Saint of the Day: Bl. Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovsky

Bishop and Martyr (d. 1903-1973)

His life

+ Vasyl (Basil) was born into a Greek Catholic family in Stanislaviv (in what is modern-day Ukraine). In 1920, he entered the seminary in Lviv and, after being ordained a deacon, he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) and was ordained a priest in 1925.

+ After teaching at the minor seminary in Zboisk, Vasyl worked as a missionary for the next 20 years in rural Ukraine. He was arrested in 1945 and was condemned to death, but the death sentence was commuted to 10 years imprisonment. He was released in 1955.

+ In 1963, Vasyl was secretly consecrated bishop by Metropolitan Slipyj in a hotel room in Moscow and he became the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine. Arrested once more in 1969, he spent three years in prison. In the spring of 1972, near death, he was exiled from Ukraine.

+ Blessed Vasyl died in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1973. It is believed that his death was caused by a slow-acting poison administered prior to his release from prison. He was beatified with other Ukrainian martyrs in 2001.

For prayer and reflection

“These brothers and sisters of ours are the representatives that are known out of a multitude of anonymous heroes – men and women, husbands and wives, priests and consecrated men and women, young people and old – who in the course of the twentieth century, the "century of martyrdom", underwent persecution, violence and death rather than renounce their faith.”—Pope Saint John Paul II at the beatification of the Ukrainian Martyrs

Spiritual bonus

On June 30, the Church also celebrates the first martyrs of the Church of Rome. These women, men, and children, whose names are known to God alone, were murdered by order of the Emperor Nero in the year 64. The story of their sufferings were recorded in the writings of Tacitus and Pope Saint Clement I.

Prayer

Almighty and merciful God, who brought your Martyr blessed Vasyl to overcome the torments of his passion, grant that we, who celebrate the day of his triumph, may remain invincible under your protection against the snares of the enemy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.