Over the past 2-3 years, I have had the opportunity to visit the TransCarpathian Region of Ukraine, the location of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo which is the original Church of all the Churches re-united with the Bishop of Rome through the Union of Uzhorod in 1646.  In this Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, the majority of clergy are married with families, Church Slavonic is the normal language of all liturgical services, and they follow the Julian Calendar for both fixed feasts (such as Christmas on January 7) and Pascha (calculating the date of Easter as do the Orthodox Churches).

In my travels, I found the spirituality of the people and clergy, and the faith, especially of the seminarians who are studying for the priesthood, to be very positive and strong.  This Church and its people were severely persecuted by the Communists;  even the bishop of the diocese in the 1940’s, Blessed Theodore Romzha, was martyred for his faith and allegiance to Rome.  They have come out of the underground and are a vibrant, growing Church with enthusiasm abounding.  The seminary has a waiting list with over 125 men already enrolled.

It seemed that the spirituality that they have in TransCarpathia is lacking in our American parishes, and the financial resources that we have in abundance in America are lacking in Ukraine.  I wanted to find a way for more Americans to experience the vibrancy of the Church in Europe.  So I came up with an idea last spring that could allow for an exchange to benefit both Churches — a fund-raising concert tour of the seminary choir to our parishes in America.

The tour was designed with three goals in mind:

— fund-raising to benefit the seminary by asking for donations from patrons and by selling recordings of the choir

— provide an education about the American church and culture to the seminarians, most of whom had never before been on an airplane, let along leave Ukraine and travel to the West

— spark enthusiasm among our parishes for the singing of the Carpathian Mountains, our liturgical heritage, and enouraging vocations to the priesthood and religious life by witnessing the “call of God” demonstrated by these young men studying for the priesthood

We traveled to 25 parishes, singing concerts and some Divine Liturgies, with 17 seminarians over 28 days throughout the Northeast and Midwest.  Every parish welcomed us with great support, provided meals and accommodations, and had “standing-room-only” in many places for the Concerts of Sacred Music.  In total, over 4,000 persons attended the concerts with hundreds more coming for the liturgies sung in Church Slavonic.  After paying all the travel expenses and other costs for the tour, the tour generated over $50,000 in financial support to the seminary to help with their ongoing operational costs.  That is enough to run the entire seminary — meals, utilities, staff, faculty, etc. — for over a month.

More details of the tour locations and a photo album of scenes from the tour can be found at:  www.seminaryconcerttour.com.  Also, CD and DVD recordings of over 100 songs in a collection of 6 programs are available for purchase at:  www.olconference.com.

Most of the parishes invited another us to bring another tour in the future, and so one is being discussed to take place next year, September through October 2010, with the seminary choir from the Preshov Archeparchy in Slovakia.  This is the second historical center of Greek Catholics and has the same singing tradition and overflowing seminary as in TransCarpathia.

With the success of last year’s tour — financial, spiritual and educational — more details will be distributed as plans are finalized.