The Journey Home for one Ukrainian

Last night I happened to watch an episode of the Journey Home on the Catholic newtork EWTN, where they interviewed Fr. Terry Kraychuk of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. He gave a wonderful testimony about his return to the Catholic faith after years of a life of hedonism and drug addiction. He also touched on how he was inspired by John Paul II's Orientale Lumen(Light of the East) to embrace the Eastern Catholic heritage of his Ukrainian ancestry.

This was truly an amazing story and should serve as an inspiration for all Ukrainians to make the journey home to embracing their rich heritage!

An encore presentation of this will be aired at 10pm tonight. If you're able to watch, don't miss it!

May God bless you Fr. Terry Kraychuk!
Christ is Risen!

***You can hear an audio of this episode here

Ivan Franko's vision for Ukraine

Ivan Franko published his terrific poem "National Hymn" in 1880 that outlines his vision for Ukraine free from the rule and interference of foreign powers, and Ukraine is allowed to decide her own fate. Most interesting is the continual relevance of this poem, as right now Ukraine is torn between two empires vying to control her destiny. Hopefully soon Franko's vision will become a reality.


NATIONAL HYMN

No longer, no longer should we
The Russian or Pole meekly serve!
Ukraine's ancient grievances lie in the past—
Ukraine doth our whole life deserve.

No longer, no longer should we
Shed blood for an alien throne,
Show love for a Tsar who oppresses our kin—
Let love be for Ukraine alone.

No longer, no longer should we
Endure in our homeland the blight
Of quarrels and strife. Let them perish and then
'Neath Ukraine's fair banner unite!

This hour much promises, so
In desperate struggle will we
E'en lay down our lives, if that honor and fame,
Dear Homeland, we may win for thee!

1880

Former rivals now possible allies.

This is certainly an interesting article from the Kyiv Post concerning the latest activities of Yulia Tymoshenko. They say that politics make strange bedfellows, and it seems Yulia Tymoshenko proves this old saying correct as she now tries to align herself with her former rivals ahead of the March elections. Perhaps Yuschenko should reconsider his offer of welcoming his former PM back, now that's it's clear she's quite possibly nothing more than a mere political oppurtunist. Only time will tell how this will play out.

Yushchenko vs. Tymoshenko

According to this Yahoo article, Yuschenko has gone on the offensive against former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, accusing her of abusing her powers to get rid of a $1.5 billion debt for a company she owned in the 1990's. The irony is that during the elections, Tymoshenko was a staunch critic of corruption within Kuchma's government.

Yet oddly Yuschenko is more than willing to welcome back his former ally, on the grounds she stop her corrupt ways. This really doesn't make much sense. If you know she's corrupt and have already fired her, why welcome her back into your government?

Supposedly the answer maybe because of Tymoshenko's popularity. As the Yahoo article states, "[f]or many Ukrainians, Tymoshenko symbolized their revolution, a charismatic orator with charm and appealing ethnic symbolism."

Ok, my big question is what "ethnic symbolism"? For those who don't know, she's not an ethnic Ukrainian but a Jew. Jews historically have never been allies of Ukrainians, in fact they often identified themselves more with Russia than with Ukraine. This is why most Jews sided against the Ukrainian cause during the Revolution of 1917-1921.

This just goes to show how pathetic the Orange Revolution has become, and how more pathetic it becomes when it tries to use Ukrainian nationalist sentiment to further its own agenda. Hopefully the Ukrainian people will see through this facade and give support to some real nationalists soon!

Yuschenko dismisses Government

Well this is certainly some serious shit! President Yuschenko dismissed the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, yesterday. Well I'm certainly glad that Yuschenko has decided to get rid of this terrible woman(whose not even Ukrainian but Jewish). Although I sincerely doubt her successor, Yuri Yekhanurov, will be any better.

Some have tried to argue that means that the Orange Revolution is now in serious trouble. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less. Although I'm a staunch Ukrainian nationalist, I've never been a supporter of the Orange Revolution or of Yuschenko. He simply wants to trade one form of imperialism(Russian) for another one (Western); neither of which will benefit Ukraine at all in the long run. My attitudes towards the Orange Revolution were best summed by Roy Moore of the Distributist Review in his post "Ukraine Torn Between Two 'Empires'".

A Prayer for Ukraine

Here's a very touching prayer for the well being of the Ukrainian nation I found at the website of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. May Christ our Lord bless the Ukrainian nation, and may the Ukrainian nation faithfully follow the path of Prince Volodymyr (also known as Vladimir), who converted the Ukrainian people to the truth of Christ's message in the year 988 A.D.!
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My Prayer For Ukraine

Watch Over Her Our Mother!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mary our Mother, full of Grace, guide us all who love your Son. Protect us from all evil. Protect our Motherland Ukraine from Harm. Lead us all to unity in your Son.

Wipe the tears from her eyes. Let her know that you watch her so. Fulfill the dreams that she now holds.

Bless her only with your Son's Grace, for she is not forgotten by us who are far away. Our hearts are with her each and every day. Her soil is rich from the tears that were shed by our Grandparents, many of whom are with you, but she lives on as she always will. For she is Ukraine and will always be so very dear in our hearts. When we are gone she still will stand strong and proud, our Motherland.

We are her children, as we are yours. Please, Mother Mary grant our prayer. Watch her, keep her and bless her. We ask this from you as you promised us that you would do. We thank you, Mother for giving us Ukraine. Let us all give thanks to you, our Mary in all that you do and praise your holy name.

Amen.

+STEPHAN

Critique of Normanist theory

Here's a very good critique of the infamous "Normanist theory" about the origins of Kievan Rus. To those who don't know, the "Normanist theory" contends that Kievan Rus was founded by Vikings as opposed to the native Slavic population. This is the common view held by Western historians. Yet early in the 20th century, the Ukrainian historian and nationalist leader Mykhailo Hrushevsky exposed this theory in his 10-volume work The History of Ukraine-Rus. Hrushevsky contends that the very documents pro-Normanists rely on were written several centuries after the fact. Orest Subtelny also exposed many Normanist arguments in his monumental Ukraine: A History, contending that archeological evidence shows that the Viking presence and influence in Kiev was very minimal.