First Liturgy celebrated in newly built church in Kovel

On Sunday, May 21, the Kovel parish of Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky celebrated a special event: by God’s grace, the first Divine Liturgy was held in the newly built church. According to the residents of Kovel, this is the first church in the world to be patronized by St. Vasyl Velychkovsky, who once served as a priest in Kovel.

The Sunday service was an expression of gratitude to the Lord for completing the main construction work in the church. Obviously, the sanctuary’s decoration will take longer, but today the church shines majestically with its dome in the middle of the Silmash neighborhood.

After Matins, in the service chapel, the faithful moved to the new church in a procession. A lesser sanctification of water was held in the middle of the church, and the church was sprinkled with holy water. After that, the solemn Divine Liturgy began, led by Fr. Bohdan Ivashchuk, Dean of the Volodymyr Protopresbytery, in concelebration with Fr. Ivan Dutka, parish administrator, and Fr. Roman Khalus, CSsR, hegumen of the Kovel Monastery of Blessed Mykola Charnetsky.

The parish choir expressed their devotion with incredible singing. During the Divine Liturgy, the faithful took Holy Communion in large numbers. Special prayers were offered for our homeland Ukraine in the time of war.

After the service, the rector, Fr. Ivan, thanked the priests and all the laity. Special words of gratitude he expressed to the donors and builders of the shrine and to all those who contributed to the organization of this first Liturgy.