2007 3(26) - UCWLC

Íàøà äóõîâíiñòüSpiritualityhe week of September 16-T 22, 2002 will always be ahighlight of my life. That was theweek of the exhumation and thetransfer of the holy Relics ofBlessed Martyr Bishop VasylVelychkovsky, C.Ss.R. from AllSaints Cemetery to St. Joseph’sUkrainian Catholic Church inWinnipeg.Much preparation was needed.Civil permission was requiredfrom the Manitoba government toexhume and transferhis mortal remains.Permissionhad to be obtainedalso from the Vatican,the Congregationfor Saints.With the Vatican’spermission andmandate to proceedwith thetransfer came adetailed protocolthat had to be followed.The PostulatorGeneral forthe Redemptorists (the one who isin charge of the causes for RedemptoristSaints and Blesseds)was contacted and he, too, gave anumber of detailed instructionsfor the process.A Week in the Lifeof the Making of a SaintBy Fr. John Sianchuk, C.Ss.RWhen someone’s cause tosainthood is first begun in theChurch—a process that can takedecades—often the mortal remainsare exhumed, examined,recorded and reburied. This isdone to see whether mortal remainsare incorrupt and to simplyobserve their state. In our case,Bishop Vasyl was already proclaimeda Blessed; all the churchlaws now had to be applied. Hecould not simply be examined,fied (dried) corpse? Would theprocess of corruption be complete?We decided to prepare a fulllength stainless steel container inaccordance with Vatican prescriptionsprior to the exhumation.To accomplish this process, ateam had to be found—funeraldirector, grave diggers, a welderof stainless steel, a medical team(medical examiners, anthropologists,etc.), a photographer, achurch tribunal consisting of theThe holy body of Blessed Martyr Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky in the sarcophagusrather his mortal remains had tobe transferred into a church. Wefaced a dilemma. What would wefind? Would it be just some bonefragments? Would we find askeleton? Would it be a mummi-Metropolitan, his Delegate, a Promoterof Justice and a Notary, thePostulator, the Redemptorists,witnesses, family members andselect faithful observers and helpers.Every member of this team16 Íàøà Äîðîãà îñiíü/2007