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The Fellowship of the Holy Myrrhbearers • The Order of St. Andrew • TYC • Women's Association • CYMK
The Fellowship of the Holy Myrrhbearers
Fifteenth Anniversary
The Fellowship of Myrrhbearers is proud of the fact that in 2015 we completed 15 years of service. Our volunteers continued their contacts with the parishioners who are elderly, ill and shut-ins. Hospital visits were also done on an "as needed basis". New referrals of people to visit are given to us by Fr. Makarenko.
How it all began
The Fellowship of Holy Myrrhbearers was organized in 2000 to visit and keep in touch with the elderly and the infirm of our Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Hamilton. Thanks to the efforts of Natalie Ball, Joan Fedak, Louise Sorokowsky and Father Bohdan Hladio, a co-ordinating committee was established to spearhead the program, and volunteer visitors were recruited. The volunteers are members of the Church, as well as members from the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, Lesia Ukrainka Branch, Ukrainian Self-Reliance Association (TYC) and Taras Shevchenko Senior’s Residence.
Mission Statement
Myrrhbearer volunteers will visit, in person or by telephone, the identified parishioners of St Vladimir’s Cathedral who are elderly, ill, shut-ins, and others in need, who would appreciate a volunteer’s contact.
Myrrhbearers volunteers’ aims are to keep in touch with the parishioners of St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in order to make them aware of God’s love for them, and to assure them that as members of our Church they are respected and remembered.
Visitations
Myrrhbearers manage to visit on weekly or monthly basis the parishioners who are in the hospital or at home and those living in retirement homes or long-term care facilities. Our volunteers also make a concerted efforts to visit all of our designated elderly parishioners at least twice a year -- at Christmas and Easter -- and to send cards to those who could not be visited.
Sponsorship of volunteer visitations
The visitation program is supported financially by the local branches of TYC and UWAC and St. Vladimir’s Cathedral.
Contacts
For more information, or if you would like to become a volunteer visitor, or know anyone who would like to be visited by the Myrrhbearers, please get in touch with Fr. William Makarenko (Click here to email Father) or Joan Fedak at 905-634-3953 (Click here to email Joan).
The term Myrrhbearers stems from the Greek word Μυροφόραε, (in Ukrainian: Святi Мироносцi) and it refers both to the women who came to the tomb of Christ early in the morning and were the first witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus, and also to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who took the body of Jesus down from the cross, embalmed it with myrrh and aloes, wrapped it in clean linen, and placed it in a new tomb that Joseph had made for his own burial. (Matthew 27:55-61, Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 15:40-16:11, Luke 23:50-24:10, John 19:38-20:18).
The Holy Myrrhbearers:
Mary Magdalene
Mary, the wife of Cleopas
Joanna, the wife of Chuza
Salome, the mother of James and John,
Susanna, Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus
Joseph of Arimathea
Nicodemus
Order of St. Andrew
The main mission of the Order of St. Andrew is to provide for the general welfare of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and to render continual assistance to St. Andrew's College in Winnipeg in order to enable the College to sustain, develop and promote religious, cultural and educational advancement of Ukrainians in Canada. Under the general role of the Order of St. Andrew, the responsibilities of the members include the following:
- Personally, and by virtue of their active role in their parish, provide continued financial support for St. Andrew's College.
- Canvas potential candidates for students, especially for the Theology Faculty of St. Andrew's College.
- Inform ourselves and our community about St. Andrew's College as the only source of theology graduates and therefore of priests and leaders in our Church and its parishes, and to promote St. Andrew's College as our university of Ukrainian culture for the training of our leaders and for the preservation of our identity.
- Raise the level of knowledge about our Church, taking advantage of printed material, of lectures by qualified individuals and discussions by our members and disseminating constructive information among church members and our community as a whole.
- Participating fully, and encouraging other church members to participate, as church leaders and serving our parish in its daily needs.
- By practical example, implementing the principle of brotherhood (love thy neighbor as thyself) and thereby giving full meaning to the role of Christianity in resolving our daily problems of life and raising the quality of life of the community as a whole.
- Participate fully in important church sacraments and other ceremonies such as funerals, memorials, jubilees, holidays, convocations, festivals, etc., for the benefit of the Order, the College and the Church.
From the above it is evident that the role of the Order is broad, and that the membership in the Order of St. Andrew is not an honorary position. It is a great responsibility and a privilege to contribute to a significant role of the College in our Church and in our life.
The Hamilton Chapter of the Order of St. Andrew was established in 1966 thanks to the efforts of Father William Fedak (Metropolitan Wasyly). At present our Chapter has 42 members.
If you are interested in joining the Hamilton Chapter of the Order of St. Andrew, please contact our Chaplain, Fr. William Makarenko or our President, Stefan Sobolewski at 905-385-8332.
TYC - The Ukrainian Self Reliance Association
TYC is a Ukrainian Service organization supporting St. Vladimir's parish and the Ukrainian community in the Greater Hamilton Region. Membership is open to any person of Ukrainian descent or espoused to a person of Ukrainian descent, who is at least 18 years of age, of good character and community standing who agrees to support the objectives of the association.
The TYC Cultural Center is a social meeting room that houses a pool table, shuffleboard, big screen TV and a refreshment area. Meetings are held in the Cultural Center at 7:00 p.m. on the last Monday of every month.
For more information, please contact TYC President John Mykytyshyn Sr. at 905-547-2414 or click here to email.
Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada
(Lesia Ukrainka Br.)
The Women's Association meets in the school hall at 7:00 p.m. on the last Monday of every month. New members are always welcome! For information, please contact Dobr. Larysa Makarenko at 905-385-2712
Click here to go to the website of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada.
CYMK (Ukrainian Orthodox Youth)
CYMK meets in the school building on the first and third Sunday of the month after the Divine Liturgy. All children from the ages of 6 to 13 are welcome. Click here to go to the CYMK website.
For more information, contact Dobr. Larysa Makarenko at 905-385-2712.