Anniversary of the Church that Unites Generations with Love

In such moments, you always think: how imperceptibly time flows. Not just minutes and not just days, but also months, years, decades. It flows, taking with it all that is joyful and sad, all that is anxious and hopeful, all that is bitter and comforting. But it leaves memories. It leaves memory. It leaves and strengthens faith and love. Especially if everything began with faith and love. Like, for example, the Church of the Holy Protection on Washtenaw Avenue in Chicago.

Its history begins in the distant year of 1951. At that time, people who had come to America from Ukraine and were seeking family warmth, needed God's care and help, and wanted to preserve their faith, language, culture, and nourish their love for their native land, united into a church community. The church helped them in this. It was not just a building where one could come and pray, but a place where the spirit of faith, hope, and love reigned — from the first uttered "Our Father," from the first heartfelt "Holy Mother of God, save us."

Since then, 75 years have passed. Some have departed to the afterlife, others have changed their place of residence. New parishioners crossed the threshold of the church, young couples got married, young parents baptized their children. In short, the parish lived and continues to live, remaining a place of special strength, love, and family warmth.

Many people gathered within the walls of the church last weekend: they were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the church, where Father Anatoliy Basarab has served as pastor for the past ten years. During the Holy Liturgy, sincere prayers were offered, which, together with the parishioners, were raised to the heavens by the respected and always welcome guests of the church — priests from other parishes.

The moments of awarding were especially pleasant. The parish received a certificate of gratitude and recognition of merits from the Vicariate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada, which was presented to its head, Volodymyr Didenko. Father Anatoliy awarded certificates of appreciation to a number of the most active parishioners. Two special awards — the Orders of the Chortkiv City Council "For Merits to the Community" — were received by Viktor Moskalyuk and Serhiy Konyk. These are tireless volunteers who, in these difficult times for Ukraine, organize the collection of funds and the dispatch of vehicles to the front, which are so needed by our brigades.

Sacrifice for the sake of helping Ukraine and its defenders is one of the important traits of the Church of the Holy Protection community. It is not very numerous, but, as they say, with a big heart. Therefore, the church often hosts Ukrainian defenders who are in the USA for treatment and prosthetics. They were also present at this year's anniversary celebrations — wards of the PROTEZ FOUNDATION charity fund. They sat next to others not as special guests, but as kindred spirits. They received words of gratitude for Ukraine and for their struggle. With their presence, stories, and indomitable destinies, they added confidence: someone is at the front, someone is for the front, and together, with joint efforts, everyone is bringing closer the much-desired and hard-won victory.

Such sincere, family-like, and filled with a sense of community unity were the anniversary celebrations at the Church of the Holy Protection. The festive program was masterfully woven by the hosts — Solomiya Basarab, Halyna Kubyshyn, and Dmytro Tsventarnyi. The diligent hostesses of the parish took care of delicious refreshments. Creative people of the Ukrainian community — Iryna Ilchyshyn, Anastasia Rusnak, Volodymyr Okilko, Yuriy Yaremchuk, the vocal studio "Barvystok" (led by Tetyana Baryliak), and the young musician Ioan Hrytsenko — presented wonderful artistic performances to the attendees. Pleasant moments of the meeting included the singing performances of the priests and greetings for the birthday fathers. The charismatic and mega-energetic Oksana Stashynska conducted a lottery draw, and the proceeds were transferred to the account of the PROTEZ FOUNDATION. Warm greetings were voiced by Consul Vladyslav Strukov, by the head of the parish council of the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called (Bloomingdale) Ivan Yaresko, by a member of the board of directors of the "Samopomich" credit union Roman Yatskivsky, with sincere gratitude to the credit union for the generous gift for the church's anniversary and for the main lottery prize — an iPad. Singer Olha Tsventarna, who began her singing career in Chicago in this very parish and today performs on stage with her son Dmytro, presented Father Anatoliy with her own painting depicting the Protection of the Mother of God. The church secretary, a connoisseur and keeper of the church's history, Tetyana Shevchenko, truly knowledgeably commented on the informative photo film about the 75-year history of the cathedral. And when Mrs. Tetyana, her mother, daughter Iryna with her husband, and grandchildren — four generations of one family — stood for a joint photo, it became a testament to how the church unites all its children: from the elders of the family to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. How it builds bridges of faith, hope, and love between generations.

And this is what the Cathedral of the Holy Protection has been doing for 75 years. It will continue to do so. Therefore, the anniversary celebration of their church, their parish, was concluded with words that, I believe, are fitting for the conclusion of this newspaper publication: "We thank those who were before us. We thank those who are with us. And bless, Lord, those who will come after us."