Our Story

Patron Saint

Constantine was born in 272, the only child of Constantius I Chlorus and Helena. He was raised in Diocletian's court. When Constantius died, Constantine became Emperor of the West at the age of 34 years. The first act of the new emperor was to grant the freedom to practice Christianity in the lands subject to him.


Constantine The Great

In 312, Maxentius and Maximinus joined forces against him and Constantine marched into Italy. In the daylight before the battle, Constantine saw a flaming cross with the words: "In this Sign, thou shall conquer". That evening, Jesus appeared to him in a dream and told him the power of the Cross. The next morning, Constantine ordered his soldiers to paint a cross or the Chi-Rho on their banners with the form of a cross and inscribed with the name of Jesus and he defeated Maxentius and Maximinus.

In 324, Licinius tried usurp Constantine. Constantine defeated Licinius and became Emperor of the East and West. The Edict of Milan, issued in 313, guaranteed religious tolerance for Christians. It stopped Christian persecutions. Because of this, Constantine is considered the first Christian Emperor.

In 325, Constantine gathered the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. The Council of Nicea condemned Arian heresy which said that Christ was man but not God. The Council also composed the Nicene Creed.

Constantine established Byzantium as his capital and renamed it Constantinople. He was baptized on his deathbed on May 21, 337.

St.Constantine UCC

is a part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, one of 28 churches that forms the one United Church, and one of 14 which follow the Constantinian or Byzantine Rite in worship and spirituality. We are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis.

History

Legend states when the apostle, Saint Andrew reached the hills of Kiev, he blessed them and foretold a great city would be built on them. He is called the Apostle of Rus-Ukraine.

Saints Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavs, influenced the cultural development of all Slavs and invented the Cyrillic alphabet. They translated the Gospels, the psalter and liturgical books into Slavonic.

The Kievan Prince, Volodymyr the Great, proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of Ukraine in 988. At this time, Ukraine was known as Kyivan Rus', Kyivan state or Principality of Kyiv. Byzantium sent missionary clergy to minister to the new Christian nation. The clergy introduced Byzantine art and literature. Prince Volodymyr built schools and churches. His son, Yaroslav the Wise, dedicated Ukraine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1037.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was liquidated by Stalin's regime and forcibly united with the Russian Orthodox Church after World War Two. Regardless of the fact that it was officially forbidden and harshly persecuted, this Church preserved its hierarchical structures in the underground and diaspora, and in December 1989 it requested official legalization.

Pope John Paul II visited Ukraine June 23 - 27, 2001. During his visit, he beatified 27 martyrs and 3 other Servants of God. He also blessed the new Ukrainian Catholic University.

Ukrainian Saints

  • Saint Stephen of Surosh ( - ~760)
  • Saint George the Younger ( - 816)
  • Saint Olga (890 - 969)
  • Saint Vladimyr (956 - 1015)
  • Saint Anthony and Saint Theodosius Pechersky, Abbots of the Caves of Kiev (983 -1073)
  • Saint Michael of Chernigov (1185 -1246)
  • Saint Josaphat (1580-1623)
  • St Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski (1822-1895)
  • Saint Nicetas of the Kiev Caves ()

    • The Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States

    The first Ukrainian settlements were established in the United States in the 19th century. The settlers had a deep devotion to God and a strong attachment to their rite. They wanted a place of worship where they could pray according to their rite.

    In 1884, a group of Ukrainian coal miners from Shenandoah, Pennslyvania, asked the Metropolitan Archbishop Sylvester Sembratovich to send them a priest. On December 19, 1884, the Reverend Ivan Volansky offered the first Divine Liturgy on US soil.

    Father Volansky established many parishes and built churches throughout the United States.

    Today, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has a Metropolitan Archdiocese in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and 3 dioceses or eparchys in the United States.

    Eparchy of Saint Josaphat Eparchy, Parma, Ohio
    Eparchy of Saint Nicholas, Chicago, Illinois
    Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut

    Saint Constantine's is part of the Eparchy of Saint Nicholas.

    Learn about the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Minnesota.