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Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarch +JOSEF Slipyj
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EXERPTS FROM THE TESTAMENT
OF HIS BEATITUDE PATRIARCH JOSYF SLIPYJ
PATRIARCH OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
17.2.1892 - 7.9.1984
“Guard yourself against the breakdown of your faith...” (compare with John 16, 1), and “set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always...” (John 14, 1).
“Love one another...” (John 15, 12, 17), with a love over which there is no greater, “that a man should lay down his life for his friends...” (John 15, 13).
“You will bear witness for me in Jerusalem, and all over Judea and Samaria, and away to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1, 8). But on the milestones of my life path there appeared different names. They were not Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, but Lviv, Kyiv, Siberia, the Krasnoyar region, Yeniseysk, Polaria, Mordovia..., and literally on “to the ends of the earth.”
Be the witnesses of Christ in Ukraine and on the territories of your free and enforced settlement, in all the countries you have come to live; in jails, prisons and concentration camps to the very ends of the earth and to the end of your earthly life! Bear witness on every continent of our unfortunate planet! Do not bring shame upon the lands of Ukraine — the land of our forefathers! Preserve in your souls the immaculate name of your Holy Church! Do not bring shame upon your own Ukrainian name, remembering the words of C hrist: “I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you. In very truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,... happy are you if you act upon it” (John 13, 15-17).
Remember always a nation which does not know, or which forgets, its past and the spiritual treasures which it holds, will die and disappear from the face of the earth.
Do not be ashamed of what is yours. Treasure your spiritual heritage! For our spiritual heritage is both so precious and so abundant! It does not deserve to be scorned! “Do not give dogs what is holy; do not feed your pearls to pigs: they will only trample on them, and turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7, 6). Let our spiritual heritage penetrate your souls and light a fire in your hearts to preserve and cultivate it! Upon this heritage consecrate your souls with the grace and gift of the Holy Ghost!
Our people are in shackles and our land in captivity, the enemy does not even allow us to pray... Great God, grant our land freedom, grant it fate and happiness, strength and power. Let us embrace one another and call each other Brother! Rise up all of you in defense of the rights of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but also defend the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, destroyed with equal cruelty by the violent deeds of the foreign invader! Defend also all the other Christian and religious communities on Ukrainian soil, for they are all deprived of the basic freedom of conscience and religion, and they all suffer for their belief in One God!
The closest to us in faith and blood are our Orthodox brothers. We are united by the traditions of our native Christianity, common religious and national customs, and by a two-thousand year old culture! We are united by a common struggle for the originality of our native Church and for its full status of which the visible symbol will be a single Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church!
All of us, both Catholics and Orthodox, are fighting for the raising up of our Church and for its spiritual strength in Ukraine and in all the countries where our faithful have settled. And all of us, while confessing Christ, are bearing our Lord’s heavy cross.
Pray, work and fight for the preservation of the Christian soul of everyone who belongs to the Ukrainian people, and for the whole Ukrainian nation, and ask the Almighty God to help us fulfill our longing for unity and our struggles for Church unity in the accomplishment of the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church!
Having here expressed the bitter sorrow and pain which fill my heart, I do not in any way wish to reproach anyone. Therefore, my Eminent and Dear Brothers in Episcopal service, forgive me as I forgive you! When I express my bitter pain I wish in this way for the last time, as a father and as a pastor, to remind you and to call on you: United
Together, save our Church from destruction and ruin! Become a stimulus and an inspiration for all those Pastors, clergy and faithful, whose fathers and ancestors were born from the Mother Church, In the process of history they have become scattered in different countries, among various peoples, and have forgotten the mother, who bore them. Help them to rediscover this Mother once more!
My thoughts extend to all my brothers and sisters in Ukraine and the vast expanses of the whole Soviet Union, to those who suffer in freedom and to those who languish in jails, prisons, hard labor camps or death camps... In their midst I can see new ranks of fighters, scientists, writers, artists, farm workers and laborers. I can see among them those who search for truth and those who defend justice. I can hear their voices raised in defense of the basic human rights of the individual and of society. I watch them with wonder and see how they defend our native Ukrainian word, how they enrich our native Ukrainian culture, and how with the full power of their minds and hearts they save the Ukrainian soul. And I suffer alongside them, for they are persecuted for this as common criminals.
I pray for you, my Brothers, and ask God to grant you strength to carry on defending the natural and Divine rights of every individual human being and of the whole society. I extend my blessings to you as the Head of the Ukrainian Church, as a Son of the Ukrainian nation, as your brother, your fellow prisoner and your co-sufferer!
I can see the Daughter Churches of our Ukrainian Church in the various continents of the world. One moment they shine brightly like the stars, the next they flicker like will-o’-the-wisps... Therefore my words are aimed at them.
To the Daughter Church nearest the frosty Polar region' I call out: “I know all your ways; you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you were either hot or cold!... You say, ‘How rich I am! And how well I have done! I have everything I want in the world.’... Be on your mettle therefore and repent” (Revelation 3, 15-17, 19).
Before my eyes now appears in the neighborhood the Daughter Church in the country which welcomes strangers with a monument — the symbol of liberty, and which calls the place, where this liberty was born and where it grew, “Brotherly love” h ere also can be found the place where the first Daughter of the Ukrainian Mother Church was born and raised. I beseech you with the voice of the Lord which says: Christ gave you “the key of David -— the symbol of power and authority (compare with Isaiah 22, 22-25 and Revelation 3, 7), the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1, 18). It goes on “I know all your ways...” and they shall know that you are my beloved people. If you keep “my commands and hold fast I will also keep you from the ordeal that is to fall upon the whole world and test its inhabitants...” (compare with Revelation 3, 8-10). Therefore avoid all temptation and be the defender of the oppressed and the suffering members of Your Mother Church! Be the live witness of brotherly love!
With the eyes of my soul I can see in the south a Daughter Church that is still young. It lies on the continent blessed by Christ the Savior from a mountain by the side of the sea. I too extend my blessings to you my Daughter Church, as humble as your Mother Church! Listen to the voice of the Lord which is directed towards you: “I know how hard pressed you are, and poor — and yet you are rich... Be faithful till death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2, 9-10).
With gratitude I think of the Daughter Church in the land of the anti poles and in my prayers I offer it the voice of the Lord: “I know all your ways, your love and your faithfulness, your good service and your fortitude...” (Revelation 2, 19). Although you are situated so far away beyond the seas, yet you are tied so very closely in your soul and in your heart to the Mother Church!
I extend my blessings upon you and implore you to endure in the faith of your fathers, in the love for your brothers, and in the service of your Mother Church! And let your reward be “the morning star” (Revelation 2, 28), which the Lord will give to you.
With pain in my heart I watch the Daughter Church in Great Britain. I will not speak to you any more for I can see my end is near. But since my voice, the voice of the Head of the Ukrainian Church, did not reach your upper strata and did not stir their conscience, then listen to the voice of One “who has the sharp two-edged sword: I know where you live; it is the place where Satan has his throne. And yet you are holding fast to my cause. You did not deny your faith in me... But I have a few matters to bring against you: you have... some that hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put temptation in the way of the Israelites... So repent...” (Revelation 2, 12-14, 16).
From my hilltop, as if from the rocks of Patmos, I also cast my glance upon the Daughter Church in the countries around me, on the old continent. I offer my prayers for it, ploughed up by frontiers and divided by curtains, and the voice of the Lord speaks to it, saying: “I know all your ways; that though you have a name for being alive, you are dead. Wake up, and put some strength into what is left, which must otherwise die! For I have not found any work of yours completed in the eyes of my God. So remember the teaching you received; observe it, and repent” (Revelation 3,
And among these visions which appear before my eyes, I can see Kyiv, the City of the Throne in my own native land. In farewell I speak to it with the words of the Revelation: “I know all your ways, your toil and your fortitude. I know you cannot endure evil men; you have put to the proof those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. Fortitude you have; you have borne up in my cause and never flagged” (Revelation 2, 2-3). So the voice of the Lord reveals to y o u : “I shall raise up your guide light...” (Revelation 2, 5). And I, your Son, bid you farewell. “Shine on”, our own Jerusalem, and you shall rise again in your former glory!
This my vision, my Dear spiritual flock, I retell you and offer it to you as a Guidance in your pilgrimages!
I would not be a loving father or a good pastor if I were to forget my closest toilers. They are the ecclesiastical fathers, monks and nuns, who throughout my stay on this Roman island formed my spiritual family. They listened to me like to a father, they worked alongside me and they served me, their Pastor, with their knowledge and with their untiring work. They prayed for me and with me, and they embraced me with their love. They helped me and cared for me when I lost my strength in old age. They shared their happiness and their pain with me and they helped me to carry the heavy cross of a Prisoner for the sake of Christ! With the sincere heart of a father I thank you and give my blessing to you with my infirm hand! And I ask the Almighty God, united in the Holy Trinity, that the Holy Spirit may comecrate, enlighten, preserve and encourage you in your faithful service to your own native Ukrainian Church!
I was made to suffer for many long years in the vaults of Kyiv Prison, when I was still among the living, but I would like to rest in peace in the underground crypt of the restored Cathedral of St. Sofia, once my body has ceased to live! Bury me, my Brothers and Children, and “find your strength in the Lord, in His mighty power. Put on all the armour which God provides, so that you may be able to stand firm against the devices of the devil. For our fight is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark world, against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens. Therefore, take up God’s armour; then you will be able to stand your ground when things are at their worst, to complete every task and still to stand. Stand firm, I say. Buckle on the belt of truth; for coat of mail put on integrity; let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to give you firm footing; and, with all these, take up the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
I say a prayer to our Heavenly Protector and Queen, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God: Take our Ukrainian Church and our Ukrainian People under your Powerful Protection!
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all! Amen!
JOSYF,
God’s Humble Servant,
Patriarch and Cardinal.
In prayer and in deep thought I started to write this document in 1970, and completed and signed it on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the most pure Virgin Mary in 1981.
Patriarch JOSYF was a man of strong character and unbending loyalty — a staunch defender of the faith. On account of this he suffered 18 years of imprisonment in Russian prison camps but continued, throughout his life, to fight undauntedly for the rights of his Church and nation. During his 21 years in freedom, Patriarch Josyf consistently strived for the establishment of a single Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church for both Faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its formal recognition by both the Vatican and the Phanar.
OF HIS BEATITUDE PATRIARCH JOSYF SLIPYJ
PATRIARCH OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
17.2.1892 - 7.9.1984
“Guard yourself against the breakdown of your faith...” (compare with John 16, 1), and “set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always...” (John 14, 1).
“Love one another...” (John 15, 12, 17), with a love over which there is no greater, “that a man should lay down his life for his friends...” (John 15, 13).
“You will bear witness for me in Jerusalem, and all over Judea and Samaria, and away to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1, 8). But on the milestones of my life path there appeared different names. They were not Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, but Lviv, Kyiv, Siberia, the Krasnoyar region, Yeniseysk, Polaria, Mordovia..., and literally on “to the ends of the earth.”
Be the witnesses of Christ in Ukraine and on the territories of your free and enforced settlement, in all the countries you have come to live; in jails, prisons and concentration camps to the very ends of the earth and to the end of your earthly life! Bear witness on every continent of our unfortunate planet! Do not bring shame upon the lands of Ukraine — the land of our forefathers! Preserve in your souls the immaculate name of your Holy Church! Do not bring shame upon your own Ukrainian name, remembering the words of C hrist: “I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you. In very truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,... happy are you if you act upon it” (John 13, 15-17).
Remember always a nation which does not know, or which forgets, its past and the spiritual treasures which it holds, will die and disappear from the face of the earth.
Do not be ashamed of what is yours. Treasure your spiritual heritage! For our spiritual heritage is both so precious and so abundant! It does not deserve to be scorned! “Do not give dogs what is holy; do not feed your pearls to pigs: they will only trample on them, and turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7, 6). Let our spiritual heritage penetrate your souls and light a fire in your hearts to preserve and cultivate it! Upon this heritage consecrate your souls with the grace and gift of the Holy Ghost!
Our people are in shackles and our land in captivity, the enemy does not even allow us to pray... Great God, grant our land freedom, grant it fate and happiness, strength and power. Let us embrace one another and call each other Brother! Rise up all of you in defense of the rights of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but also defend the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, destroyed with equal cruelty by the violent deeds of the foreign invader! Defend also all the other Christian and religious communities on Ukrainian soil, for they are all deprived of the basic freedom of conscience and religion, and they all suffer for their belief in One God!
The closest to us in faith and blood are our Orthodox brothers. We are united by the traditions of our native Christianity, common religious and national customs, and by a two-thousand year old culture! We are united by a common struggle for the originality of our native Church and for its full status of which the visible symbol will be a single Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church!
All of us, both Catholics and Orthodox, are fighting for the raising up of our Church and for its spiritual strength in Ukraine and in all the countries where our faithful have settled. And all of us, while confessing Christ, are bearing our Lord’s heavy cross.
Pray, work and fight for the preservation of the Christian soul of everyone who belongs to the Ukrainian people, and for the whole Ukrainian nation, and ask the Almighty God to help us fulfill our longing for unity and our struggles for Church unity in the accomplishment of the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church!
Having here expressed the bitter sorrow and pain which fill my heart, I do not in any way wish to reproach anyone. Therefore, my Eminent and Dear Brothers in Episcopal service, forgive me as I forgive you! When I express my bitter pain I wish in this way for the last time, as a father and as a pastor, to remind you and to call on you: United
Together, save our Church from destruction and ruin! Become a stimulus and an inspiration for all those Pastors, clergy and faithful, whose fathers and ancestors were born from the Mother Church, In the process of history they have become scattered in different countries, among various peoples, and have forgotten the mother, who bore them. Help them to rediscover this Mother once more!
My thoughts extend to all my brothers and sisters in Ukraine and the vast expanses of the whole Soviet Union, to those who suffer in freedom and to those who languish in jails, prisons, hard labor camps or death camps... In their midst I can see new ranks of fighters, scientists, writers, artists, farm workers and laborers. I can see among them those who search for truth and those who defend justice. I can hear their voices raised in defense of the basic human rights of the individual and of society. I watch them with wonder and see how they defend our native Ukrainian word, how they enrich our native Ukrainian culture, and how with the full power of their minds and hearts they save the Ukrainian soul. And I suffer alongside them, for they are persecuted for this as common criminals.
I pray for you, my Brothers, and ask God to grant you strength to carry on defending the natural and Divine rights of every individual human being and of the whole society. I extend my blessings to you as the Head of the Ukrainian Church, as a Son of the Ukrainian nation, as your brother, your fellow prisoner and your co-sufferer!
I can see the Daughter Churches of our Ukrainian Church in the various continents of the world. One moment they shine brightly like the stars, the next they flicker like will-o’-the-wisps... Therefore my words are aimed at them.
To the Daughter Church nearest the frosty Polar region' I call out: “I know all your ways; you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you were either hot or cold!... You say, ‘How rich I am! And how well I have done! I have everything I want in the world.’... Be on your mettle therefore and repent” (Revelation 3, 15-17, 19).
Before my eyes now appears in the neighborhood the Daughter Church in the country which welcomes strangers with a monument — the symbol of liberty, and which calls the place, where this liberty was born and where it grew, “Brotherly love” h ere also can be found the place where the first Daughter of the Ukrainian Mother Church was born and raised. I beseech you with the voice of the Lord which says: Christ gave you “the key of David -— the symbol of power and authority (compare with Isaiah 22, 22-25 and Revelation 3, 7), the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1, 18). It goes on “I know all your ways...” and they shall know that you are my beloved people. If you keep “my commands and hold fast I will also keep you from the ordeal that is to fall upon the whole world and test its inhabitants...” (compare with Revelation 3, 8-10). Therefore avoid all temptation and be the defender of the oppressed and the suffering members of Your Mother Church! Be the live witness of brotherly love!
With the eyes of my soul I can see in the south a Daughter Church that is still young. It lies on the continent blessed by Christ the Savior from a mountain by the side of the sea. I too extend my blessings to you my Daughter Church, as humble as your Mother Church! Listen to the voice of the Lord which is directed towards you: “I know how hard pressed you are, and poor — and yet you are rich... Be faithful till death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2, 9-10).
With gratitude I think of the Daughter Church in the land of the anti poles and in my prayers I offer it the voice of the Lord: “I know all your ways, your love and your faithfulness, your good service and your fortitude...” (Revelation 2, 19). Although you are situated so far away beyond the seas, yet you are tied so very closely in your soul and in your heart to the Mother Church!
I extend my blessings upon you and implore you to endure in the faith of your fathers, in the love for your brothers, and in the service of your Mother Church! And let your reward be “the morning star” (Revelation 2, 28), which the Lord will give to you.
With pain in my heart I watch the Daughter Church in Great Britain. I will not speak to you any more for I can see my end is near. But since my voice, the voice of the Head of the Ukrainian Church, did not reach your upper strata and did not stir their conscience, then listen to the voice of One “who has the sharp two-edged sword: I know where you live; it is the place where Satan has his throne. And yet you are holding fast to my cause. You did not deny your faith in me... But I have a few matters to bring against you: you have... some that hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put temptation in the way of the Israelites... So repent...” (Revelation 2, 12-14, 16).
From my hilltop, as if from the rocks of Patmos, I also cast my glance upon the Daughter Church in the countries around me, on the old continent. I offer my prayers for it, ploughed up by frontiers and divided by curtains, and the voice of the Lord speaks to it, saying: “I know all your ways; that though you have a name for being alive, you are dead. Wake up, and put some strength into what is left, which must otherwise die! For I have not found any work of yours completed in the eyes of my God. So remember the teaching you received; observe it, and repent” (Revelation 3,
And among these visions which appear before my eyes, I can see Kyiv, the City of the Throne in my own native land. In farewell I speak to it with the words of the Revelation: “I know all your ways, your toil and your fortitude. I know you cannot endure evil men; you have put to the proof those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. Fortitude you have; you have borne up in my cause and never flagged” (Revelation 2, 2-3). So the voice of the Lord reveals to y o u : “I shall raise up your guide light...” (Revelation 2, 5). And I, your Son, bid you farewell. “Shine on”, our own Jerusalem, and you shall rise again in your former glory!
This my vision, my Dear spiritual flock, I retell you and offer it to you as a Guidance in your pilgrimages!
I would not be a loving father or a good pastor if I were to forget my closest toilers. They are the ecclesiastical fathers, monks and nuns, who throughout my stay on this Roman island formed my spiritual family. They listened to me like to a father, they worked alongside me and they served me, their Pastor, with their knowledge and with their untiring work. They prayed for me and with me, and they embraced me with their love. They helped me and cared for me when I lost my strength in old age. They shared their happiness and their pain with me and they helped me to carry the heavy cross of a Prisoner for the sake of Christ! With the sincere heart of a father I thank you and give my blessing to you with my infirm hand! And I ask the Almighty God, united in the Holy Trinity, that the Holy Spirit may comecrate, enlighten, preserve and encourage you in your faithful service to your own native Ukrainian Church!
I was made to suffer for many long years in the vaults of Kyiv Prison, when I was still among the living, but I would like to rest in peace in the underground crypt of the restored Cathedral of St. Sofia, once my body has ceased to live! Bury me, my Brothers and Children, and “find your strength in the Lord, in His mighty power. Put on all the armour which God provides, so that you may be able to stand firm against the devices of the devil. For our fight is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark world, against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens. Therefore, take up God’s armour; then you will be able to stand your ground when things are at their worst, to complete every task and still to stand. Stand firm, I say. Buckle on the belt of truth; for coat of mail put on integrity; let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to give you firm footing; and, with all these, take up the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
I say a prayer to our Heavenly Protector and Queen, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God: Take our Ukrainian Church and our Ukrainian People under your Powerful Protection!
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all! Amen!
JOSYF,
God’s Humble Servant,
Patriarch and Cardinal.
In prayer and in deep thought I started to write this document in 1970, and completed and signed it on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the most pure Virgin Mary in 1981.
Patriarch JOSYF was a man of strong character and unbending loyalty — a staunch defender of the faith. On account of this he suffered 18 years of imprisonment in Russian prison camps but continued, throughout his life, to fight undauntedly for the rights of his Church and nation. During his 21 years in freedom, Patriarch Josyf consistently strived for the establishment of a single Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church for both Faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its formal recognition by both the Vatican and the Phanar.
