History of St. Nicholas

While we know very little about the life of St. Nicholas, we do know for certain that he was a bishop for many years in Myra, a city in the province of Lycia, in Asia Minor. He took part in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 at Nicea. He died around the year 345. His whole life was dedicated to works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual.

Even during his lifetime he was called the father of orphans, widows, and the poor. After his death, the Lord glorified him with the gift of working miracles, for which he received the title "Great Wonderworker." Emperor Justinian I (527-565) built a church in his honor in Constantinople.

Already in the seventh century the sixth day of December commemorated "Nicholas, Bishop of a great city." His feast was already recorded in Greek service books in the ninth century. Emperor Manuel Comnen (1143-1181) prescribed, by civil legislation, that the feast of St. Nicholas be celebrated on the 6th day of December.

Veneration of St. Nicholas came to Ukraine along with the Christian faith. In the second half of the eleventh century, a church was built in Kiev in honor of St. Nicholas, over the grave of Askold. In Kiev there was a convent under the patronage of St. Nicholas, founded by the wife of Prince Iziaslav Sviatoslavych. The mother of St. Theodosius Pechersky received the monastic tonsure in that monastery.

In a great number of oral traditions, Nicholas is said to protect people from disasters caused by the elements. He became known as the protector of those who sail on the sea. Hence, the Black Sea fishermen, when going out to fish, take an icon of St. Nicholas with them. In ancient times St. Nicholas was held as the protector from the dangers of the "Steppes," an unique area of the county of Ukraine.

A significant factor in the spread of the veneration of St. Nicholas was the move of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra to the city of Bari in southern Italy toward the end of the eleventh century. The Tropar we pray on his feast reads: "The sincerity of your deeds has revealed you to your people as a teacher of moderation, a model of faith, and an example of virtue. Therefore, you attained greatness through humility and wealth through poverty.

O Father and Archbishop Nicholas, beseech Christ our God for the salvation of our souls."

Our Eparchy's History:

The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church has its roots in Ukraine a nation of eastern Europe. Christianity in what is today Ukraine, began as early as the fifth century in the Dnipro River settlement of Kherson. Peremyshl (presently Przemysl, Poland) had an eastern Christian bishop in the eighth century, possibly as a result of the missionary work of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs. However, it was not until 988 when St. Volodymyr the Great, Prince of Kievan RusÕ provided for the Baptism of his subjects, did Christianity take firm hold in Ukrainian lands. In the 11th Century, Prince Yaroslav the Wise consecrated the Ukrainian nation to the Protection of the Mother of God - Pokrov. Ukraine thus became the first European nation to be consecrated to the protection of the Mother of God.

In 1596, union with the Bishop of Rome was formally re-established with the ratification of the Union of Brest. The Union was disputed. However, in Western Ukraine (Galicia) the Union held and that part of the Ukrainian Church became known eventually as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Its principle see was and remains in Lviv where its patriarch, His Beatitude Major Archbishop Lubomyr Cardinal Husar resides.

Ukrainian Catholics began to immigrate to the United States in the latter part of the 19th Century. The first church was built in 1884 in Shenandoah Pennsylvania. In 1907, Fr. Soter Ortynsky, a priest from Galicia, was consecrated Bishop for the Greek Catholics in the United States. Bishop Ortynsky died unexpectedly in 1916. After eight years of non-episcopal administrators, Fr. Constantine Bohachevsky was appointed Bishop with his residence and Cathedral in the City of Philadelphia. This see eventually became the Metropolitan Province of Philadelphia covering the entire United States for Ukrainian Catholics. The metropolitan province includes the eparchies of Stamford in Connecticut, St. Nicholas in Chicago, and St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio as well as the Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

On September 29, 1961, the Vatican announced the erection of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Chicago. Bishop Jaroslav Gabro became its first Eparch (Bishop). Bishop Jaroslav reigned until 1980 when he was summoned to his eternal reward. Following the death of Bishop Jaroslav Gabro, Fr. Innocent Lotocky, OSBM was consecrated Eparch. He served as eparch until his retirement in 1993. In 1993, Fr. Michael Wiwchar, CSsR became the third Eparch of St. Nicholas. He served as eparch until his appointment as Bishop for The Eparchy of Saskatoon, Canada. At this time he remains as an Apostolic Administrator of St. Nicholas Eparchy of Chicago.