Not far from Andriivka, about five minutes by car, is the small village of Irlyava. That was our destination this afternoon. We had just finished Divine Liturgy and had lunch. And, as though on cue, the storm which had been hammering the region all morning passed on so we could head to Irlyava for Liturgy. An inquiring mind might ask why mentioning the storm was relevant was relevant, that would be because where we were going there was no church.

During the suppression of the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia many priests were faced with the decision to either convert to the Orthodox Church or be arrested and sent to the gulag, where quite likely they would die. At that time the priest who was assigned to Irlyava also had pastoral care of the smaller church in Andriivka because of their close proximity. However, when faced with the choice of converting or going to the gulag the priest, who’s rectory was in Irlyava, chose to convert. He would soon inherit eight other parishes from the surrounding area after their priests had been arrested.

Soon after the fall of communism the parishioners in Andriivka presented a petition to have their church returned to the Greek Catholic Church which was eventually approved, but the Greek Catholics in Irlyava were not so fortunate. Seeing the need to maintain an Orthodox parish as an outpost among many Greek Catholic parishes in the area the Orthodox refused to return the church. One of their arguments was that it was infact the Orthodox Church who had built the church to begin with, though this becomes a rather strange idea when viewing a painting on the outside of the church with the Theotokos pointing to her heart. Latinizations in our Church are generally looked at rather harshly, but in this case the latinization was proof perfect – Catholics had indeed built this church.

Generally speaking, whether there be rain or shine, this community continues to gather where its family and forbearers are laid to rest in the cemetery surrounding the church. These days, despite only having a half dozen people attending regular Liturgy, the Orthodox refuse to allow the Greek Catholics to have access to or worship in the church. Over the years this community has faced intimidation on many different levels, and even at times outright violence. A fragile agreement has been reached in which the Greek Catholics are permitted access to the land that the church is on and to celebrate Divine Liturgy outside. Rain or shine this community continues to gather where its family and forbearers are laid to rest in the cemetery surrounding the church. Even in winter they don jackets and erect a tent to serve a their makeshift church, all in the hope that some day their church will be returned to them.

Today, eighteen people gathered to celebrate Liturgy. A small wooden table was brought out. A woman from the village brought an embroidered table cloth to cover it. Then the Gospel and Antimension, all brought from Andriivka, were placed on the altar along with the gifts to be offered. Soon the priest vested, said the preparatory prayers, and took the Holy Gospel into his hands and intoned in Old Church Slavonic, “Blessed is the Kindom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…”

As people sang I thought of how much we can take for granted. Some of our temples in the United States aren’t the most beautiful, some are rather latinized, or even too small, but atleast we have a temple to worship in. These people here can’t even take a single step into their church today, but that doesn’t deter them from coming. The next time you start to think about how unpleasant your temple is, or what you would change, or that maybe going to Liturgy today just wouldnt be all too convenient; I challenge you to think about these people and to pray for them. But don’t just remember them, pray for the whole Church, especially here in Transcarpathia, that unity may one day be achieved and communities like this can find peace.