Don't You Just Love Men's Singing?

I absolutely adore the sound of men's choirs.  Not sure when I got addicted! Men have sung together throughout history, maybe it is in my genes!  I especially enjoy the sound of men singing in harmony, usually a cappella. Really, and why do you need another instrument when you have the glorious range of countertenors all the way to the basso profundo to sing everything from folk songs to musical comedy, choruses from opera, as well as unique and specialized arrangements by new and respected Ukrainian composers.  Just love, love, love!  

And the Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton have the fellowship of music and culture to share. That's why you just have to mark Saturday, May 23, 2015 with a special star on your calendar.  

The Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton presents a Spring Concert on Saturday, May 23, 2015 at 7:30 pm at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church (1121 14 Avenue SW) in Calgary with special guest: Calgary's own Stephania Romaniuk, mezzo-soprano  (Recently returned from an eventful and positively received musical/philanthropic tour to Ukraine!

The hour-long concert will feature Ukrainian sacred and secular choral works, as well as several songs sung in English.      Admission is by donation.

The choir's website is www.ukrainianmalechorus.ca.

Stephania's website is www.stephaniaromaniuk.com.

The choir will also be singing the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, May 24, 2015 at 9:30 AM at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Church at 404-Meredith Road NE Calgary.  For more information please call 403-264-3437.  

Calgary Prays for Ukraine - Moleben'

What a difference a day makes!  The political situation in Ukraine is very fluid, changing by the minute it seems.  Legal questions, procedural issues, the safety and security of citizens, property and finances, nervous energy! People leaving, people arriving, evidence appearing, public entry to formerly private residences, the stories of Ukraine circa February 22 are indeed interesting.  But is it a blessing or concerning to live in interesting times? It is a matter of faith perhaps.

Many Calgarians voiced their disappointment at not being able to participate in the prayer service called for earlier this week.  Fortunately, Calgarians have another opportunity to contribute to the surge of prayer energy being enacted for positive change in Ukraine. It is again time to join the community to light candles, give voice to prayers for peace, for the eternal memory of the departed, and to foster a wave of goodwill here in Canada, in the Ukrainian diaspora, and in the ancestral homeland - Ukraine.  Hospodi pomiluij!

Inviting all to prayer, please join the community's special Moleben' Prayer Service on Sunday, February 23, at 7PM at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Church at 404 Meredith Road NE Calgary.  

From the Heart of a Woman

bdlive.co.za

For an afternoon of Christian fellowship, heart health information and a hands-on Ukrainian "bake and take" activity women of all ages are invited to a very lovely afternoon event called "From the Heart" on Saturday, February 1, 2014.  The Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, Calgary Branch invites you to register or seek more information from Marla don.belsheim@shaw.ca

or Lori lorichomik@gmail.com. for the event. 

I remember being at their last event a couple of years ago and fascinated at the mix of lovely people there - the room was filled from edge, to edge to edge.  Such a very warm, intelligent, and community rich experience! Clearly the women of Calgary enjoyed the event, and UWAC Calgary has planned another women's day!

Bring $5 for entry, knowing all proceeds will be donated to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta. You can help women in need by bringing sample sized hand lotion, perfume, shampoo (etc), and new women's socks and underwear, to assemble Valentine Gift Bags for our Southern Alberta Sisters in Need.

Saturday, February 1, 2014
St. Vladimir’s Cultural Center
404 Meredith Road N.E.
1:00 p.m.

Remember to bring a friend!

Kyivan Rus' Sovereign, Saint and Hero

Monuments to great heroes, to champions of the good, monuments to mark sad moments that teach us never to forget, and then there are monuments which speak to the spirit. Calgary is home to a special monument, a type of structure explicitly created to commemorate a real person, and an extraordinary historical, cultural and spiritual event.

The Ukrainian Church closest to the Langevin Bridge off Memorial Drive adds some Eastern European flare to our Western Canadian cityscape.  While the hopeful start of the first Ukrainian Catholic Church in Calgary in 1912 was shortlived noteably because of Canada's First World War Internment Operations, the end of the war brought a resurgence of spirit.  The changing political climate in the ancestral homeland meant new Ukrainian Canadians would have to be self-reliant, so they forged ahead embracing the legacy of Kyivan Rus' Sovereign, Saint and Hero -Volodymyr. 


Baptism of Volodymyr-public domain

From the Feast Day in his honor on July 28th to August 14th marking Volodymyr's official Baptism and acceptance of Orthodox Christianity as the State Religion of Kyivan Rus', these are heady, legacy days for Ukrainians.  Interestingly enough,  The Primary Chronicle names Anna, the sister of Byzantine Emperors Basil and Constantine, and records that her brothers agreed to her marriage to Volodymyr upon his receipt of Christian Baptism, in Kherson.  It looks like Volodymyr married into the faith!  Heady times for me too since the the location of these events, the Ruins of the Basilica and Saint Volodymyr Cathedral in National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine will be part of my summer tour this month. 

Ukrainian-Calgarians, thankful for their huge Canadian inheritance, and emulating their ancestral Sovereign pressed forward with a vision of a people united by a common spiritual culture that transcended the parochial loyalties of their village past.  The church standing on Meredith Road looking over the river to downtown Calgary would welcome all those of Ukrainian ancestry.

St. Vlad's is a great community for Ukrainian-Calgarian hospitality.  On Sunday, July 28th the church marks its Temple Patron Feast Day with Divine Liturgy, followed by prayers and procession around the temple to honor Kyivan Rus' Sovereign and Saint, Volodymyr's  Baptism of Ukraine 1025 years ago. Come and contribute your favorite dish to the pot-luck luncheon, and you will be sure to meet friends, renew aquaintance and be spiritually uplifted!

http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/saints/otherSaints/volodymyr.htm

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/03/988-2013-makes-1025-years.html