Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky (1903-1973)

Feast Day: June 27
Beatified: June 27, 2001
Patron of Prison Ministry

Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky was a bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and a martyr. He had a great zeal for the salvation of souls and lived a life of great virtue.

He was born in western Ukraine; his father was a married priest. He entered seminary, took vows with the Redemptorist community, and was ordained a priest in 1925. He was a teacher and religious superior.

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Communists occupied Ukraine and had Fr. Vasyl and other clerics imprisoned for “anti-Soviet activities.” He began a decade of prison ministry as a prisoner himself. Despite the harsh conditions and hard labor, he was able to build a small chapel in a coal mine, hear Confessions and celebrate Divine Liturgy with wine made from raisins and prison bread. He also used the prison bread and string to make a rosary, which he prayed faithfully. Prisoners called him their chaplain.

He was released and ordained a bishop in 1969 but was arrested again in 1969. This time, the harsh treatment irreparably injured his health, and after his release he made his way to Canada, where he died. His incorrupt body is in St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.