked God for new vocations and the strength to live our vocations well. To give the best of ourselves in the work we do. “To go on pilgrimage is to be forgiven to the maximum,” said Fr. Mykhailo Mykytchyn in Zarichchia, where we were welcomed on the second day of the pilgrimage. And in this village, we are always inspired by the father’s family, because their story and a necklace of miracles that of Lesia are from God.
These three days were also a time to realize how much you love me and forgive me. How many good people there are around me, full of God and His gifts. It is a time when you can talk, listen, and win with those who live the same values and seek God. It is a time to feel your strength, to humbly ask your sister to heal your calluses and your brothers to bring water. It is a time of self-discovery, because with them somewhere in the kilometers traveled, in three days, all the masks are lost somewhere along the way.
This is the fifth pilgrimage we have made together so far. And this year we were accompanied by 6 sisters who have come in the last 5 years. It turns out that we had been passing by Sister Dorotea’s house for several years, and last year she decided to become one of us. Who knows what other fruits our efforts and God’s plans will bring?
Not everyone understands why you need to go to a monastery if you can serve God in any condition. If you don’t understand that, you don’t have to. For me, my vocation is the best choice for my life, for which it was not difficult to give up my family, my relatives, and all the other benefits that can be crucial for others. I didn’t think about what I wouldn’t have. I thought about how I was loved and how right I was with God, to the point of giving myself completely to Him.
On August 30, 2006, I crossed the threshold of the monastery.
Eighteen years of love are already behind me.
What will I have ahead of me?
(from Антонія Зоряна Шелепило’s Facebook)
