Life-Giving Cross III
The design and carving of this crucifix follow a Ukranian Greek Catholic tradition carried forward by Fr. Yuvenaly Mokrytsky (1911–2002), a hieromonk of the Studite Brethren in western Ukraine.
Mokrytsky and his religious order were brutally suppressed by the Soviet Union. Many were martyred in their monastery at Univ. During the 'underground' period of the Church in Ukraine, a significant number of Ukrainian Greek Catholics fled to Rome to live in exile with their patriarch, Rev. Josyf Slipyy. In 1968, for their new cathedral there, Fr. Mokrytsky made a crucifix that has become a model of its kind. The name of this crucifix is taken from a troparion (short hymn) sung during a great feast day in the eastern Church, the Elevation of the Life-Giving Cross.
During exile, Fr. Mokrytsky lived and served as rector of Holy Dormition Monastery in Woodstock, Canada. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to Univ and helped his brothers make a complete restoration of the monastery at Univ, complete with a steady supply of new monks and a thriving congregation. He reposed in the Lord on May 2, 2002, and was buried in Canada near the monastery where he had served since 1976.
This particular crucifix carries on the tradition followed by Fr. Mokrytsky. Characteristic elements include the sun and moon flying away to hide their faces, the image of Christ’s face on Veronica’s veil, the figure of Christ hanging in repose, Mary and John at His right and left, and the bones of Adam at His feet.
The inscription reads: "The Crucifixion of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. Before Thy cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy Holy resurrection, we glorify." A disciple of the famous icon painter Vasyl Dyadynyuk and former student at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Fr. Mokrytsky has written for the renewed Univ Holy Dormition Lavra a copy of the Virgin Hodegetria miraculous icon (Ὁδηγήτρια, literally: "She who shows the Way") that had been lost after the monastery was closed by Soviets.
This donation was made by Fr. Ihor Boyko, Taras Dobko, Fr. Pavlo Khud, Sophia Opatska, Dmytro Sherenhovskyy, Volodymyr Turchynovskyy, Oleh Turiy, and Oleh Yaskiv — all past visiting scholars from Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine) to the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.
