Over the weekend of April 13-14, 2013, a total of seven members made vows; some perpetual and some temporary (for five years) which are made before one is allowed to make perpetual profession. The main event of the weekend was on Sunday at noon when Nataliya Shchehel, Zoriana Dnistrianska, and Olha Semeruk made their final vows.
Once again Fr. Barry Fischer presided over the profession ceremony and received the vows. This time, the professions took place not in the context of the Latin rite Mass but the Ukrainian rite Divine Liturgy (of the same basic nature as the Mass, simply known by a different term), since the Ukrainian communities are of the Ukrainian Catholic rite. The service took place in Miles Jesu’s own small church atop a hill in the medieval city of L’viv with members from the area’s three communities participating—from the men’s communities of L’viv and Bortniky and the ladies community of Birky. Father Robert Nicoletti, for many years a member of the L’viv community, traveled from Rome to concelebrate and help in other ways. A total of five priests celebrated the Liturgy together. The little girls from the Birky Children’s Home (run by the ladies community) formed the choir and a total of about 70 guests were present for the Liturgy and the party which followed.
Olha writes, “Of course it was for me a special day but I was surprised that for many other people this ceremony was so important too. We invited friends and family but even some people we didn’t know came!. They were interested in the ceremony and welcomed us with joy. It’s hard for me to write something about my feelings or opinions from that day. It seems nothing has changed and yet also, that something has changed. I had a feeling of God being closer than ever before. I do not know what else there is to say!”
Zoriana writes, “The weather was very good that weekend—finally spring has come, although up until then there had been a lot of snow and cold. During the last week of preparation, I was a bit worried about whether we would have time to do everything and prepare. Even on Saturday I was worried about whether the children were ready to do the singing for the Liturgy. Thank God, they sang well, with no false notes! But waking up on Sunday, I felt a deep peace and joy. It was a sense of anticipation and celebration, of festivity. And this great joy and peace accompanied me all day. It is hard to put into words what I felt, but I can say that for me it was a blessed time. The night before, when I wrote the formula for perpetual vows [each person making vows writes out the formula in his or her own handwriting before the ceremony and then uses that copy to read from and then sign at the actual profession], I remembered the part of the Gospel when Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Because, due to making mistakes, I had to copy out both pages of the formula three times!
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