St. Michael's in Tucson Experiences the Blessings of the Eparchial Jubilee Icon

Tucson prays for other parishes and for the sick with Jubilee icon St. Michael Parish in Tucson celebrated a Moleben to the Mother of God during the visit of the Jubilee icon in January, 2011. Every parishioner received the name of a parish, mission or monastery in the Eparchy and was asked to pray for them for at least a week.  Some parishioners then sent cards to the parishes in question in order to tell them that they had been praying and thinking of them.

Mitred Protopresbyter Andriy Chirovsky explained that the point of this exercise was to increase both awareness and solidarity among the parishes of our far-flung Eparchy.  Indeed, many of the parishioners were surprised to hear of the existence of certain of our parishes and missions.  There was even a certain spirit of rivalry, as many wanted to get the Honolulu parish to pray for, hoping to cash in on the connection sometime in the future.  North Dakota parishes (whose very mention elicits shivers from Tucsonans in January) got equal treatment, however, as did all of the parishes and the institutions of the Eparchy.

The Youth and Young Adult Group of St. Michael's decided to take the Jubilee Icon to the home of Mr. Zenon and Mrs. Mary Korytko, in order to pray before the icon of the Theotokos with Mary, who was in her third bout with cancer. They also used the opportunity to sing Ukrainian Christmas carols and to elicit and videotape some stories of faith from Mrs. Korytko, a deeply spiritual parishioner who has since fallen asleep in the Lord.

The Jubilee icon's visit to Tucson proved to be a wonderful occasion for growing in faith and in the awareness of the history and geography of Saint Nicholas Eparchy.
By Athanasius Holub